Layered Media Multicast Control (LMMC): Real-Time Error Control

We study the problem of real-time error control in layered and replicated media systems. We formulate an optimization problem aimed at minimizing a cost metric defined over the wasted bandwidth of redundancy in such systems. We also provide an analytical solution to the problem in the context of layered media multicast control (LMMC) protocol. In doing so, we present closed-form expressions describing the temporally correlated loss pattern of communication networks. Utilizing our closed-form expressions, we rely on an a priori estimate of loss along with a hybrid proactive FEC-ARQ scheme to statistically guarantee the QoS for the receivers of a media system. We show the effectiveness of our protocol by means of simulating realistic error control scenarios