An Adaptive Forward Error Control Method for Voice Communication

With the exponential growth of video traffic over wireless networked and embedded devices, mechanisms are needed to predict and control perceptual video quality to meet the quality of experience (QoE) requirements in an energy-efficient way. This paper proposes an energy-efficient QoE support framework for wireless video communications. It consists of two components: 1) a perceptual video quality model that allows the prediction of video quality in real-time and with low complexity, and 2) an application layer energy-efficient and content-aware forward error correction (FEC) scheme for preventing quality degradation caused by network packet losses. The perceptual video quality model characterizes factors related to video content as well as distortion caused by compression and transmission. Prediction of perceptual quality is achieved through a decision tree using a set of observable features from the compressed bitstream and the network. The proposed model can achieve prediction accuracy of 88.9% and 90.5% on two distinct testing sets. Based on the proposed quality model, a novel FEC scheme is introduced to protect video packets from losses during transmission. Given a user-defined perceptual quality requirement, the FEC scheme adjusts the level of protection for different components in a video stream to minimize network overhead. Simulation results show that the proposed FEC scheme can enhance the perceptual quality of videos. Compared to conventional FEC methods for video communications, the proposed FEC scheme can reduce network overhead by 41% on average.

This paper presents an effective packet loss recovery scheme for Internet Protocol (IP) based peer-to-pear (P2P) networks that deliver multimedia streaming contents. The proposed scheme consists of two key components, a packet forward error correction (FEC) scheme and a uniquely decodable coding (UDC) scheme. The FEC scheme is devised to recover network packet loss over the transport layer to improve link transmission reliability at the user-ends of the P2P networks. The UDC scheme is employed to allow multiple sources to transmit data streams simultaneously in such a way that the combined data streams can be separated uniquely without ambiguity at the user-ends. This simultaneous multiple sources data transmission increases the throughput at the user-ends. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations show that the proposed scheme can achieve the commonly acceptable of 10^{-6} end-to-end packet loss rate for input packet loss rate of up to 10%with a reasonably small bandwidth expansion factor, while maintains a high throughput at the user-ends.

In this chapter, we describe different forward error correction (FEC) schemes currently in use or suitable for use in optical communication systems. We start with the description of standard block codes. The state-of-the-art in optical communication systems standardized by the ITU employ concatenated Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (BCH)/RS codes [1, 2]. The RS(255,239), in particular, has been used in a broad range of long-haul communication systems [1, 2], and it is commonly considered as the first-generation of FEC [3, 4]. The elementary FEC schemes (BCH, RS, or convolutional codes) may be combined to design more powerful FEC schemes, e.g., RS(255,239) + RS(255,233). Several classes of concatenation codes are listed in ITU-T G975.1. Different concatenation schemes, such as the concatenation of two RS codes or the concatenation of RS and convolutional codes, are commonly considered as second generation of FEC [3, 4].

This paper shows an important enhancement of TCP behavior over the IEEE 802.11b Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) if a combination of a Forward Error Correction (FEC) scheme and a Snoop agent is added to the idle Repeat reQuest (RQ) mechanism inherently used by such technology. The FEC scheme has been improved with some smart cross-layer optimizations, and its operation adapts to the channel conditions. Besides, the aim of the Snoop agent is to back up the FEC, overcoming the deficiencies of its adaptation, which are mainly due to the high variability of the channel inside a typical office environment. A complete experimental approach has been followed, and exhaustive measurement campaigns have been carried out over a real platform to derive a large number of performance parameters. Both methods have been implemented as modules belonging to a generic layer-two Performance Enhancing Proxy (PEP).

The unequal error protection (UEP) has shown promising results for transmitting video over error-prone wireless channels. In this paper, we investigate the cross-layer design of forward error correction (FEC) schemes by using the UEP Raptor codes at the application layer (AL) and UEP rate compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) codes at physical layer (PHY) for prioritized video packets. The video packets are prioritized based on their contribution to the received video quality. A genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimization algorithm is proposed to find the optimal parameters for both Raptor and RCPC codes, to minimize the video distortion and maximize the peak signal-to-noise-ratio for the given video bit rates and channel constraints (i.e., SNR and available bandwidth). We evaluate the performance of four combinations of the UEP schemes for H.264/AVC encoded video sequences over the AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels and show the superiority of the optimized cross-layer UEP FEC scheme. For Rayleigh fading channel, the proposed cross-layer optimization uses two different time-scales at AL and PHY which allows PHY to adapt faster to the changing channel quality.

