Digital television on ATM networks: optimum chain for coding andtransmission

This paper presents a global optimization of the transmission chain for video on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) channels. This optimum control includes compression, transmission, and decoding. First, the gain in statistical multiplexing is put forward to demonstrate that transmitting at variable rates on asynchronous multiplexing links is more efficient than exploiting the constant rate on synchronous links. The joint optimization relies on both the entropy rate and the end-to-end image quality. This requires the characterization of the video sources as entropy generators, and the development of the entropy rate-distortion functions in the coder and the transmission channel. Quantizers and variable-length entropy coders in coding, traffic, and queues in transmission multiplexing each lead to performance functions expressing quality in terms of entropy rate. The objective measures of quality are, respectively, the PSNR in terms of the output data rate and the cell loss in terms of the network loads. The main advantage of transmitting on variable bit-rate channels is to permit the generation of image sequences at constant subjective quality on the coding side, and the saving of transmission bandwidth through a gain in statistical multiplexing on the network side. Mirrored control actions are described for coding and multiplexing; they lead to a unique global optimum of the transmission chain. Since the decoders are generally slaved to the coding and transmission performances, they are restricted to perform independent optimum signal reconstruction     

Statistics of video signals for viewphone-type pictures

The authors describe a series of measurements of the statistics of viewphone-type video signals, with particular regard to the possible transmission of such signals over an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. Measurements include the frame-to-frame differences and the cluster length distribution. It is known that with efficient picture coding, the information rate required for a constant picture quality varies significantly and creates problems in a constant-bit-rate system. The multiplexing of a number of sources in a variable-bit-rate (VBR) system is considered. It is shown that considerable reduction in the variability of the data rate is obtained. While the results are derived from one particular type of picture coder, it is expected that the conclusion will apply to other coding schemes     

Modeling of the Coding Gain of Joint Coding for Multi-Program Video Transmission

In digital multi-program video transmission, several video programs are compressed (e.g., using MPEG-2), multiplexed, and transmitted over a constant bit rate (CBR) channel. Joint coding, or statistical multiplexing, which is now widely used in digital television broadcasting, dynamically allocates the available channel capacity among programs according to picture content. This scheme is much more efficient than independent coding where each channel is allocated a fixed bit rate. In this paper, we present a model which can relate the decoded picture quality to bit rate, for both independent and joint coding. The model takes into account statistical variations of video program complexity, and incorporates experimental data drawn from formal subjective picture quality assessments. We use the model to calculate the coding gain of joint coding relative to independent coding, in terms of bandwidth savings.     

Error resilient video transmission over ATM networks

In the transmission process of a variable bit rate video signal over an ATM network, cells are inevitably exposed to delays and losses due to the statistical multiplexing used in these networks. These phenomena affect the quality of the video signal, and without adequate measures to control the propagation of impairments, the quality of service may fall below acceptable levels. We introduce a set of control mechanisms at different levels of the protocol architecture to support MPEG-2 based video communications systems using ATM networks as their underlying transmission mechanism. We argue that in order to be able to create video systems able to cope with cell losses encountered in computer communications systems, a structured set of protocol mechanisms is required. Our results show the effectiveness of the proposed set of mechanisms in improving the robustness of the video delivery system     

Loss-resilient ATM protocol architecture for MPEG-2 videocommunications

MPEG-2 video communications over ATM networks is one of the most active research areas in the field of computer communications. In the transmission process of a variable bit rate video signal over an ATM network, cells are inevitably exposed to delays, errors, and losses due to the statistical multiplexing used in these networks. These phenomena affect the quality of the video signal, and without adequate measures to control the propagation of the impairments, the quality of the service may fall below acceptable levels. In this paper, we study the impact of cell losses on the quality of an MPEG-2 video sequence encoded in a variable bit rate mode. We introduce a set of control mechanisms at different levels of the protocol architecture to be used in MPEG-2-based video communications systems using ATM networks as their underlying transmission mechanism. Our results (using different video sequences) show the effectiveness to improve the video quality by using a structured set of control mechanisms to overcome for the loss of cells carrying VBR MPEG-2 video streams. We argue that in order to be able to create video systems able to cope with cell losses encountered in computer communications systems, a structured set of error-resilient protocol mechanisms is needed     

