An Integrated Framework for Efficient Transport of Real-Time MPEG Video over ATM Best Effort Service

This paper describes a framework for the transport of real-time multimedia traffic generated by MPEG-2 applications over ATM networks using an enhanced UBR best effort service (UBR+). Based on the factors affecting the picture quality during transmission, we propose an efficient and cost-effective ATM best effort delivery service. The proposed framework integrates three major components: 1) a dynamic frame-level priority assignment mechanism based on MPEG data structure and feedback from the network (DexPAS), 2) a novel audio-visual AAL5 SSCS with FEC (AV-SSCS), and 3) an intelligent packet video discard scheme named FEC-PSD, which adaptively and selectively adjusts cell drop levels to switch buffer occupancy, video cell payload type and forward error correction capability of the destination. The overall best-effort video delivery framework is evaluated using ATM network simulation and MPEG2 video traces. The ultimate goal of this framework is twofold: First, minimizing loss of critical video data with bounded end-to-end delay for arriving cells and second, reducing the bad throughput crossing the network during congestion. Compared to previous approaches, performance evaluation shows a good protection of Predictive coded (P-) and Bi-directional Predictive coded (B-) frames at the MPEG video slice layer.