Congestion–distortion optimized video transmission over ad hoc networks

The performance of low-latency video streaming with multipath routing over ad hoc networks is studied. As the available transmission rate of individual links in an ad hoc network is typically limited due to power and bandwidth constraints, a single node transmitting multimedia data may impact the overall network congestion and may therefore need to limit its rate while striving for the highest sustainable video quality. For this purpose, optimal routing algorithms which seek to minimize congestion by optimally distributing traffic over multiple paths are attractive. To predict the end-to-end rate-distortion tradeoff, we develop a model which captures both the impact of encoder quantization and of packet loss due to network congestion on the overall video quality. The validity of the model is confirmed by network simulations performed with different routing algorithms, latency requirements and encoding structures.