Picture quality optimization in ABR video services

In transmission of bursty traffic such as video and data, a network with a fixed capacity may have some unused bandwidth. The available bit-rate (ABR) scheme in ATM networks can make use of this spare channel capacity as a lower priority service. ABR has been developed initially for delay-tolerant services such as data. In this paper we demonstrate how with the help of a video transcoder delay-sensitive services such as video may be transmitted over ABR networks. The transcoder further compresses the video bit stream according to the rates dictated by the network with minimum degradation to the picture quality. We have optimised the video quality by combining the classical minimum cell rate (MCR) with the subjectively acceptable minimum quality (SAMQ). The performance of two different coding formats for ABR sources, namely the constant bit-rate (CBR) and variable bit-rate (VBR) video input to the transcoder are compared. We also present techniques for further reduction of congestion at the multiplexing switches to improve video quality and report on the impact of the forward and backward link delays on the ABR performance with a video transcoder.     

An efficient protocol architecture for error-resilient MPEG-2 videocommunications over ATM networks

MPEG-2 video communications over ATM networks is one of the most active research areas in the field of computer communications. In the transmission process of a variable bit rate video signal over an ATM network, cells are inevitably exposed to delays, errors and losses due to the statistical multiplexing used in these networks. These phenomena affect the quality of the video signal and without adequate measures to control the propagation of the impairments the quality of the service may fall below acceptable levels. In this paper, we study the impact of cell losses on the quality of a MPEG-2 video sequence encoded in a variable bit rate mode. We introduce a set of control mechanisms at different levels of the protocol architecture to be used in MPEG-2-based video communications systems using ATM networks as their underlying transmission mechanism. Our results (using different video sequences) show the effectiveness to improve the video quality by using a structured set of control mechanisms to overcome for the loss of cells carrying VBR MPEG-2 video streams. We argue that in order to be able to create video systems able to cope with cell losses encountered in computer communications systems, a structured set of error-resilient protocol mechanisms is needed     

ATM video signal multiplexer with congestion control function

ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) is a key technology in the construction of the broadband ISDN. In the ATM network, encoded video signals with burstiness are divided into short fixed length packets called cells, and can be transferred efficiently maintaining high quality by the statistical multiplexing of cells. However, in the congestion state, an appropriate congestion control is needed to avoid deterioration of transfer quality due to the loss of cells. This paper proposes a new congestion control scheme and evaluates characteristics of an ATM video signal multiplexer with the proposed congestion control function. In this paper, the amount of encoded video information per frame is approximated by the auto-regressive model, and the characteristics are evaluated by computer simulation. Particularly, the obtained circuit gain, the effect of congestion control and the optimum cell length are shown from the results of evaluation. Nearly double circuit gain can be obtained by the statistical multiplexing of cells and a throughput improvement of nearly 10% can be obtained by introducing the proposed congestion control in the multiplexing of cells.     

适于ATM的分层视频编码

ＡＴＭ的统计复用特性，使信道资源得到充分利用；同时又要求其上的业务必须具备抗信元丢失的能力。在视频编码领域，可以通过分层编码减少信元丢失所造成的影响，保证在恶劣条件下实现正常的通信。对一种通用的视频编码器进行了改进，提高了视频编码器的压缩比，并且改善了其信元丢失性能。     

ATM网络中语音编码和传输的新方案

本文针对未来新的ＡＴＭ通信方式,提出了一种新的语音可变速率编码和可变时延传输系统方案,为了将信号源和人耳听觉的特征,与ＡＴＭ网络的统计复用性相结合,实现语音的码率在缩和低时延传输,该方案将ＡＴＭ网络环境和语音编码系统中最优信号分析区间的选取、编码系统参数的确定相结合。文中基于一种新的分布熵进行信号特征判断,对输入信号构成不同的处理系统,具体编码由小波变换分带、多带二进树ＶＱ构成,输出码率可调,改变     

