QUALITY-DRIVEN CROSS LAYER DESIGN FOR MULTIMEDIA SECURITY OVER RESOURCE CONSTRAINED WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

The strong need for security guarantee, e.g., integrity and authenticity, as well as privacy and confidentiality in wireless multimedia services has driven the development of an emerging research area in low cost Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs). Unfortunately, those conventional encryption and authentication techniques cannot be applied directly to WMSNs due to inborn challenges such as extremely limited energy, computing and bandwidth resources. This dissertation provides a quality-driven security design and resource allocation framework for WMSNs. The contribution of this dissertation bridges the inter-disciplinary research gap between high layer multimedia signal processing and low layer computer networking. It formulates the generic problem of quality-driven multimedia resource allocation in WMSNs and proposes a cross layer solution. The fundamental methodologies of multimedia selective encryption and stream authentication, and their application to digital image or video compression standards are presented. New multimedia selective encryption and stream authentication schemes are proposed at application layer, which significantly reduces encryption/authentication complexity. In addition, network resource allocation methodologies at low layers are extensively studied. An unequal error protection-based network resource allocation scheme is proposed to achieve the best effort media quality with integrity and energy efficiency guarantee. Performance evaluation results show that this cross layer framework achieves considerable energy-quality-security gain by jointly designing multimedia selective encryption/multimedia stream authentication and communication resource allocation

Combined Source and Channel Strategies for Optimized Video Communications

ISBN 978-953-7619-70-

Channel coding for progressive images in a 2-D time-frequency OFDM block with channel estimation errors.

Coding and diversity are very effective techniques for improving transmission reliability in a mobile wireless environment. The use of diversity is particularly important for multimedia communications over fading channels. In this work, we study the transmission of progressive image bitstreams using channel coding in a 2-D time-frequency resource block in an OFDM network, employing time and frequency diversities simultaneously. In particular, in the frequency domain, based on the order of diversity and the correlation of individual subcarriers, we construct symmetric n -channel FEC-based multiple descriptions using channel erasure codes combined with embedded image coding. In the time domain, a concatenation of RCPC codes and CRC codes is employed to protect individual descriptions. We consider the physical channel conditions arising from various coherence bandwidths and coherence times, leading to a range of orders of diversities available in the time and frequency domains. We investigate the effects of different error patterns on the delivered image quality due to various fade rates. We also study the tradeoffs and compare the relative effectiveness associated with the use of erasure codes in the frequency domain and convolutional codes in the time domain under different physical environments. Both the effects of intercarrier interference and channel estimation errors are included in our study. Specifically, the effects of channel estimation errors, frequency selectivity and the rate of the channel variations are taken into consideration for the construction of the 2-D time-frequency block. We provide results showing the gain that the proposed model achieves compared to a system without temporal coding. In one example, for a system experiencing flat fading, low Doppler, and imperfect CSI, we find that the increase in PSNR compared to a system without time diversity is as much as 9.4 dB

Joint source channel coding for progressive image transmission

Recent wavelet-based image compression algorithms achieve best ever performances with fully embedded bit streams. However, those embedded bit streams are very sensitive to channel noise and protections from channel coding are necessary. Typical error correcting capability of channel codes varies according to different channel conditions. Thus, separate design leads to performance degradation relative to what could be achieved through joint design. In joint source-channel coding schemes, the choice of source coding parameters may vary over time and channel conditions. In this research, we proposed a general approach for the evaluation of such joint source-channel coding scheme. Instead of using the average peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) or distortion as the performance metric, we represent the system performance by its average error-free source coding rate, which is further shown to be an equivalent metric in the optimization problems. The transmissions of embedded image bit streams over memory channels and binary symmetric channels (BSCs) are investigated in this dissertation. Mathematical models were obtained in closed-form by error sequence analysis (ESA). Not surprisingly, models for BSCs are just special cases for those of memory channels. It is also discovered that existing techniques for performance evaluation on memory channels are special cases of this new approach. We further extend the idea to the unequal error protection (UEP) of embedded images sources in BSCs. The optimization problems are completely defined and solved. Compared to the equal error protection (EEP) schemes, about 0.3 dB performance gain is achieved by UEP for typical BSCs. For some memory channel conditions, the performance improvements can be up to 3 dB. Transmission of embedded image bit streams in channels with feedback are also investigated based on the model for memory channels. Compared to the best possible performance achieved on feed forward transmission, feedback leads to about 1.7 dB performance improvement

Video transmission over wireless networks

Compressed video bitstream transmissions over wireless networks are addressed in this work. We first consider error control and power allocation for transmitting wireless video over CDMA networks in conjunction with multiuser detection. We map a layered video bitstream to several CDMA fading channels and inject multiple source/parity layers into each of these channels at the transmitter. We formulate a combined optimization problem and give the optimal joint rate and power allocation for each of linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) multiuser detector in the uplink and two types of blind linear MMSE detectors, i.e., the direct-matrix-inversion (DMI) blind detector and the subspace blind detector, in the downlink. We then present a multiple-channel video transmission scheme in wireless CDMA networks over multipath fading channels. For a given budget on the available bandwidth and total transmit power, the transmitter determines the optimal power allocations and the optimal transmission rates among multiple CDMA channels, as well as the optimal product channel code rate allocation. We also make use of results on the large-system CDMA performance for various multiuser receivers in multipath fading channels. We employ a fast joint source-channel coding algorithm to obtain the optimal product channel code structure. Finally, we propose an end-to-end architecture for multi-layer progressive video delivery over space-time differentially coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (STDC-OFDM) systems. We propose to use progressive joint source-channel coding to generate operational transmission distortion-power-rate (TD-PR) surfaces. By extending the rate-distortion function in source coding to the TD-PR surface in joint source-channel coding, our work can use the ??equal slope?? argument to effectively solve the transmission rate allocation problem as well as the transmission power allocation problem for multi-layer video transmission. It is demonstrated through simulations that as the wireless channel conditions change, these proposed schemes can scale the video streams and transport the scaled video streams to receivers with a smooth change of perceptual quality

