基于冗余小波变换的可扩展视频多描述编码

视频图像信息在不可靠信道上传输将引起丢包、误码以及延时等现象,严重影响了重建视频图像的质量;另外,在网络带宽、信道条件以及用户需求不同的传输环境下,迫切希望对视频图像进行可扩展性编码。将多描述编码技术与视频小波技术相结合,提出了一种新的视频编码方法,为解决上述问题提供一种新途径,实验仿真结果说明了这一方法的可行性与有效性。     

SVC在无线信道传输中的非均衡差错保护

针对H.264的可伸缩视频编码扩展标准(SVC)在噪声信道中的传输,采用低密度奇偶校验码(LDPC)提出一种非均衡差错保护的方案。在所提的方案中,根据时间、分辨率和质量把原视频序列按重要性分成不同的层。由于不同层的数据对错误的敏感性不同,对其进行不同码率的LDPC信道编码,实现非均衡差错保护。根据视频流中每一帧不同层的PSNR增量不同,和不同信道码率下正确解码的概率不同,反复计算每一帧所有码率组合的PSNR增量值并找出最大组,从而进行信道编码并传输。实验表明,在相同的平均码率条件下,提出的方案相比其他方案的PSNR值增加了2.8 dB,更适合无线信道的传输。     

The MPEG-4 fine-grained scalable video coding method for multimediastreaming over IP

Real-time streaming of audiovisual content over the Internet is emerging as an important technology area in multimedia communications. Due to the wide variation of available bandwidth over Internet sessions, there is a need for scalable video coding methods and (corresponding) flexible streaming approaches that are capable of adapting to changing network conditions in real time. In this paper, we describe a new scalable video-coding framework that has been adopted recently by the MPEG-4 video standard. This new MPEG-4 video approach, which is known as Fine-Granular-Scalability (FGS), consists of a rich set of video coding tools that support quality (i.e., SNR), temporal, and hybrid temporal-SNR scalabilities. Moreover, one of the desired features of the MPEG-J FGS method is its simplicity and flexibility in supporting unicast and multicast streaming applications over IF     

Two-Dimensional Channel Coding Scheme for MCTF-Based Scalable Video Coding

The motion-compensated temporal filtering (MCTF)-based scalable video coding (SVC) provides a full scalability including spatial, temporal and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scalability with fine granularity, each of which may result in different visual effect. This paper addresses a novel approach of two-dimensional unequal error protection (2D UEP) for the scalable video with a combined temporal and quality (SNR) scalability over packet-erasure channel. The bit-stream is divided into scalable subbitstreams based on the structure of MCTF. Each subbitstream is further divided into several quality layers. Unequal quantities of bits are allocated to protect different layers to obtain acceptable quality video with smooth degradation under different transmission error conditions. Experimental results are presented to show the advantage of the proposed 2D UEP scheme over the traditional one-dimensional unequal error protection (1D UEP) scheme. Comparing the proposed method with the 1D UEP scheme on SNR layers, our method gives up to 0.81-dB improvement for some video sequences     

Optimal adaptive channel scheduling for scalable video broadcasting over MIMO wireless networks

Video broadcasting is an efficient way to deliver video content to multiple receivers. However, due to heterogeneous channel conditions in MIMO wireless networks, it is challenging for video broadcasting to map scalable video layers to proper MIMO transmit antennas to minimize the average overall video transmission distortion. In this paper, we investigate the channel scheduling problem for broadcasting scalable video content over MIMO wireless networks. An adaptive channel scheduling based unequal error protection (UEP) video broadcasting scheme is proposed. In the scheme, video layers are protected unequally by being mapped to appropriate antennas, and the average overall distortion of all receivers is minimized. We formulate this scheme into a non-linear combinatorial optimization problem. It is not practical to solve the problem by an exhaustive search method with heavy computational complexity. Instead, an efficient branch-and-bound based channel scheduling algorithm, named TBCS, is developed. TBCS finds the global optimal solution with much lower complexity. The complexity is further reduced by relaxing the termination condition of TBCS, which produces a (1 − ε)-optimal solution. Experimental results demonstrate both the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed scheme and algorithm. As compared with some existing channel scheduling methods, TBCS improves the quality of video broadcasting across all receivers significantly.     

