Error-Resilient Performance of Dirac Video Codec Over Packet-Erasure Channel

Video transmission over the wireless or wired network requires error-resilient mechanism since compressed video bitstreams are sensitive to transmission errors because of the use of predictive coding and variable length coding. This paper investigates the performance of a simple and low complexity error-resilient coding scheme which combines source and channel coding to protect compressed bitstream of wavelet-based Dirac video codec in the packet-erasure channel. By partitioning the wavelet transform coefficients of the motion-compensated residual frame into groups and independently processing each group using arithmetic and forward error correction (FEC) coding, Dirac could achieves the robustness to transmission errors by giving the video quality which is gracefully decreasing over a range of packet loss rates up to 30% when compared with conventional FEC only methods. Simulation results also show that the proposed scheme using multiple partitions can achieve up to 10 dB PSNR gain over its existing un-partitioned format. This paper also investigates the error-resilient performance of the proposed scheme in comparison with H.264 over packet-erasure channel.     

无线视频的一种码率控制方法

无线信道的高误码率对视频图像质量有很大的影响,前向纠错(FEC)和自动重发请求(ARQ)对于降低无线信道的误码率,提高图像质量有很好的效果。通过对FEC和ARQ方法的有效性分析,在TMN8的基础上提出一种简单的混合FEC/ARQ自适应模式选择码率控制方法。该方法首先预测报文丢失数量和纠错报文传输时延,从而选择合适的纠错编码模式,并为纠错编码分配比特数。实验结果表明该方法有效降低无线信道下报文丢失率,显著提高了图像质量。     

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.     

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     

Adaptive error coding using channel prediction

In this paper, we construct a finite-state Markov chain model for a Rayleigh fading channel by partitioning the range of the received signal envelope into K intervals. Using a simulation of the classic two-ray Rayleigh fading model, a Markov transition probability matrix is obtained. Using this matrix to predict the channel state, we introduce an adaptive forward error correction (FEC) coding scheme. Simulation results are presented to show that the adaptive FEC coding scheme significantly improves the performance of a wireless communication system.     

Policy allocation for transmission of embedded bit streams over noisy channels with feedback - [Transactions letters]

An efficient policy allocation algorithm for the transmission of embedded bit streams over noisy channels with feedback is proposed. The transmission is based on the type- II hybrid ARQ/FEC protocol and uses a nested sequence C of channel codes to protect the packets. There are also constraints on the total bit budget and on the allowed number of retransmissions per packet. The allocation algorithm assigns different protection policies, each policy being a subset of C, to different packets to maximize the average number of correctly received source bits. We study the performance and the complexity of the proposed scheme through the transmission of images encoded by JPEG2000 over mobile channels with correlated Rayleigh fading. We demonstrate by simulations that the proposed multiplepolicy scheme provides significant improvements over a purely FEC scheme with no feedback and also the existing fixed-policy schemes. Our results show that feedback is particularly helpful for poor channel conditions and that the proposed scheme is very robust against changes in the channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the mobile speed.     

RLS-Based Estimation and Tracking of Frequency Offset and Channel Coefficients in MIMO-OFDM Systems

In this paper, we investigate the problem of carrier frequency-offset (CFO) synchronization and channel estimation in multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing systems operating over unknown frequency-selective fading channels. We first propose a novel joint CFO and channel estimator, assuming time-domain training blocks are available. The proposed joint estimator consists of two recursive least-square (RLS) algorithms which iterate their estimated CFO and CIR values. We then derive a more precise pilot-aided RLS algorithm to estimate the residual frequency synchronization errors or track small CFO changes. With this, the accuracy of channel estimation is also enhanced. The analysis and simulation results show that, the proposed estimation and tracking scheme which is fully compatible with the existing standards is able to attain fast convergence, high stability, and ideal performances as compared with relevant Cramer–Rao bounds in all ranges of signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, it can work well for wide tracking range up to ±0.5 of the subcarrier spacing.     

第3代移动通信系统中的信道编码技术研究

第3代移动通信系统IMT2000是当前的研究热点,而信道编码又是其关键技术之一.第3代移动通信系统中的业务范围和数据传输速率都大有提高,因此信道编码在语音业务上除了继承第2代系统的前向纠错(FEC)卷积编码技术外,还采纳了以Turbo码为代表的纠错能力更强的、先进的编码技术.讨论了CDMA2000[1]系统中的纠错编码技术,尤其是Turbo码在其中的应用.     