Adaptive rate controlled,robust video communication over packet wireless networks

Video transmission over wireless packet networks is gaining importance due to the concept of universal personal communication. Further, it is considered an important step towards wireless multimedia. The challenge however is to achieve good video quality over mobile channels, where typically the channel conditions vary due to signal fading. Hence this paper investigates adaptive rate controlled video transmission for robust video communication under packet wireless environment. A combination of mobile and an ATM backbone network is assumed in this work. An error resilient design for the video coder, as proposed in Rajugopal et al. (1996) is employed here. This video coder comprises wavelet transform (WT), multi-resolution motion estimation (MRME) and a robust design for zero tree quantization. Two configurations, one employing MRME and the other using 1D-WT for temporal analysis, are considered for the video coder. Adaptive dynamic rate control is required to adapt the video communication to the channel conditions. It provides more channel protection when the channel is severe and improves the source rate and hence the performance when the conditions are favorable. An algorithm for dynamic rate control under varying channel conditions is proposed in this paper. It is evaluated under narrowband and broadband channel conditions. From the results, it is concluded that the dynamic rate control is very effective in optimizing the quality under varying mobile channel conditions. It was observed that the dynamic rate control provides at least an acceptable video quality under severe channel conditions and a good video quality when the channel conditions are favorable. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Video aggregation: adapting video traffic for transport overbroadband networks by integrating data compression and statisticalmultiplexing

Future broadband integrated services networks based on the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology are expected to carry information from a large variety of different services and applications. This paper investigates video aggregation, a concept that integrates compression and statistical multiplexing of video information for transport over a communication network. We focus on the transmission of a group of video sessions as a bundle, the practical examples of which include entertainment-video broadcast and video-on-demand (VoD). In this situation, the advantage of constant bit-rate (CBR) transport (which facilitates simple network management and operation) and the advantage of variable bit-rate (VBR) video compression (which yields smoother image quality) can be achieved simultaneously. We show that it is better to integrate compression and statistical multiplexing before the bundle of video traffic enters the network than performing them as independent processes. We present experimental results which indicate the advantages of video aggregation in terms of superior image quality and efficient bandwidth usage     

Comparison of VBR and CBR service classes for MPEG‐2 video multiplexing—Is statistical multiplexing really useful for bursty video transmission?

It has been believed that a statistical multiplexing technique can bring an effective bandwidth usage. When it is applied to MPEG‐2 video, it has been pointed out that two to several times multiplexing gain can be attained due to the highly bursty nature of video traffic. However, most of the past researches do not take into account the implementation aspects of this technique. In this paper, we thoroughly investigate the actual multiplexing gain by comparing ATM CBR and VBR service classes (deterministic and statistical service classes), and point out that the statistical multiplexing gain is far from what one might expect. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MPEG VBR视频流统计复用技术

ＭＰＥＧ的ＣＢＲ编码与ＶＢＲ编码各有优缺点,但经多路ＭＰＥＧ ＶＢＲ编码的视频流可通过统计复用获得较好的图像质量和较高的带宽增益。分析了一些典型的统计复用策略,指出了它们的缺欠,认为在数字视频广播中应采用联合码率控制技术代替统计复用技术。     

Interframe Coding for 4-MHz Color Television Signals

An interframe coding system is described which is capable of transmitting a 4-MHz National Television System Commission (NTSC) color television signal. 6.3 Mbit/s transmission gives acceptable picture quality for video telephone or conference TV use. The NTSC color television signal is converted into a timedivision multiplex (TDM) signal which is composed of time-compressed chrominance and luminance signal in sequence. This signal is encoded using a frame-difference coder of the kind that has been used for black-and-white television signals. A field-repeating technique is introduced into the coder, to prevent a buffer memory from overflowing and to improve picture quality. Statistical investigations show that the presence of the timecompressed chrominance signal gives less than 10 percent increase in the amount of information generated by picture movements; this increase scarcely affects the picture quality.     

