Reliable video communication over lossy packet networks using multiple state encoding and path diversity Video communication over lossy packet networks such as the Internet is hampered by limited bandwidth and packet loss. This paper presents a system for providing reliable video communication over these networks, where the system is composed of two subsystems: (1) multiple state video encoderdecoder and (2) a path diversity transmission system. Multiple state video coding combats the problem of error propagation at the decoder by coding the video into multiple independently decodable streams, each with its own prediction process and state. If one stream is lost the other streams can still be decoded to produce usable video, and furthermore, the correctly received streams provide bidirectional (previous and future) information that enables improved state recovery for the corrupted stream. This video coder is a form of multiple description coding (MDC), and its novelty lies in its use of information from the multiple streams to perform state recovery at the decoder. The path diversity transmission system explicitly sends different subsets of packets over different paths, as opposed to the default scenarios where the packets proceed along a single path, thereby enabling the endtoend video application to effectively see an average path behavior. We refer to this as path diversity. Generally, seeing this average path behavior provides better performance than seeing the behavior of any individual random path. For example, the probability that all of the multiple paths are simultaneously congested is much less than the probability that a single path is congested. The resulting path diversity provides the multiple state video decoder with an appropriate virtual channel to assist in recovering from lost packets, and can also simplify system design, e.g. FEC design. We propose two architectures for achieving path diversity, and examine the effectiveness of path diversity in communicating video over a lossy packet network.

Comparison of standardbased H.264 errorresilience techniques and multipledescription coding for robust MIMOenabled video transmission MIMO (multipleinputmultipleoutput) systems offer potential for throughput increase and enhanced quality of service for multimedia transmission. The underlying multipath environment requires new errorresilience techniques if the obtained benefits are to be fully exploited. Different MIMO architectures produce errorpatterns of somewhat diverse characteristics. This paper proposes the use of multipledescription coding (MDC) as an approach that outperforms the standardbased errorresilience techniques in the majority of these cases. Results obtained from the random packeterror generator are furthered through the use of realistic MIMO channel scenarios and argue in favour of the deployment of an MDCbased video transmission system. Singular value decomposition (SVD) is used to create orthogonal subchannels within a MIMO system which provide, depending on their respective gains and fading characteristics, an efficient means of mapping video content. Results indicate improvements in average PSNR of decoded testsequences of up to 3 dB (5dB in the region of high PERs) compared to standard, singledescription video transmission. This is also supported by significant subjective quality enhancements.