Performance modeling of FEC‐based unequal error protection for H.264/AVC video streaming over burst‐loss channels

Unequal error protection systems are a popular technique for video streaming. Forward error correction (FEC) is one of error control techniques to improve the quality of video streaming over lossy channels. Moreover, frame‐level FEC techniques have been proposed for video streaming because of different priority video frames within the transmission rate constraint on a Bernoulli channel. However, various communication and storage systems are likely corrupted by bursts of noise in the current wireless behavior. If the burst losses go beyond the protection capacity of FEC, the efficacy of FEC can be degraded. Therefore, our proposed model allows an assessment of the perceived quality of H.264/AVC video streaming over bursty channels, and is validated by simulation experiments on the NS‐2 network simulator at a given estimate of the packet loss ratio and average burst length. The results suggest a useful reference in designing the FEC scheme for video applications, and as the video coding and channel parameters are given, the proposed model can provide a more accurate evaluation tool for video streaming over bursty channels and help to evaluate the impact of FEC performance on different burst‐loss parameters. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A joint source and channel coding algorithm for error-resilient SPIHT-coded video bitstreams

We propose an analytical rate-distortion optimized joint source and channel coding algorithm for error-resilient scalable encoded video for lossy transmission. A video is encoded into multiple independent substreams to avoid error propagation and is assigned forward error correction (FEC) codes and source bits using Lagrange optimization. Our method separates video coding and packetization into different tiers which can be easily incorporated into any coding structure that generates a set of independent compressed bit-streams. To demonstrate the performance, we use the 2-state Markov model to describe the burst loss channel and Reed-Solomon codes as forward error correction codes. Simulation results show that the proposed channel incorporated rate-distortion optimization approach have better performance.     

Reed-Solomon codes for correcting phased error bursts

A code structure is introduced that represents a Reed-Solomon (RS) code in two-dimensional format. Based on this structure, a novel approach to multiple error burst correction using RS codes is proposed. For a model of phased error bursts, where each burst can affect one of the columns in a two-dimensional transmitted word, it is shown that the bursts can be corrected using a known multisequence shift-register synthesis algorithm. It is further shown that the resulting codes posses nearly optimal burst correction capability, under certain probability of decoding failure. Finally, low-complexity systematic encoding and syndrome computation algorithms for these codes are discussed. The proposed scheme may also find use in decoding of different coding schemes based on RS codes, such as product or concatenated codes.     

Burst error performance encountered in digital land mobile radio channel

Burst error characteristics are studied by using a Rayleigh and Nakagami-Rice fading simulator. Burst error length distribution estimated with fade duration is described. Thus burst length shortening by means of dual frequency diversity is a promising candidate in order to introduce safely forward error correction (FEC) coding into digital land mobile communication systems.     

Throughput analysis method for hybrid ARQ schemes over burst errorchannels

A definition of a burst error channel using a Markov model was presented by T. Sato et al. in a previous paper (1991). A throughput analysis method of hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) under the burst error channel using the three-state Markov model is described. The hybrid ARQ is studied for the random and burst error correction codes as the forward error correction (FEC) code, and multiframe rejection (MREJ) as the ARQ. The throughput efficiency is obtained with both an infinite buffer memory and a finite buffer memory. The applicable range of the burst error channel is clarified for the hybrid ARQ using random and burst error correction codes     

A new series of concatenated codes subject to matrix type-Bcodes

Some important aspects of a series of concatenated codes subjected to matrix type-Bcodes are investigated. Concatenated matrix codes and the concatenated quadratic residue codes especially are emphasized. An analysis of the error patterns, which can be corrected with the matrix coding, also is given. These codes are suitable for compound channels with memory (i.e., channels on which burst, cluster, and random errors occur). Explicit formulas are given for the number of bursts, cluster, and random errors that can be corrected with these codes. Decoding schemes and techniques for studying error propagation in the proposed codes are given. In particular a new decoding algorithm for a concatenated matrix code is given. The performance of coding and decoding schemes of the various types of concatenated codes can be tested in practice.     

Performance of truncated type-II hybrid ARQ schemes with noisyfeedback over block fading channels

This paper considers truncated type-II hybrid automatic repeat-request (ARQ) schemes with noisy feedback over block fading channels. With these ARQ techniques, the number of retransmissions is limited, and, similar to forward error correction (FEC), error-free delivery of data packets cannot be guaranteed. Bounds on the average number of transmissions, the average coding rate as well as the reliability of the schemes are derived using random coding techniques, and the performance is compared with FEC. The random coding bounds reveal the achievable performance with block codes and maximum-likelihood soft-decision decoding. Union upper bounds and simulation results show that over block fading channels, these bounds can be closely approached with simple terminated convolutional codes and soft-decision Viterbi decoding. Truncated type-II hybrid ARQ and the corresponding FEC schemes have the same probability of packet erasure; however, the truncated ARQ schemes offer a trade-off between the average coding rate and the probability of undetected error. Truncated ARQ schemes have significantly higher average coding rates than FEC at high and medium signal-to-noise ratio even with noisy feedback. Truncated ARQ can be viewed as adaptive FEC that adapts to the instantaneous channel conditions     

