Integrated video and voice transmission using packet reservation multiple access

This paper proposes a new protocol for the integration of voice and video transmission over the packet reservation multiple access (PRMA) system that is a modification of reservation‐ALOHA protocol. We focus on low bit‐rate video applications like video conferencing and visual telephony for wireless communications. The ITU–T H.263 standard provides a solution to the need for low bit‐rate video compression under 64 kbytes/s. The proposed protocol assumes that each voice terminal follows a traffic pattern of talk spurts and silent gaps with fixed permission probability (p=0.3), and each video terminal has the higher permission probability (p=1) to access the available slot based on ITU–T H.263 standard. Again, we present a ‘pseudo‐reservation’ scheme to release slots reserved by video terminals according to the contents of each video transmission buffer, and the active voice terminals can temporarily access the additional slots to improve the performance without sacrificing the video capacity of the system. The packet dropping probability of the active voice terminals and bandwidth utilization of the system are superior to the original PRMA, as indicated in simulation results. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Blind identification of quadratic nonlinear models using neuralnetworks with higher order cumulants

A novel approach to blindly estimate kernels of any discrete- and finite-extent quadratic models in higher order cumulants domain based on artificial neural networks is proposed in this paper. The input signal is assumed an unobservable independently identically, distributed random sequence which is viable for engineering practice. Because of the properties of the third-order cumulant functions, identifiability of the nonlinear model holds, even when the model output measurement is corrupted by a Gaussian random disturbance. The proposed approach enables a nonlinear relationship between model kernels and model output cumulants to be established by means of neural networks. The approximation ability of the neural network with the weights-decoupled extended Kalman filter training algorithm is then used to estimate the model parameters. Theoretical statements and simulation examples together with practical application to the train vibration signals modeling corroborate that the developed methodology is capable of providing a very promising way to identify truncated Volterra models blindly     

Modeling and performance analysis of IP access interface in optical transmission networks with packet switching

The article analyzes the influence of the Internet Protocol (IP) access interface on the packet loss probability and delay times in the optical packet switched network. The network and node model have been proposed, and the structure of the IP access interface, including assembler and holder, have been included in the analysis. It has been shown that the increase of the maximum optical packet sizes, as well as use of the holding feature as contention resolution mechanism, decrease the packet loss probability, but introduce delays at the optical network access points. Modeling and analysis were based on the discrete event simulation assuming self-similar traffic sources. IP packet lengths were modeled using empirical data. This work has been conducted while the author was affiliated with the Telecommunication Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL-STI-ITOP-TCOM), Lausanne, Switzerland     

Long-haul WDM transmission using higher order fiber dispersionmanagement

We propose a fiber dispersion management scheme for large-capacity long-haul wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission systems that considers not only second- but also third-order dispersion characteristics using transmission fibers with opposite dispersion signs. It eliminates the waveform distortion of WDM signals that originates from the existence of third-order dispersion, which is a constraint placed on WDM capacity in conventional dispersion management, while reducing the interchannel interaction caused by the interplay of fiber nonlinearity and second-order dispersion. Design concept of the scheme is discussed to show the feasibility of using actual fiber parameters. An experimental investigation on transmission performance regarding the signal pulse format, nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ), and interchannel interaction caused by four-wave mixing (FWM) and cross-phase modulation (XPM) is described for optimizing WDM system performance. It is experimentally shown that RZ pulse transmission is possible without significant spectral broadening over a wide wavelength range in dispersion managed fiber spans. Using these results together with a wideband optical amplifier gain-bandwidth management technique, yields long-distance WDM transmission with the capacity of 25×10 Gb/s over 9288 km     

Smoothing and transporting video in QoS IP networks

Real‐time traffic such as voice and video, when transported over the Internet, demand stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements. The current Internet as of today is still used as a best effort environment with no quality guarantees. An IP‐based Internet that supports different QoS requirements for different applications has been evolving for the past few years. Video streams are bursty in nature due to the instant variability of the video content being encoded. To help mitigate the transport of bursty video streams with minimal loss of information, rate‐adaptive shapers (RASs) are usually being used to reduce the burstiness and therefore help preserve the desired quality. When transporting video over a QoS IP network, each stream is classified under a specific traffic profile to which it must conform, to avoid packet loss and picture quality degradation. In this paper we study, evaluate and propose RASs for the transport of video over a QoS IP network. We utilize the encoding video parameters for choosing the appropriate configuration needed to support the real‐time transport of Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoded video streams. The performance evaluation of the different RASs is based on the transport of MPEG‐4 video streams encoded as VBR. The performance is studied based on looking at the effect of various parameters associated with the RASs on the effectiveness of smoothing out the burstiness of video and minimizing the probability of packet loss. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulcast packet transmission in ad hoc networks

