Reference picture selection using checkerboard pattern for resilient video coding

The improved compression efficiency achieved by the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard has the counter-effect of decreasing error resilience in transmission over error-prone channels. To increase the error resilience of HEVC streams, this paper proposes a checkerboard reference picture selection method in order to reduce the prediction mismatch at the decoder in case of frame losses. The proposed approach not only allows to reduce the error propagation at the decoder, but also enhances the quality of reconstructed frames by selectively constraining the choice of reference pictures used for temporal prediction. The underlying approach is to increase the amount of accurate temporal information at the decoder when transmission errors occur, to improve the video quality by using an efficient combination of diverse motion fields. The proposed method compensates for the small loss of coding efficiency at frame loss rates as low as 3%. For a single frame-loss event the proposed method can achieve up to 2 dB of gain in the affected frames and an average quality gain of 0:84 dB for different error prone conditions

Global Motion Estimation and Its Applications

In this chapter, global motion estimation and its applications are given. Firstly we give the definitions of global motion and global motion estimation. Secondly, the parametric representations of global motion models are provided. Thirdly, global estimation approaches including pixel domain based global motion estimation, hierarchical globa

Error-resilient performance of Dirac video codec over packet-erasure channel

Video transmission over the wireless or wired network requires error-resilient mechanism since compressed video bitstreams are sensitive to transmission errors because of the use of predictive coding and variable length coding. This paper investigates the performance of a simple and low complexity error-resilient coding scheme which combines source and channel coding to protect compressed bitstream of wavelet-based Dirac video codec in the packet-erasure channel. By partitioning the wavelet transform coefficients of the motion-compensated residual frame into groups and independently processing each group using arithmetic and Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding, Dirac could achieves the robustness to transmission errors by giving the video quality which is gracefully decreasing over a range of packet loss rates up to 30% when compared with conventional FEC only methods. Simulation results also show that the proposed scheme using multiple partitions can achieve up to 10 dB PSNR gain over its existing un-partitioned format. This paper also investigates the error-resilient performance of the proposed scheme in comparison with H.264 over packet-erasure channel

Error resilience and concealment techniques for high-efficiency video coding

This thesis investigates the problem of robust coding and error concealment in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). After a review of the current state of the art, a simulation study about error robustness, revealed that the HEVC has weak protection against network losses with significant impact on video quality degradation. Based on this evidence, the first contribution of this work is a new method to reduce the temporal dependencies between motion vectors, by improving the decoded video quality without compromising the compression efficiency. The second contribution of this thesis is a two-stage approach for reducing the mismatch of temporal predictions in case of video streams received with errors or lost data. At the encoding stage, the reference pictures are dynamically distributed based on a constrained Lagrangian rate-distortion optimization to reduce the number of predictions from a single reference. At the streaming stage, a prioritization algorithm, based on spatial dependencies, selects a reduced set of motion vectors to be transmitted, as side information, to reduce mismatched motion predictions at the decoder. The problem of error concealment-aware video coding is also investigated to enhance the overall error robustness. A new approach based on scalable coding and optimally error concealment selection is proposed, where the optimal error concealment modes are found by simulating transmission losses, followed by a saliency-weighted optimisation. Moreover, recovery residual information is encoded using a rate-controlled enhancement layer. Both are transmitted to the decoder to be used in case of data loss. Finally, an adaptive error resilience scheme is proposed to dynamically predict the video stream that achieves the highest decoded quality for a particular loss case. A neural network selects among the various video streams, encoded with different levels of compression efficiency and error protection, based on information from the video signal, the coded stream and the transmission network. Overall, the new robust video coding methods investigated in this thesis yield consistent quality gains in comparison with other existing methods and also the ones implemented in the HEVC reference software. Furthermore, the trade-off between coding efficiency and error robustness is also better in the proposed methods

On the Effects of Sender-Receiver Concealment Mismatch on Multimedia Communication Optimization

A large number of performance optimization algorithms for multimedia communications, including rate-distortion optimized schemes, rely on knowing the decoder behavior in case of data loss, i.e., the decoder-side error concealment technique. However, for the specific case of video coding, standards do not specify it, thus different decoders may - and typically do - use different concealment techniques. This work investigates the impact of assuming, in the transmission optimization phase, a concealment algorithm different from the one that is actually used by the decoder, in order to determine which are the best assumptions to use at the transmitter. Firstly, we investigate the typical performance provided by ten concealment techniques belonging to three widely used algorithmic families (spatial, temporal and mixed). Then, we assess the impact that an incorrect concealment assumption causes, in terms of both packet transmission policy changes and video quality degradation, using a simple rate-distortion transmission optimization technique that targets a generic two QoS-level network. Simulation results over several standard video sequences show that the performance impact of incorrectly assuming the decoder-side concealment technique may be significant but it is limited if the two techniques belong to the same algorithmic family. Moreover, the impact on performance caused by incorrect assumptions is strongly mitigated if the decoder employs a high-performance concealment algorithm. Finally, the impact on the performance of several parameters such as the encoding pattern, the packet loss statistics (uniform and burst losses) and the amount of high-priority traffic is evaluated, showing that the conclusions can be confidently applied to actual multimedia communication scenarios