A variable bit rate video codec for asynchronous transfer modenetworks

The bandwidth flexibility offered by the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technique makes it possible to select picture quality and bandwidth over a wide range in a simple and straightforward manner. A prototype model of a video codec was developed that demonstrates the feasibility of both variable bit rate (VBR) coding and user-selectable picture quality. The VBR coding algorithm is discussed and it is shown how a stabilized quality is achieved and how this quality and associated bandwidth can be selected by the user. How error propagation is limited to reduce the visibility of cell losses is also discussed. Interfaces with the ATM network are analyzed, with emphasis on decoder synchronization and absorption of cell delay jitter. The VBR codec offers very good picture quality for videophony applications at an equivalent load of 5.9 Mb/s. Picture quality remains relatively constant, even for heavy motion     

Layered coding for ATM based video distribution systems

This paper discusses packet loss and its protection in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) based video distribution system. Packet losses in ATM based networks have such a great impact on the design of coding algorithms and network architectures that they should be exhaustively discussed and resolved. In this paper, first basic configuration of the ATM based video transmission system and its packet-loss protection schemes are discussed. The DCT based layered coding scheme with packet priority classification is proposed as an effective packet-loss protection scheme. Burstiness characteristics of the broadcast video sources are evaluated and modeled to clarify statistical multiplexing performance and packet-loss properties. The quality degradation caused by the packet losses is also evaluated by the SNR, and the superior performance of the proposed layered coding scheme is verified.     

Joint source/channel coding for multiple images

A joint source/channel coding algorithm is proposed for the transmission of multiple image sources over memoryless channels. The proposed algorithm uses a quality scalable image coder to optimally allocate a limited bit budget among all the sources to achieve the optimal overall distortion reduction for the multiple reconstructed images. In addition to the conventional un gain, it provides channel multiplexing gain, which can be much more significant. Furthermore, an extended scheme is proposed to provide flexibility between the optimization performance and complexity.     

Quality-optimised MPEG2 video data rate control using fuzzy logictechniques

Fuzzy logic control has been employed to improve the rate control mechanism for a MPEG2 video encoder. The data rate of compressed video is controlled by video encoders for either variable bit rate (VBR) or constant bit rate (CBR) applications. In VBR video transmission, it is considered to be more efficient to regulate the video rate by the video coder than by network management in order to avoid network congestion and maintain stable video quality. This rationale can also be applied to CBR transmission. Two fuzzy-logic-based rate control techniques are proposed which maintain the buffer occupancy within a specified range. In the proposed technique for VBR applications, a video quality measure is taken as the crucial control parameter. In CBR rate control, the video data rate or the buffer occupancy is also considered as a fuzzy logic variable. Proposed techniques are designed to control either data rate or video quality, depending on the mode of transmission, i.e. CBR or VBR for the MPEG2 encoder. The performance is compared to a typical VBR MPEG video coder with fixed quantiser step sizes for VBR and also to the CBR video coder with MPEG2 TM5 at typical channel rates. Simulation results are presented with peak signal-to-noise ratio, data rate variation and buffer occupancy as the performance measures     

An analysis of statistical multiplexing in an ATM transport network

The traffic characteristics of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network are analyzed by theoretical methods. A new method is proposed to express the burstiness of the cell arrival process. Both statistical multiplexing and statistical bandwidth allocation are quantitatively evaluated. When packetized video traffic and voice traffic are multiplexed, the number of multiplexable sources strongly depends on the peak bit rate of the multiplexed video sources, and statistical bandwidth allocation is ineffective without control. On the other hand, lowering the peak bit rate of video traffic effectively improves bandwidth utilization