Video loss recovery with FEC and stream replication

Packet loss is inevitable in video multicast. In this paper, we propose and study an effective feedback-free loss recovery scheme for layered video which combines forward error correction (FEC) and stream replication. In our scheme, the server multicasts the video in parallel with FEC packets and a number of replicated delayed (ReD) version of the stream. Receivers autonomously and dynamically join the FEC and ReD streams to repair their losses. On the server side, we analyze and optimize the number of replicated streams and FEC packets to meet a certain residual loss requirement (i.e., error after correction). On the receiver side, we analyze the optimal combination of FEC and ReD packets to minimize its loss. We also present a fast yet accurate approximation algorithm for receiver to make such decision. We show that FEC combined with merely one or two replicated streams can effectively reduce the residual error rate (by as much as 50%) as compared with pure FEC or replication alone. Both subjective and objective video measures confirm that our recovery scheme achieves much better visual quality.     

Internet多媒体分层组播JSCC差错控制率失真优化

针对Internet多媒体群组通信中同时存在的带宽异构性和包丢失率异构性，文中将分层组播和接收者驱动的思想扩展到FEC差错控制中，提出一种分层FEC组播差错控制方法LM-FEC．LM-FEC通过不同的组播组发送信源编码层和各信源层的FEC校验数据，为接收者根据信道带宽和数据包丢失率实施差错控制提供更加灵活的选择．文中用FH-MDP模型描述接收者行为，通过JSCC率失真优化确定编码层内和编码层间的速率分配，JSCC率失真优化采用变量替换和动态规划算法求解．实验表明，该文提出的差错控制方法能够有效改善重建多媒体信号的回放质量．     

Scalable solutions for secure group communications

With the advent of digital technologies and widening Internet bandwidth in recent years there has been a marked rise in new multimedia services, including teleconferencing, pay-per-view TV, interactive simulations, software updates and real-time delivery of stock market information. Multicast data distribution has been used in controlled environments to deliver such services. However, the lack of secure, accountable multicast data distribution has prevented its use in general Internet environments. Proposals for multicast security solutions so far are complex and often require trust in intermediate components or are inefficient. A secure multicast protocol suite must provide data confidentiality and multicast packet source authentication. In this paper we present a robust, simple and efficient multicast key management protocol based on proxy encryption and a multicast data source authentication mechanism based on symmetric message authentication codes. The solutions are analyzed and compared to previously published schemes. The results show that the proposed schemes are efficient and scalable relative to existing schemes.     

Packet loss resilience using unequal forward error correction assignment for video transmission over communication networks

Forward error correction (FEC) methods have been developed for packet loss resilience in application layer for real-time video transmission over communication networks. In this paper, an efficient packet loss resilience method is proposed using closed form solution for unequal FEC assignment based on a new packet distortion model. We first derive the packet distortion model by investigating the error concealment property and error propagation effect in H.264. To select the source and channel rate minimizing the overall distortion, we present a model-based rate allocation algorithm using the packet distortion model and rate-distortion function. Then we propose the closed form solution for unequal FEC assignment, which uses the packet distortion model and considers channel status information. Simulation results show that the proposed method gives substantial improvement for the received video quality in packet-lossy Internet and wireless network environments, while it requires much less computational complexity compared to the previous scheme.     

High-performance forward error correction: Enabling multi-gigabit flows and beyond on commodity GPU and CPU hardware in presence of packet loss

In demanding real-time multimedia transmissions, even a small packet loss might significantly degrade the visual quality. As retransmission is not an option in real-time transfers especially when transmitting the data over long distances, it is necessary to employ mechanisms of Forward Error Correction (FEC). Low-Density Generator Matrix (LDGM) codes are known to be suitable for coding on large block sizes, however, high bitrates of currently used video formats (FullHD, 4K) also require high throughput of FEC coding and decoding. We propose a parallel design of LDGM encoding and decoding algorithms suitable for off-the-shelf, (massively) parallel platforms, such CPUs with vector units or GPUs, and evaluate our approach in real-world scenarios of high-definition and 4K video transmissions. Our results show that offloading FEC computation to such platform is beneficial for low-latency, high-quality multimedia transmissions and may even enable transmissions beyond 10Gbps once the commodity network interfaces reach this speed.     