Sliding‐window forward error correction using Reed‐Solomon code and unequal error protection for real‐time streaming video

Forward error correction (FEC) techniques are widely used to recover packet losses over unreliable networks in real‐time video streaming applications. Traditional frame‐level FEC encodes 1 video frame in each FEC coding window. By contrast, in the expanding‐window FEC scheme, high‐priority frames are included in the FEC processing of the following frames, so as to construct a larger coding window. In general, expanding‐window FEC improves the recovery performance of FEC, because the high‐priority frame can be protected by multiple windows and the use of a larger coding window increases the efficiency. However, the larger window size also increases the complexity of the coding and the memory space requirements. Consequently, expanding‐window FEC is limited in terms of practical applications. Sliding‐window FEC adopts a fixed window size in order to approximate the performance of the expanding‐window FEC method, but with a reduced complexity. Previous studies on sliding‐window FEC have generally adopted an equal error protection (EEP) mechanism to simplify the analysis. This paper considers the more practical case of an unequal error protection (UEP) strategy. An analytical model is derived for estimating the playable frame rate (PFR) of the proposed sliding‐window FEC scheme with a Reed‐Solomon erasure code for real‐time non‐scalable streaming applications. The analytical model is used to determine the optimal FEC configuration which maximizes the PFR value under given transmission rate constraints. The simulation results show that the proposed sliding‐window scheme achieves almost the same performance as the expanding‐window scheme, but with a significantly lower computational complexity.     

On the reliability function of the ideal Poisson channel withnoiseless feedback

A coding scheme for the channel under peak power and average power constraints on the input is presented, and its asymptotic error exponent is shown to coincide, at all rates below capacity, with the sphere packing error exponent, which, for the case at hand, is known to be unachievable without feedback for rates below the critical rate. An upper bound on the error exponent achievable with feedback is also derived and shown, under a capacity reducing average power constraint, to coincide with the error exponent achieved by the proposed coding scheme; in such a case the coding scheme is asymptotically optimal. Thus, the ideal Poisson channel, limited by a capacity-reducing average power constraint, provides a nontrivial example of a channel for which the reliability function is known exactly both with and without feedback. It is shown that a slight modification of the coding scheme to one of random transmission time can achieve zero-error probability for any rate lower than the ordinary average-error channel capacity     

A code division multiplexing scheme for satellite digital audiobroadcasting

Several systems are being considered for digital audio broadcasting (DAB) and some of these systems will be deployed for commercial use. In this paper, we consider a code division multiplex (CDM) scheme for satellite DAB. For diversity purposes, this system makes use of at least two satellites, and in urban areas, where the satellite signals are shadowed by large structures, a terrestrial network is employed. We present a forward error protection (FEC) scheme that is robust under a variety of channel conditions, especially in cases where the received signal is severely attenuated because of highway underpasses and tunnels. This FEC scheme makes use of time diversity, and this introduces a large delay. Such delays will not affect the performance of broadcast systems; however, the delay will be an issue during tuning when a switch to another channel occurs. We introduce a separate low-delay low-rate tuning channel to facilitate tuning. Extensive simulation results are given to examine the performance of the system, and it is shown that about 70 audio channels, each with a rate of 96 kbit/s, can be satisfactorily supported in a bandwidth of approximately 12.5 MHz in most of the channel conditions considered     

基于H.264 SVC无线视频传输的自适应差错保护方法

提出了一种针对H.264可分级编码(H.264 SVC)的自适应前向纠错编码保护方案.通过比较不同的纠错方案,提出了划分丢包率区间的概念,并根据不同区间的丢包率自适应地选择最佳的纠错方案.仿真结果表明,与单一保护方法相比,所提自适应方法能够取得更好的保护效果,更适于在无线信道中进行视频传输.     

Channel capacity and error exponents of variable rate adaptivechannel coding for Rayleigh fading channels

We have evaluated the information theoretical performance of variable rate adaptive channel coding for Rayleigh fading channels. The channel states are detected at the receiver and fed back to the transmitter by means of a noiseless feedback link. Based on the channel state informations, the transmitter can adjust the channel coding scheme accordingly. Coherent channel and arbitrary channel symbols with a fixed average transmitted power constraint are assumed. The channel capacity and the error exponent are evaluated and the optimal rate control rules are found for Rayleigh fading channels with feedback of channel states. It is shown that the variable rate scheme can only increase the channel error exponent. The effects of additional practical constraints and finite feedback delays are also considered. Finally, we compare the performance of the variable rate adaptive channel coding in high bandwidth-expansion systems (CDMA) and high bandwidth-efficiency systems (TDMA)     

Noise-shaping coding through bounding the frequency-weighted reconstruction error

A novel noise-shaping feedback coding scheme is derived by bounding and minimizing its filtered reconstruction error. The stability and performance of this coding scheme are rigorously analyzed. Analytic designs then can be obtained based on the derived stability conditions and noise-shaping equation. A fifth-order coder is designed for converting 3 MHz wide-band signal to a 4-bit quantized signal at a sampling rate of 96 MHz, with an effective resolution of 17 bits.     