In previous work, unequal error-protection techniques have been applied to improve the throughput of a wireless communication system in which a transmission is received by several radios with different capabilities. For instance, these capabilities may correspond to differences in path loss, fading, or interference. By taking advantage of the broadcast nature of the channel, additional messages for the more-capable receivers can be included on transmissions to the less-capable receivers at very little cost (in terms of required energy at the transmitter or error probabilities at the receivers). This technique has been termed simulcasting or multicast signaling. In this paper, we consider the use of these techniques in an ad hoc network. These techniques impact the link throughput, end-to-end throughput, and network connectivity. We investigate how the choice of parameters for the simulcasting technique affects these network performance metrics. The results indicate that a properly chosen simulcasting technique can improve the link and end-to-end throughput in wireless ad hoc networks with only a slight degradation in other metrics, such as network connectivity.     

Frequency-hop transmission for satellite packet switching and terrestrial packet radio networks

The performance of frequency-hop transmission in a packet communication network is analyzed. Satellite multiple-access broadcast channels for packet switching and terrestrial packet radio networks are the primary examples of the type of network considered. An analysis of the effects of multiple-access interference in frequency-hop radio networks is presented. New measures of "local" performance are defined and evaluated for networks of this type, and new concepts that are important in the design of these networks are introduced. In particular, error probabilities and local throughput are evaluated for a frequency-hop radio network which incorporates the standard slotted and unslotted ALOHA channel-access protocols, asynchronous frequency hopping, and Reed-Solomon error-control coding. The performance of frequency-hop multiple access with error-control coding is compared with the performance of conventional ALOHA random access using narrow-band radios.     

Modelling of industrial conveyorized applicators using higher order vector finite elements.

This paper presents a finite element time domain method for the solution of Maxwell's equations in microwave heating applicators using first and second order vector finite elements. Results are compared with experimental data and it has been shown that second order vector finite elements have many advantages over first order elements. Capitalising on the high accuracy and low computational cost attainable by higher order elements, an industrial conveyor belt system is numerically analyzed.     

Modelling VBR video over networks end-to-end using deterministic smoothing at the source

Video traffic is expected to become increasingly important with the large scale deployment of broadband ISDN. In the literature, it is suggested that smoothing variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic^1,2 before transmitting it onto the network would help reduce the probability of cell loss. In this paper we show why deterministic smoothing at the source approximates the minimum achievable loss over the network end-to-end of all possible smoothing schemes. Furthermore, we develop a powerful yet simple analytical technique that can efficiently calculate the loss probability at any point in a network carrying video traffic. We validate our analytical results using traces of actual video segments. The results can be used for admission control and traffic management. We find that in the case of highly correlated traffic such as motion JPEG video, the way to control loss is to ensure that the fraction of time the arrival process exceeds the service process is small. We also find that for such sources increasing the buffer size only marginally decreases the loss.     

The effect of packet dispersion on voice applications in IP networks

Delivery of real time streaming applications, such as voice and video over IP, in packet switched networks is based on dividing the stream into packets and shipping each of the packets on an individual basis to the destination through the network. The basic implicit assumption on these applications is that shipping all the packets of an application is done, most of the time,over a single path along the network. In this work, we present a model in which packets of a certain session are dispersed over multiple paths, in contrast to the traditional approach. The dispersion may be performed by network nodes for various reasons such as load-balancing, or implemented as a mechanism to improve quality, as will be presented in this work. To study the effect of packet dispersion on the quality of voice over IP (VoIP) applications,we focus on the effect of the network loss on the applications, where we propose to use the Noticeable Loss Rate (NLR) as a measure (negatively) correlated with the voice quality. We analyze the NLR for various packet dispersion strategies over paths experiencing memoryless (Bernoulli) or bursty (Gilbert model) losses,and compare them to each other. Our analysis reveals that in many situations the use of packet dispersion reduces the NLR and thus improves session quality. The results suggest that the use of packet dispersion can be quite beneficial for these applications.     

Architectures and performance of optical packet switching nodes for IP networks

As new bandwidth-hungry Internet protocol (IP) services are demanding more and more capacity, transport networks are evolving to provide a reconfigurable optical layer in order to allow fast dynamic allocation of wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) channels. To achieve this goal, optical packet-switched systems seem to be strong candidates as they allow a high degree of statistical resource sharing, which leads to an efficient bandwidth utilization. In this paper, we propose an architecture for optical packet-switched transport networks, together with an innovative switching node structure based on the concept of per-packet wavelength routing. The traffic performance of such node when loaded by a typical IP traffic is evaluated through computer simulation; packet loss probability and average delay performance are shown for various load conditions.     