Cross-layer Optimized Wireless Video Surveillance

A wireless video surveillance system contains three major components, the video capture and preprocessing, the video compression and transmission over wireless sensor networks (WSNs), and the video analysis at the receiving end. The coordination of different components is important for improving the end-to-end video quality, especially under the communication resource constraint. Cross-layer control proves to be an efficient measure for optimal system configuration. In this dissertation, we address the problem of implementing cross-layer optimization in the wireless video surveillance system. The thesis work is based on three research projects. In the first project, a single PTU (pan-tilt-unit) camera is used for video object tracking. The problem studied is how to improve the quality of the received video by jointly considering the coding and transmission process. The cross-layer controller determines the optimal coding and transmission parameters, according to the dynamic channel condition and the transmission delay. Multiple error concealment strategies are developed utilizing the special property of the PTU camera motion. In the second project, the binocular PTU camera is adopted for video object tracking. The presented work studied the fast disparity estimation algorithm and the 3D video transcoding over the WSN for real-time applications. The disparity/depth information is estimated in a coarse-to-fine manner using both local and global methods. The transcoding is coordinated by the cross-layer controller based on the channel condition and the data rate constraint, in order to achieve the best view synthesis quality. The third project is applied for multi-camera motion capture in remote healthcare monitoring. The challenge is the resource allocation for multiple video sequences. The presented cross-layer design incorporates the delay sensitive, content-aware video coding and transmission, and the adaptive video coding and transmission to ensure the optimal and balanced quality for the multi-view videos. In these projects, interdisciplinary study is conducted to synergize the surveillance system under the cross-layer optimization framework. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed schemes. The challenges of cross-layer design in existing wireless video surveillance systems are also analyzed to enlighten the future work. Adviser: Song C

Cross-layer Optimized Wireless Video Surveillance

A wireless video surveillance system contains three major components, the video capture and preprocessing, the video compression and transmission over wireless sensor networks (WSNs), and the video analysis at the receiving end. The coordination of different components is important for improving the end-to-end video quality, especially under the communication resource constraint. Cross-layer control proves to be an efficient measure for optimal system configuration. In this dissertation, we address the problem of implementing cross-layer optimization in the wireless video surveillance system. The thesis work is based on three research projects. In the first project, a single PTU (pan-tilt-unit) camera is used for video object tracking. The problem studied is how to improve the quality of the received video by jointly considering the coding and transmission process. The cross-layer controller determines the optimal coding and transmission parameters, according to the dynamic channel condition and the transmission delay. Multiple error concealment strategies are developed utilizing the special property of the PTU camera motion. In the second project, the binocular PTU camera is adopted for video object tracking. The presented work studied the fast disparity estimation algorithm and the 3D video transcoding over the WSN for real-time applications. The disparity/depth information is estimated in a coarse-to-fine manner using both local and global methods. The transcoding is coordinated by the cross-layer controller based on the channel condition and the data rate constraint, in order to achieve the best view synthesis quality. The third project is applied for multi-camera motion capture in remote healthcare monitoring. The challenge is the resource allocation for multiple video sequences. The presented cross-layer design incorporates the delay sensitive, content-aware video coding and transmission, and the adaptive video coding and transmission to ensure the optimal and balanced quality for the multi-view videos. In these projects, interdisciplinary study is conducted to synergize the surveillance system under the cross-layer optimization framework. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed schemes. The challenges of cross-layer design in existing wireless video surveillance systems are also analyzed to enlighten the future work. Adviser: Song C

Multiresolution example-based depth image restoration

In this paper we present a new method for superresolution of depth video sequences using high resolution color video. Here we assume that the depth sequence does not contain outlier points which can be present in the depth images. Our method is based on multiresolution decomposition, and uses multiple frames to search for a most similar depth segments to improve the resolution of the current frame. First step is the wavelet decomposition of both color and depth images. Scaling images of the depth wavelet decomposition, are superresolved using previous and future frames of the depth video sequence, due to their different nature. On the other side wavelet band are improved using both previous frames of the wavelet bands and wavelet bands of color images since similar edges might appear in both images. Our method shows significant improvements over some recent depth images interpolation methods