Cell rate moderation of VBR video under an FEC environment in ATM networks

Video streaming over wireless channel encounters many challenges due to the time-varying characteristics of wireless channels and limited network bandwidth. In this paper, we investigate an adaptive forward error correction (FEC) scheme for streaming the stored MPEG-4 FGS bit-stream from the video server to the clients over wireless channel. In this scheme, the base layer is transmitted reliably and the enhancement layer is protected with unequal error protection (UEP) scheme. Taking the fine-grained characteristics of FGS into account, we propose a decodable rate maximized criterion to optimally allocate the bit rate between the source rate and the channel coding rate and dynamically adapt to the varying network condition. Experimental results show that Compared with fixed unequal error protection (UEP) and equal error protection (EEP), our proposed method can provide a better performance.

In this paper, a receiver driven overlap Forward Error Correction (FEC) scheme, which offers unequal importance protection of video layers, is proposed to protect H.264/SVC video over the Internet. A mathematical model is provided to calculate video quality in terms of subjective Video Quality Metric (VQM). With the provided mathematical model, the video server prepares for receivers a lookup table, which lists all optimal combinations of video and FEC layers under various available downlink bandwidth and packet drop rates. By table lookup, a receiver can determine an optimal combination of video and FEC layers to subscribe to maximize the subjective video quality based on its available downlink bandwidth and packet drop rates.

This paper investigates how Scalable Video Coding (SVC) can benefit from different Forward Error Correction (FEC) and transmission schemes in mobile broadcast systems. Simulation are performed in DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) systems. In DVB-H, a differentiation in robustness for the different SVC layers can be achieved at the link layer using intra-burst MPE-FEC (multi-Protocol Encapsulation FEC). The paper evaluates the gain that can be achieved with the MPE-FEC using equal (EEP) and unequal error protection (UEP), and the performance improvements of an SVC layer-aware FEC (LA-FEC) approach that can be implemented in DVB-H either at the link layer with MPE-iFEC (inter-burst MPE-FEC) or at the application layer with AL-FEC. LA-FEC improves the SVC base layer robustness generating parity information across existing dependencies within the SVC video coding structure. Laboratory measurement results using a TU6 channel model show that the performance of an SVC service in DVB-H can be significantly increased by a proper link layer FEC scheme. It is shown that using SVC in combination with LA-FEC and a proper transmission scheduling does not only give a better performance in terms of PSNR and amount of video outages compared to a single layer service at the same service bit rate, but also gives an additional lower quality layer which can be used for applications like conditional access.

In this paper, we discuss the effect of wireless link characteristics and mobility in wireless access broadband networks, and how major differences between wireline and wireless transmission links introduce a new networking paradigm with difficult and interesting challenges. We show that these differences have a direct impact on the packet-level quality-of-service defined by the packet loss, delay and jitter statistics. Moreover, we examine a number of alternatives such as forward error correction, antenna diversity and retransmission schemes to combat the time varying nature and high bit error rate of the wireless link, as well as how much and in what way these schemes can improve the packet-level quality-of-service. We also show that routing, call admission control, and capacity allocation functions of wireless access broadband networks need to take mobility into account. These functions can be invoked in a reactive manner at every hand-off event, or they can be invoked in a pro-active manner at the call setup time instead of being invoked at every hand-off event. In addition, we discuss the trade-offs between these two call control schemes, and show that each of these schemes is associated with a major cost. To find a balance between the cost of these two call control schemes, we use a connection tree as a basis for routing, call admission control, and resource allocation in wireless access broadband networks.

In real-time video streaming, data packets are transported over the network from a transmitter to a receiver. The quality of the received video fluctuates as the network conditions change, and it can degrade substantially when there is considerable packet loss. Forward error correction (FEC) techniques can be used to recover lost packets by incorporating redundant data. Conventional FEC schemes do not work well when scalable video coding (SVC) is adopted. In this paper, we propose a novel FEC scheme that overcomes the drawbacks of these schemes by considering the reference picture structure of SVC and weighting the reference pictures more when FEC redundancy is applied. The experimental results show that the proposed FEC scheme outperforms conventional FEC schemes.