Variable length coding over an unknown channel

Burnashev in 1976 gave an exact expression for the reliability function of a discrete memoryless channel (DMC) with noiseless feedback. A coding scheme that achieves this exponent needs, in general, to know the statistics of the channel. Suppose now that the coding scheme is designed knowing only that the channel belongs to a family Q of DMCs. Is there a coding scheme with noiseless feedback that achieves Burnashev's exponent uniformly over Q at a nontrivial rate? We answer the question in the affirmative for two families of channels (binary symmetric, and Z). For these families we show that, for any given fraction, there is a feedback coding strategy such that for any member of the family: i) guarantees this fraction of its capacity as rate, and ii) guarantees the corresponding Burnashev's exponent. Therefore, for these families, in terms of delay and error probability, the knowledge of the channel becomes asymptotically irrelevant in feedback code design: there are blind schemes that perform as well as the best coding scheme designed with the foreknowledge of the channel under use. However, a converse result shows that, in general, even for families that consist of only two channels, such blind schemes do not exist.     

Achievable rate for three-node discrete memoryless relay channel with generalized feedbacks

This paper studies the achievable rate for three-node discrete memoryless relay channel.Specifically in this mode,we explore two generalized feedbacks simultaneously:the source node actively collects feedback signals from the channel;and at the same time,the destination node actively transmits feedback signals to the relay node.These two feedback signals,which are called generalized feedback overheard from the channel that is likely to be noisy,induce that all the three nodes are in full duplex mode.The basic coding strategies of Cover and El Gamal are applied to the relay-source feedback transmission by the source forwarding the compressions of the channel output sequences at the relay node to the destination,and are also applied to the destination-relay feedback transmission to improve the decoding ability at the relay.Based on Cover and El Gamal coding,a new coding scheme adopting rate splitting and four-block Markov superposition encoding is proposed and the corresponding achievable rate is achieved.The proposed scheme is able to exploit two feedbacks simultaneously which can effectively eliminate underlying transmission bottlenecks for the channels.The derived achievable rate result generalizes several previously known results by including them as special cases.     

Feedback communication using orthogonal signals

We consider a feedback communication system in which the forward and feedback channels are disturbed by additive noise and constrained in average power. Two block coding schemes are proposed in which the signals are orthogonal waveforms. A finite number of forward and feedback transmissions per message is made. Information received over the feedback channel is used to reduce the expected value of forward signal energy on all iterations after the first. Similarly, the expected value of feedback signal energy is reduced on all iterations after the first. These schemes, which are modifications of a feedback coding scheme due to Kramer, obtain improved error performance over one-way coding at all rates up to the forward channel capacity, provided only that the feedback channel capacity is greater than the forward channel capacity. They require less feedback power than existing feedback coding schemes to achieve a given error performance.     

A spread slotted CDMA/ALOHA system with hybrid ARQ for satellitemultiple access

We propose and investigate a new type of satellite multiple access protocol that combines the characteristics of the spread slotted (SS)-ALOHA protocol, code division multiple access (CDMA), and the hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) error controlling and retransmission scheme, in order to increase the throughput by reducing the number of retransmissions and to keep the bit error rate (BER) of the satellite link low when the channel experiences heavy traffic. The main feature of our proposed system is the utilization of two different fields in the analysis of the satellite multiple access problem. Since the hub now possesses the forward error correction (FEC) capability to correct errors that appear after the CDMA despreading of the packets, the satellite does not need to ask so often for the retransmission of erroneous packets and will ask for retransmission only when the FEC error correcting capability is exceeded. This paper also presents the adaptive optimization of the balance between the CDMA processing gain and FEC coding gain in order to obtain a better throughput for the SS-CDMA/ALOHA with hybrid ARQ protocol for satellite multiple access. The optimization is made with the constraint of keeping the bandwidth of the transmitted packets constant during all times. According to this, the effective throughput of the protocol (information bits over total transmitted bits ratio) is improved by adaptively changing the CDMA and FEC codes used in the transmission. This adaptive optimization is done by observing the channel status or load and increasing or decreasing both coding schemes' gains. Computer simulations show the performance of the proposed multiple access scheme