短波自适应数据传输中编码纠错性能的改善

根据传统的前向纠错方式(FEC)方式的GOLAY码纠错方法进行改进,提出了在无线短波数据传输中提高传输性能、降低误码率的方法。该方法经过北京-九江1000多km无线短波自适应数据传输系统多次试验,并通过软件实现方法使(23,12:7)达到了(23,12:8)的性能。给出了实验数据,并论述了自适应短波数据传输中的编码和纠错方法的前景。     

Reliable transmission of high-quality video over ATM networks

The development of broadband networks has led to the possibility of a wide variety of new and improved service offerings. Packetized video is likely to be one of the most significant high-bandwidth users of such networks. The transmission of variable bit-rate (VBR) video offers the potential promise of constant video quality but is generally accompanied by packet loss which significantly diminishes this potential. We study a class of error recovery schemes employing forward error-control (FEC) coding to recover from such losses. In particular, we show that a hybrid error recovery strategy involving the use of active FEC in tandem with simple passive error concealment schemes offers very robust performance even under high packet losses. We discuss two different methods of applying FEC to alleviate the problem of packet loss. The conventional method of applying FEC generally allocates additional bandwidth for channel coding while maintaining a specified average video coding rate. Such an approach suffers performance degradations at high loads since the bandwidth expansion associated with the use of FEC creates additional congestion that negates the potential benefit in using FEC. In contrast, we study a more efficient FEC application technique in our hybrid approach, which allocates bandwidth for channel coding by throttling the source coder rate (i.e., performing higher compression) while maintaining a fixed overall transmission rate. More specifically, we consider the performance of the hybrid approach where the bandwidth to accommodate the FEC overhead is made available by throttling the source coder rate sufficiently so that the overall rate after application of FEC is identical to that of the original unprotected system. We obtain the operational rate-distortion characteristics of such a scheme employing selected FEC codes. In doing so, we demonstrate the robust performance achieved by appropriate use of FEC under moderate-to-high packet losses in comparison to the unprotected system.     

Error resilient transmission of SPIHT coded images over fadingchannels

The paper introduces a method of transmitting error resilient SPIHT coded images over highly error prone Rayleigh fading channels. First, the source significance of the SPIHT coded output is obtained. Based on the significance of the bits, the channel coding is varied accordingly. Channel coding consists of a mixture of rate compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) codes and interleaving to combat the burst errors produced by the fading channel. An additional error concealment technique is also introduced into the SPIHT decoder to improve its results in cases where errors cause the corruption of the average luminance level during decoding. Comparison with using RS block codes at a total transmission rate of 1.0 bits/pixel is carried out over fading channels with very high error rates to show the superiority of this method over methods using burst error codes     

Hybrid Error Control Using Retransmission and Generalized Burst-Trapping Codes

On most real channels hybrid error control schemes are expected to provide a throughput higher than that of automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) systems and a reliability better than forward error correction (FEC) systems. On compound channels, channels with a mixture of random and burst errors, generalized burst-trapping (GBT) codes seem to be quite effective for FEC. In this paper, a hybrid scheme with Go BackNARQ as the retransmission component and GBT code as the FEC component, is described. Its performance is analyzed in terms of throughput efficiency and undetected error probability and is compared with that of a forward-acting GBT code. Numerical calculations of the parameters are presented to illustrate the performance.     

Application of Pareto error statistics to Hagelbarger codes

One statistical model that has been proposed for the generation of errors in telephone circuits consists of errors with successive inter-arrival times drawn independently from a Pareto distribution, resulting in errors that tend to occur in bursts. These error statistics are applied to a class of burst correcting codes due to Hagelbarger, with particular attention to codes capable of correcting very long error bursts. For such codes, asymptotic expressions are derived for the expected number of output errors per data digit error and also the expected number of false corrections per data digit error. These expressions are what one might intuitively expect, indicating that the results obtained here can perhaps be extended to other codes by simple intuitive reasoning.     