Despite the emergence of voice over IP and videoconferencing services, recent studies have shown that the Internet still may not provide acceptable quality for interactive streaming applications. Among the major parameters that affect quality of service are packet loss rates and loss burst sizes. To mitigate the negative impact of losses, forward error correction (FEC) techniques can be employed. These work by adding extra information to the data stream. So, while FEC can potentially reduce the perceived effects of packet losses, it increases bandwidth requirements which in turn may increase the loss rate. Therefore, it is important to choose, in real time, the proper FEC scheme to provide the best performance to the application. We evaluate the performance of parity-based FEC schemes using an analytical loss model. Then, we develop an adaptive mechanism for FEC selection using a predictive model. We present the results of simulation experiments using real Internet measurements.

This thesis summarizes research on the design and implementation of the unequal error protection (UEP) mechanism for the RaptorQ forward error correction (FEC) scheme. As part of this research, existing UEP mechanisms for various fountain codes were evaluated. Two new UEP methods were proposed for the RaptorQ coding scheme, and these methods were designed with the assumption that all of the symbols in a source block have the same priority. The first method, known as priority based overhead number (PBON), was based on the priority encoding transmission model, wherein the error-correction capability was altered by making the number of overhead symbols proportional to the priority of the information symbols. This method was extended to the RaptorQ codes with some changes and evaluated for failure probability and performance. The second method, known as priority based precode ratio (PBPR), was designed by changing the precode properties of the RaptorQ codes. The ratio of precode symbols to Luby-Transform symbols in the RaptorQ codes was changed to achieve different error correction capabilities for each priority group. The scheme with the higher number of precode symbols provided superior error-correction capabilities compared to those with fewer precode symbols. Both methods were empirically verified through simulation in the C++ programming language. The results demonstrated that the higher-importance class depicted a better error-correction capability than the lower-importance class.

Network high definition video applications such as video calls and videoconferences have been increasingly developed recent years. When congestions occur and network environment becomes unstable, the network applications have to deal with such issues like delay, packet loss and bandwidth constraints. In this paper, we describe a high definition H.264/AVC video transmission system with network adaptive function based on real-time transport protocol (RTP) and real-time transport control protocol (RTCP). The adaptive system is composed of three components: 1) transmission management (TM) which focuses on network state monitoring, bandwidth allocating and transmission rate control; 2) a feedback-based adaptive forward error correction (AFEC) scheme using Reed Solomon (RS) code; 3) adaptive video encoding (AVE) that adjusts the bitrate of video streaming according to the bandwidth constraint information offered by TM. In our paper, delay, packet loss and bandwidth constraints are generated by the network bottleneck and congestions. Hence, the main idea is to enhance the bitrate of video streaming adapt to the bandwidth constraints. In addition, we integrate AFEC with RTCP to feedback bandwidth status and make the adaptive video streaming more robust under packet loss environment. Here we call it interactive adaptive forward error correction (IAFEC). The test result shows IAFEC can be adaptive to strict bandwidth constraints and high packet loss rates.

In high-speed communications systems the task of channel equalization can be quite demanding. One of the most common and most powerful equalization algorithms is the decision feedback equalizer (DFE). In certain cases though, the DFE is not powerful enough to give the required performance margin on its own, and a forward error correction (FEC) scheme must be employed to give an extra boost in performance. The introduction of the FEC in itself creates problems for the DFE which is compensated for by the use of a precoder. In steady state, this does not affect the overall performance of the system, but in a situation where the channel is subject to change, the precoding scheme runs into difficulty. This paper describes a modification to the conventional fixed precoder to allow the precoder to adapt slowly in a dynamic channel environment. Also shown here is a new method of dealing with a dynamic channel by maintaining an active DFE in the receiver, purely for the purpose of adapting the precoder coefficients during runtime. The technique is applied to digital subscriber line (DSL) transmission at 1.544 Mbit/s, using coded 16-PAM modulation.