An efficient and scalable loss-recovery scheme for video multicast

With the increased popularity of multimedia services on the Internet, efficient video multicast strategies that can scale easily are of critical importance. This paper addresses the issue of video multicast loss recovery and presents an efficient and scalable scheme: Active Injection Recovery (AIR). The proposed scheme has three distinguishing features: active injection of repair packets into loss regions, on-demand construction of loss-recovery structures, and unique rate control over repair traffic. All of these features can save considerable network resources in a large-scale video multicast session. In addition, the proposed scheme simultaneously meets the three well-known requirements for efficiency and scalability in multicast loss recovery: request suppression, local recovery, and retransmission scoping. Another important feature of the proposed scheme is its low recovery latency, which is essential for video multicast. Our results show that the proposed scheme achieves significantly better overall performance as compared to existing multicast loss recovery schemes.     

Fast and low-complexity encoding of Raptor codes based on operation lists for known source block lengths

Raptor codes can provide good error correction capability and efficient encoding and decoding rate. Its fountain code property is effective in avoiding packet retransmission for both unicast and multicast service delivery. Hence, there are many mobile, vehicular and broadband applications adopting it such as mobile multimedia broadcasting, multimedia communications for high-speed rails and broadband IPTV systems. In this paper, we present an efficient systematic Raptor codes encoder based on operation lists for known source block lengths. For a Raptor codes application that can frequently use one or several fixed source block lengths (i.e., the number of source symbols in a source block), we could produce the corresponding operation lists in advance and use them to generate the encoding symbols more efficiently. We first introduce the basic architecture of the proposed Raptor encoder, and then describe the details about how to generate operation lists and Raptor intermediate symbols. The simulation results show that our encoder is at least two times faster than the conventional Raptor codes encoder which is adopted by 3GPP and DVB-H. Besides, the reduction on CPU utilization for a real Raptor-based streaming server is described, which is from 11.59 % to 53.41 %, depending on the employed source block length and symbol size.     

Packet loss probability for DiffServ over IP and MPLS reliable homogeneous multicast networks

Multicasting has become increasingly important with the emergence of Internet-based applications such as IP telephony, audio/video conferencing, distributed databases and software upgrading. IP multicasting is an efficient way to distribute information from a single source to multiple destinations at different locations. In practice IP is considered as a layer 3 protocol. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) replaces the IP forwarding by a simple label lookup. MPLS combines the flexibility of layer 3 routing and layer 2 switching.In order to provide QoS in group communications for real time applications such as video conferencing, reliable multicasting is used. Miscellaneous efforts have been undertaken to provide reliability on top of IP multicast. Two error control strategies have been popular in practice. These are the FEC (Forward Error Correction) strategy, which uses error correction alone, and the ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) strategy, which uses error detection, combined with retransmission of data.In this paper, we present a new fair share policy (FSP) that utilizes Differentiated Services to solve the problems of QoS and congestion control when reliable ARQ multicast is used. The results should provide insight into the comparisons of the residual packet loss probability between IP multicast in MPLS networks using FSP and plain IP multicasting using the same policy when DiffServ are adopted and when reliable ARQ multicast is considered.     

数字喷泉码及网络喷泉码的最新进展

数字喷泉码和网络编码都是提高网络传输效率的有效技术方法,两者的有机结合形成的网络喷泉码具有重要的理论意义和应用价值。本文首先对数字喷泉码的最新研究进展进行了综述,分别介绍了几类常见的数字喷泉码的相关研究工作;其次对当前网络喷泉码的研究现状进行了系统的总结,重点介绍了同构网络喷泉码、异构网络喷泉码和无线网络喷泉码的相关理论及其最新研究成果,并分析了研究中存在的问题;最后对网络喷泉码的相关理论及其应用的发展趋势进行了分析和展望。     