Evaluation of temporal variation of video quality in packet loss networks

We examine the effect that variations in the temporal quality of videos have on global video quality. We also propose a general framework for constructing temporal video quality assessment (QA) algorithms that seek to assess transient temporal errors, such as packet losses. The proposed framework modifies simple frame-based quality assessment algorithms by incorporating a temporal quality variance factor. We use packet loss from channel errors as a specific study of practical significance. Using the PSNR and the SSIM index as exemplars, we are able to show that the new video QA algorithms are highly responsive to packet loss errors.     

Blind and complete modeling of linear systems using third order cumulants

This paper presents a novel approach to structure determination of linear systems along with the choice of system orders and parameters.AutoRegressive (AR),Moving Average (MA) or AutoRegressive-Moving Average (ARMA) model structure can be extracted blindly from the Third Order Cumulants (TOC) of the system output measurements,where the unknown system is driven by an unobservable stationary independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) non-Gaussian signal.By means of the system order recursion,whether the system has an AR structure or has AR part of an ARMA structure is firstly investigated.MA features in the TOC domain is then applied as a threshold to decide if the system is an MA model or has MA part of an ARMA model.Numerical simulations illustrate the generality of the proposed blind structure identification methodology that may serve as a guideline for blind linear system modeling.     

无线异构网络中的低复杂度分级视频传输技术

针对无线异构网络中进行视频无线传输遇到的网络拥塞、传输丢失等问题,提出了低编码复杂度分级编解码传输方案,基于逐级优化理论和可分级编码理论,设计了视频分级编码策略:利用小波变换后的不同分解层不同子带构成基本层(Base Layer,BL)和三个增强层,获得了码率分级和质量分级的特性.实验结果证明,随着不同层的更新,视频分级系统的解码质量和整体率失真性能都逐级改善.该传输方案实现了在信道条件动态变化的无线网络环境下仍能流畅传输并接收到有用信息,适用于信道条件不稳定的无线异构网络.     

The perspective of optical packet switching in IP dominant backboneand metropolitan networks

This article analyses the rationale and technical solutions for the use of optical packet switching techniques for both backbone and metropolitan applications. It also provides information on state-of-the-art technologies available for medium-term product development     

Low‐jitter slot assignment algorithm for deadline‐aware packet transmission in wireless video surveillance sensor networks

This work presents a distributed time‐slot assignment algorithm which adopts TDMA as Medium Access Control, specially suited to support applications with strict delay, jitter, and throughput requirements characterized by convergecast traffic pattern in sensor networks. (e.g. wireless video surveillance sensor networks). The proposed algorithm has three characteristics: (1) every node is guaranteed a path to the base station for its data delivery. In the path, sufficient resource is reserved and weighted fairness can be achieved. (2) It uses cascading time‐slot assignment and jitter minimization algorithm in each node to minimize jitter and end‐to‐end delay. (3) Nodes are only active during their scheduled slots and sleep otherwise. This offers energy saving by reducing idle listening and avoiding overhearing. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated over simulations and analyzed theoretically in comparison with existing slot assignment algorithm. The results show that our algorithm provides lower end‐to‐end delay, jitter, and higher throughput. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无线传感器网络视频传输技术研究

对无线传感器网络中的视频传输问题进行了研究。无线传感器网络中传输视频数据的难点,在于如何在节点资源有限的网络中确保视频业务的质量。分析并比较了基于单层协议的视频传输技术和基于多层设计的视频传输技术2类视频传输技术,得出结论：2者各有优缺点,单层协议设计与优化简单、扩展性强,但整体性能不一定最佳;跨层优化设计难度较大,但设计得当,性能优于单层协议。     

A protocol for adaptive transmission in direct-sequence spread-spectrum packet radio networks

Wireless communication channels may change greatly from one transmission to the next, due to variations in propagation loss and interference. The use of fixed transmission parameters for such channels results in wasted energy when channel conditions are good. Adaptation of the power, code rate, and symbol rate reduces energy consumption and interference caused to other systems. Such adaptation requires information about the characteristics of the channel, which is more difficult to obtain in a packet radio network (PRN) or other mobile ad hoc network than in a typical cellular communication system. We develop methods for providing partial information about the channel state from three statistics that are derived by different subsystems in the receiving terminals of a direct-sequence spread-spectrum PRN. We present and evaluate a protocol that uses this information to adapt the transmission parameters in response to changes in interference and propagation conditions in the network. The performance of the new adaptive-transmission protocol is compared with a system with fixed transmission parameters and with an adaptive protocol that is furnished with perfect knowledge of the channel state at the completion of each transmission.