Reference picture selection using checkerboard pattern for resilient video coding

The improved compression efficiency achieved by the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard has the counter-effect of decreasing error resilience in transmission over error-prone channels. To increase the error resilience of HEVC streams, this paper proposes a checkerboard reference picture selection method in order to reduce the prediction mismatch at the decoder in case of frame losses. The proposed approach not only allows to reduce the error propagation at the decoder, but also enhances the quality of reconstructed frames by selectively constraining the choice of reference pictures used for temporal prediction. The underlying approach is to increase the amount of accurate temporal information at the decoder when transmission errors occur, to improve the video quality by using an efficient combination of diverse motion fields. The proposed method compensates for the small loss of coding efficiency at frame loss rates as low as 3%. For a single frame-loss event the proposed method can achieve up to 2 dB of gain in the affected frames and an average quality gain of 0:84 dB for different error prone conditions

Error-resilient multi-view video plus depth based 3-D video coding

Three Dimensional (3-D) video, by definition, is a collection of signals that can provide depth perception of a 3-D scene. With the development of 3-D display technologies and interactive multimedia systems, 3-D video has attracted significant interest from both industries and academia with a variety of applications. In order to provide desired services in various 3-D video applications, the multiview video plus depth (MVD) representation, which can facilitate the generation of virtual views, has been determined to be the best format for 3-D video data. Similar to 2-D video, compressed 3-D video is highly sensitive to transmission errors due to errors propagated from the current frame to the future predicted frames. Moreover, since the virtual views required for auto-stereoscopic displays are rendered from the compressed texture videos and depth maps, transmission errors of the distorted texture videos and depth maps can be further propagated to the virtual views. Besides, the distortions in texture and depth show different effects on the rendering views. Therefore, compared to the reliability of the transmission of the 2-D video, error-resilient texture video and depth map coding are facing major new challenges. This research concentrates on improving the error resilience performance of MVD-based 3-D video in packet loss scenarios. Based on the analysis of the propagating behaviour of transmission errors, a Wyner-Ziv (WZ)-based error-resilient algorithm is first designed for coding of the multi-view video data or depth data. In this scheme, an auxiliary redundant stream encoded according to WZ principle is employed to protect a primary stream encoded with standard multi-view video coding codec. Then, considering the fact that different combinations of texture and depth coding mode will exhibit varying robustness to transmission errors, a rate-distortion optimized mode switching scheme is proposed to strike the optimal trade-off between robustness and compression effciency. In this approach, the texture and depth modes are jointly optimized by minimizing the overall distortion of both the coded and synthesized views subject to a given bit rate. Finally, this study extends the research on the reliable transmission of view synthesis prediction (VSP)-based 3-D video. In order to mitigate the prediction position error caused by packet losses in the depth map, a novel disparity vector correction algorithm is developed, where the corrected disparity vector is calculated from the depth error. To facilitate decoder error concealment, the depth error is recursively estimated at the decoder. The contributions of this dissertation are multifold. First, the proposed WZbased error-resilient algorithm can accurately characterize the effect of transmission error on multi-view distortion at the transform domain in consideration of both temporal and inter-view error propagation, and based on the estimated distortion, this algorithm can perform optimal WZ bit allocation at the encoder through explicitly developing a sophisticated rate allocation strategy. This proposed algorithm is able to provide a finer granularity in performing rate adaptivity and unequal error protection for multi-view data, not only at the frame level, but also at the bit-plane level. Secondly, in the proposed mode switching scheme, a new analytic model is formulated to optimally estimate the view synthesis distortion due to packet losses, in which the compound impact of the transmission distortions of both the texture video and the depth map on the quality of the synthesized view is mathematically analysed. The accuracy of this view synthesis distortion model is demonstrated via simulation results and, further, the estimated distortion is integrated into a rate-distortion framework for optimal mode switching to achieve substantial performance gains over state-of-the-art algorithms. Last, but not least, this dissertation provides a preliminary investigation of VSP-based 3-D video over unreliable channel. In the proposed disparity vector correction algorithm, the pixel-level depth map error can be precisely estimated at the decoder without the deterministic knowledge of the error-free reconstructed depth. The approximation of the innovation term involved in depth error estimation is proved theoretically. This algorithm is very useful to conceal the position-erroneous pixels whose disparity vectors are correctly received