线性优先级不等差保护LT码的设计

LT码作为一种无码率的编码,能显著地提高网络数据吞吐量。在不同优先级的网络数据传输中,不等差保护（ UEP）是一种必要的方法。所以,设计一个性能良好的具有不等差错保护功能的LT码有很大的应用价值。文中设计了一类具有线性优先级不等差保护特性的LT码（ UEP-LT）。也就是说,对数据层的保护水平是线性分布的。提出的UEP-LT码能以极低的译码开销恢复大多数高优先级的数据。同时,这种UEP-LT码在合理的译码开销下具有比等差保护（ EEP）低的误码率,更好地满足了多媒体传输中对不等差错保护的要求。     

An unequal packet loss resilience scheme for video over the Internet

We present an unequal packet loss resilience scheme for robust transmission of video over the Internet. By jointly exploiting the unequal importance existing in different levels of syntax hierarchy in video coding schemes, GOP-level and Resynchronization-packet-level Integrated Protection (GRIP) is designed for joint unequal loss protection (ULP) in these two levels using forward error correction (FEC) across packets. Two algorithms are developed to achieve efficient FEC assignment for the proposed GRIP framework: a model-based FEC assignment algorithm and a heuristic FEC assignment algorithm. The model-based FEC assignment algorithm is to achieve optimal allocation of FEC codes based on a simple but effective performance metric, namely distortion-weighted expected length of error propagation, which is adopted to quantify the temporal propagation effect of packet loss on video quality degradation. The heuristic FEC assignment algorithm aims at providing a much simpler yet effective FEC assignment with little computational complexity. The proposed GRIP together with any of the two developed FEC assignment algorithms demonstrates strong robustness against burst packet losses with adaptation to different channel status.     

A new unequal error protection scheme based on FMO

This paper presents a novel scheme for video transmission over error-prone networks. The proposed scheme exploits the error resilient features of H.264/AVC and employs an unequal error protection (UEP) approach to protect effectively the streams. A novel algorithm is proposed to classify macroblocks into slice groups using the explicit mode of Flexible Macroblock Ordering (FMO). A rate distortion optimized algorithm is used to assign unequal amounts of FEC protection to the resulting slice groups according to their importance. In addition, a Converged Motion Estimation (CME) is proposed to further improve the proposed UEP scheme. The idea behind the CME is to make the macroblocks be referenced in a skewed manner, such that highly important macroblocks are converged on only a few and the use of redundancy for error protection is efficient. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method over other approaches for transmission of H.264/AVC streams.     

区分服务中分层视频组播报文测量和转发算法

区分服务是一种可扩展的服务质量支撑框架,视频组播是对服务质量有较高要求的应用.为了满足端系统的异构性要求,对视频进行分层传输是比较好的方法.研究了使用区服务中的确保服务进行分层视频组播传输的方法,提出了LVMM(layered video multicast meter)测量算法和LVMF(layered video multicast forwarder)转发算法.该方法只需要一个组播地址,其有效性通过ns-2模拟器进行了验证.     

基于MPEG 4的无线视频传输方案的研究*

提出一种基于MPEG4的无线视频传输非等重误码保护方案。根据信道反馈的丢包率信息,自适应选择输出视频流的保护模式。在丢包信道中,对MPEG4码流中运动信息和纹理信息采取不同的保护力度,使用FEC重点保护运动信息数据提高其对误码的鲁棒性。在无丢包信道中,不对数据进行保护,降低打包开销,减少冗余数据。     

对具有帧间相关性的分层视频码流的非均匀错误保护

在分层视频码流的网络实时传输中,非均匀错误保护（UEP）技术已经被广泛地研究。至今为止,几乎所有的UEP相关工作都是针对具有链式结构的单一码流。但是,在一些实际的图像及视频编码系统（例如MPEG-4）产生的码流中,都存在着更为复杂的树型相关性结构。针对这种具有树型相关性结构的码流提出了一种打包方案,并在此基础上提供了两种带宽分配方案。试验中,采用MPEG-4FGS作为信源编码器。试验结果表明,采用灵活的帧间自适应带宽分配方案可以有效地提高系统性能。