Progressively communicating rich telemetry from autonomous underwater vehicles via relays

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2012As analysis of imagery and environmental data plays a greater role in mission construction and execution, there is an increasing need for autonomous marine vehicles to transmit this data to the surface. Without access to the data acquired by a vehicle, surface operators cannot fully understand the state of the mission. Communicating imagery and high-resolution sensor readings to surface observers remains a significant challenge – as a result, current telemetry from free-roaming autonomous marine vehicles remains limited to ‘heartbeat’ status messages, with minimal scientific data available until after recovery. Increasing the challenge, longdistance communication may require relaying data across multiple acoustic hops between vehicles, yet fixed infrastructure is not always appropriate or possible. In this thesis I present an analysis of the unique considerations facing telemetry systems for free-roaming Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) used in exploration. These considerations include high-cost vehicle nodes with persistent storage and significant computation capabilities, combined with human surface operators monitoring each node. I then propose mechanisms for interactive, progressive communication of data across multiple acoustic hops. These mechanisms include wavelet-based embedded coding methods, and a novel image compression scheme based on texture classification and synthesis. The specific characteristics of underwater communication channels, including high latency, intermittent communication, the lack of instantaneous end-to-end connectivity, and a broadcast medium, inform these proposals. Human feedback is incorporated by allowing operators to identify segments of data thatwarrant higher quality refinement, ensuring efficient use of limited throughput. I then analyze the performance of these mechanisms relative to current practices. Finally, I present CAPTURE, a telemetry architecture that builds on this analysis. CAPTURE draws on advances in compression and delay tolerant networking to enable progressive transmission of scientific data, including imagery, across multiple acoustic hops. In concert with a physical layer, CAPTURE provides an endto- end networking solution for communicating science data from autonomous marine vehicles. Automatically selected imagery, sonar, and time-series sensor data are progressively transmitted across multiple hops to surface operators. Human operators can request arbitrarily high-quality refinement of any resource, up to an error-free reconstruction. The components of this system are then demonstrated through three field trials in diverse environments on SeaBED, OceanServer and Bluefin AUVs, each in different software architectures.Thanks to the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their funding of my education and this work

Channel Coding for Progressive Images in a 2-D Time-Frequency OFDM Block With Channel Estimation Errors

Coding and diversity are very effective techniques for improving transmission reliability in a mobile wireless environ- ment. The use of diversity is particularly important for multimedia communications over fading channels. In this work, we study the transmission of progressive image bitstreams using channel coding in a 2-D time-frequency resource block in an OFDM network, em- ploying time and frequency diversities simultaneously. In partic- ular, in the frequency domain, based on the order of diversity and the correlation of individual subcarriers, we construct symmetric -channel FEC-based multiple descriptions using channel erasure codes combined with embedded image coding. In the time domain, a concatenation of RCPC codes and CRC codes is employed to pro- tect individual descriptions. We consider the physical channel con- ditions arising from various coherence bandwidths and coherence times, leading to a range of orders of diversities available in the time and frequency domains. We investigate the effects of different error patterns on the delivered image quality due to various fade rates. We also study the tradeoffs and compare the relative effec- tiveness associated with the use of erasure codes in the frequency domain and convolutional codes in the time domain under different physical environments. Both the effects of intercarrier interference and channel estimation errors are included in our study. Specifi- cally, the effects of channel estimation errors, frequency selectivity and the rate of the channel variations are taken into consideration for the construction of the 2-D time-frequency block. We provide results showing the gain that the proposed model achieves com- pared to a system without temporal coding. In one example, for a system experiencing flat fading, low Doppler, and imperfect CSI, we find that the increase in PSNR compared to a system without time diversity is as much as 9.4 dB

A Survey on Multimedia-Based Cross-Layer Optimization in Visual Sensor Networks

Visual sensor networks (VSNs) comprised of battery-operated electronic devices endowed with low-resolution cameras have expanded the applicability of a series of monitoring applications. Those types of sensors are interconnected by ad hoc error-prone wireless links, imposing stringent restrictions on available bandwidth, end-to-end delay and packet error rates. In such context, multimedia coding is required for data compression and error-resilience, also ensuring energy preservation over the path(s) toward the sink and improving the end-to-end perceptual quality of the received media. Cross-layer optimization may enhance the expected efficiency of VSNs applications, disrupting the conventional information flow of the protocol layers. When the inner characteristics of the multimedia coding techniques are exploited by cross-layer protocols and architectures, higher efficiency may be obtained in visual sensor networks. This paper surveys recent research on multimedia-based cross-layer optimization, presenting the proposed strategies and mechanisms for transmission rate adjustment, congestion control, multipath selection, energy preservation and error recovery. We note that many multimedia-based cross-layer optimization solutions have been proposed in recent years, each one bringing a wealth of contributions to visual sensor networks