Joint iterative decoding of serially concatenated error controlcoded CDMA

Joint iterative decoding of multiple forward error control (FEC) encoded data streams is studied for linear multiple access channels, such as code-division multiple access (CDMA). It is shown that such systems can be viewed as serially concatenated coding systems, and that iterative soft-decision decoding can be performed successfully To improve power efficiency, powerful FEC codes are used. These FEC codes are themselves serially concatenated. The overall transmission system can be viewed as the concatenation of two error control codes with the linear multiple access channel, and soft-decision decoders are used at each stage. A variance transfer function approach applied to the analysis of this system captures the role of the component decoders in an overall iterative decoding system. We show that this approach forms a methodology to study the effects of the component codes as well as that of the iteration schedule. Analysis and simulation examples are presented for transmission systems that operate close to the Shannon limit and illustrate the accuracy of the analysis     

FEC performance in multimedia streaming

The performance of packet-level media-independent forward error correction (FEC) schemes are computed in terms of both packet loss ratio and average burst length of multimedia data after error recovery. The set of equations leading to the analytical formulation of both parameters are first given for a renewal error process. Finally, the FEC performance parameters are computed for a Gilbert (1960) model loss process and compared to various experimental data     

A class of binary burst error-correcting quasi-cyclic codes

A class of binary quasi-cyclic burst error-correcting codes based upon product codes is studied. An expression for the maximum burst error-correcting capability for each code in the class is given. In certain cases, the codes exist in the class which have the same block length and number of check bits as the Gilbert codes, but correct longer bursts of errors than Gilbert codes. By shortening the codes, it is possible to design codes which achieve the Reiger bound     

Generation of codes with good autocorrelation properties

The letter describes a conceptually simple method of generating impulse equivalent burst and cyclic codes, using an all-pass autoregressive moving average (ARMA) filter. These infinite impulse response burst codes may be converted into cyclic codes of arbitrary length, while retaining their low autocorrelation time sidelobe performance. Their extension to orthogonal coding is explored.     

An algorithm for the selection of effective error correction coding in wireless networks based on a lookup table structure

In this paper, we propose an adaptive Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding algorithm at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer used in wireless networks. Our algorithm is based on the lookup table architecture, including a distance lookup table and a bit error rate lookup table. These tables will store the best value of the FEC codes based on different distances and bit error rates. Because radio channels change over time, the bit error rate is always changing, or in the case of mobile nodes, when the transmission distance changes, the bit error rate also changes, so previously proposed algorithms take longer to find the optimal value of the FEC code for data transmission. Our proposed algorithm, however, is based on 2 lookup tables, and thus, it can always quickly select an optimal FEC code during early data transmissions and achieve high performance. We compare our algorithm with other methods based on performance metrics such as the recovery overhead of FEC codes, energy efficiency, and peak‐signal‐to‐noise ratio values in the case of image transmission. Our simulation indicates that the proposed algorithm achieves better performances and proves the correctness of the proposed lookup table architecture.     

Packet Size Optimization for Improving the Energy Efficiency in Body Sensor Networks

Energy consumption is a key issue in body sensor networks (BSNs) since energy‐constrained sensors monitor the vital signs of human beings in healthcare applications. In this paper, packet size optimization for BSNs has been analyzed to improve the efficiency of energy consumption. Existing studies on packet size optimization in wireless sensor networks cannot be applied to BSNs because the different operational characteristics of nodes and the channel effects of in‐body and on‐body propagation cannot be captured. In this paper, automatic repeat request (ARQ), forward error correction (FEC) block codes, and FEC convolutional codes have been analyzed regarding their energy efficiency. The hop‐length extension technique has been applied to improve this metric with FEC block codes. The theoretical analysis and the numerical evaluations reveal that exploiting FEC schemes improves the energy efficiency, increases the optimal payload packet size, and extends the hop length for all scenarios for in‐body and on‐body propagation.     

Burst Erasure Correcting LDPC Codes

In this paper low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are designed for burst erasure channels. Firstly, lower bounds for the maximum length erasure burst that can always be corrected with message-passing decoding are derived as a function of the parity-check matrix properties. We then show how paritycheck matrices for burst erasure correcting LDPC codes can be constructed using superposition, where the burst erasure correcting performance of the resulting codes is derived as a property of the stopping set size of the base matrices and the choice of permutation matrices for the superposition. This result is then used to design both single burst erasure correcting LDPC codes which are also resilient to the presence of random erasures in the received bits and LDPC codes which can correct multiple erasure bursts in the same codeword.     

Generalized burst-trapping codes

The burst-trapping error control technique developed by Tong [1] corrects both random and burst errors adaptively. A generalization of this scheme, called generalized burst trapping (GBT), is presented here. Generalized burst-trapping codes (GBTC) also correct both random and burst errors adaptively but, in addition, are capable of correcting random errors in the guard space following a correctable burst. This added capability is obtained at the expense of a longer guard space or a lower rate and a modest increase in complexity of implementation. Nevertheless, these codes are simple to encode and decode and, in particular, the storage-saving technique used with the original burst-trapping codes is directly applicable to the generalized codes. Also it is shown that at most one block of error propagation can occur if a simple and reasonable condition is met. Thus the generalized codes have better propagation properties than the original burst-trapping codes. This new error control technique is well suited to error correction on channels where it cannot be assumed that bursts are isolated events separated by error-free intervals. Thus, for example, this technique appears well suited to error correction on telephone facilities that incorporate multiple-level signaling.