Multiple Description Coded Video Streaming with Multipath Transport in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Multiple description coding (MD coding or MDC) generates multiple decodable bitstreams for a single source to combat packet loss, which is suitable for video streaming in error-prone wireless ad hoc networks. In this paper, two problems are investigated for MD coded video streaming in wireless ad hoc networks. The first problem addresses multipath selection for balanced two-description coded video streaming. We formulate an interference-aware MDC multipath routing for single-radio networks by employing a time-division link scheduling method to eliminate wireless interference, and ultimately obtain an optimal path selection corresponding to the minimum achievable distortion. A heuristic solution is developed for the interference-aware multipath routing, by defining a path metric taking into account interference, link bandwidth and link “up” probability. The second problem addresses MDC redundancy control according to varying channel conditions of multiple paths. We design an unbalanced redundant slice based two-description video coding, which optimally selects the amount of inserted redundancy for each description. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MDC multipath routing scheme and the unbalanced MD video coding approach over heterogeneous paths.