A joint source channel coding strategy for video transmission

International audienceThis paper presents a joint source channel coding designed for video transmission application. The aim is to improve the visual quality of the reconstructed video even when transmission errors occur while keeping the processing as simple as possible. The BER excepted is higher than 10-4. This coding is based on an association of a wavelet transform (WT) and a vector quantization (VQ) optimally mapped on a QAM-M modulation. The whole of the transmission chain is jointly exploited in order to make it well-adapted to the complex and low data rate channel

A Reaction-Diffusion-Based Coding Rate Control Mechanism for Camera Sensor Networks

A wireless camera sensor network is useful for surveillance and monitoring for its visibility and easy deployment. However, it suffers from the limited capacity of wireless communication and a network is easily overflown with a considerable amount of video traffic. In this paper, we propose an autonomous video coding rate control mechanism where each camera sensor node can autonomously determine its coding rate in accordance with the location and velocity of target objects. For this purpose, we adopted a biological model, i.e., reaction-diffusion model, inspired by the similarity of biological spatial patterns and the spatial distribution of video coding rate. Through simulation and practical experiments, we verify the effectiveness of our proposal

Description-driven Adaptation of Media Resources

The current multimedia landscape is characterized by a significant diversity in terms of available media formats, network technologies, and device properties. This heterogeneity has resulted in a number of new challenges, such as providing universal access to multimedia content. A solution for this diversity is the use of scalable bit streams, as well as the deployment of a complementary system that is capable of adapting scalable bit streams to the constraints imposed by a particular usage environment (e.g., the limited screen resolution of a mobile device). This dissertation investigates the use of an XML-driven (Extensible Markup Language) framework for the format-independent adaptation of scalable bit streams. Using this approach, the structure of a bit stream is first translated into an XML description. In a next step, the resulting XML description is transformed to reflect a desired adaptation of the bit stream. Finally, the transformed XML description is used to create an adapted bit stream that is suited for playback in the targeted usage environment. The main contribution of this dissertation is BFlavor, a new tool for exposing the syntax of binary media resources as an XML description. Its development was inspired by two other technologies, i.e. MPEG-21 BSDL (Bitstream Syntax Description Language) and XFlavor (Formal Language for Audio-Visual Object Representation, extended with XML features). Although created from a different point of view, both languages offer solutions for translating the syntax of a media resource into an XML representation for further processing. BFlavor (BSDL+XFlavor) harmonizes the two technologies by combining their strengths and eliminating their weaknesses. The expressive power and performance of a BFlavor-based content adaptation chain, compared to tool chains entirely based on either BSDL or XFlavor, were investigated by several experiments. One series of experiments targeted the exploitation of multi-layered temporal scalability in H.264/AVC, paying particular attention to the use of sub-sequences and hierarchical coding patterns, as well as to the use of metadata messages to communicate the bit stream structure to the adaptation logic. BFlavor was the only tool to offer an elegant and practical solution for XML-driven adaptation of H.264/AVC bit streams in the temporal domain

Protocole de routage à chemins multiples pour des réseaux ad hoc

Ad hoc networks consist of a collection of wireless mobile nodes which dynamically exchange data without reliance on any fixed based station or a wired backbone network. They are by definition self-organized. The frequent topological changes make multi-hops routing a crucial issue for these networks. In this PhD thesis, we propose a multipath routing protocol named Multipath Optimized Link State Routing (MP-OLSR). It is a multipath extension of OLSR, and can be regarded as a hybrid routing scheme because it combines the proactive nature of topology sensing and reactive nature of multipath computation. The auxiliary functions as route recovery and loop detection are introduced to improve the performance of the network. The usage of queue length metric for link quality criteria is studied and the compatibility between single path and multipath routing is discussed to facilitate the deployment of the protocol. The simulations based on NS2 and Qualnet softwares are performed in different scenarios. A testbed is also set up in the campus of Polytech’Nantes. The results from the simulator and testbed reveal that MP-OLSR is particularly suitable for mobile, large and dense networks with heavy network load thanks to its ability to distribute the traffic into different paths and effective auxiliary functions. The H.264/SVC video service is applied to ad hoc networks with MP-OLSR. By exploiting the scalable characteristic of H.264/SVC, we propose to use Priority Forward Error Correction coding based on Finite Radon Transform (FRT) to improve the received video quality. An evaluation framework called SVCEval is built to simulate the SVC video transmission over different kinds of networks in Qualnet. This second study highlights the interest of multiple path routing to improve quality of experience over self-organized networks.Les réseaux ad hoc sont constitués d’un ensemble de nœuds mobiles qui échangent des données sans infrastructure de type point d’accès ou artère filaire. Ils sont par définition auto-organisés. Les changements fréquents de topologie des réseaux ad hoc rendent le routage multi-sauts très problématique. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un protocole de routage à chemins multiples appelé Multipath Optimized Link State Routing (MP-OLSR). C’est une extension d’OLSR à chemins multiples qui peut être considérée comme une méthode de routage hybride. En effet, MP-OLSR combine la caractéristique proactive de la détection de topologie et la caractéristique réactive du calcul de chemins multiples qui est effectué à la demande. Les fonctions auxiliaires comme la récupération de routes ou la détection de boucles sont introduites pour améliorer la performance du réseau. L’utilisation de la longueur des files d’attente des nœuds intermédiaires comme critère de qualité de lien est étudiée et la compatibilité entre routage à chemins multiples et chemin unique est discutée pour faciliter le déploiement du protocole. Les simulations basées sur les logiciels NS2 et Qualnet sont effectuées pour tester le routage MP-OLSR dans des scénarios variés. Une mise en œuvre a également été réalisée au cours de cette thèse avec une expérimentation sur le campus de Polytech’Nantes. Les résultats de la simulation et de l’expérimentation révèlent que MP-OLSR est particulièrement adapté pour les réseaux mobiles et denses avec des trafics élevés grâce à sa capacité à distribuer le trafic dans des chemins différents et à des fonctions auxiliaires efficaces. Au niveau application, le service vidéo H.264/SVC est appliqué à des réseaux ad hoc MP-OLSR. En exploitant la hiérarchie naturelle délivrée par le format H.264/SVC, nous proposons d’utiliser un codage à protection inégale (PFEC) basé sur la Transformation de Radon Finie (FRT) pour améliorer la qualité de la vidéo à la réception. Un outil appelé SVCEval est développé pour simuler la transmission de vidéo SVC sur différents types de réseaux dans le logiciel Qualnet. Cette deuxième étude témoigne de l’intérêt du codage à protection inégale dans un routage à chemins multiples pour améliorer une qualité d’usage sur des réseaux auto-organisés

Application-specific protocol architectures for wireless networks

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-154).In recent years, advances in energy-efficient design and wireless technologies have enabled exciting new applications for wireless devices. These applications span a wide range, including real-time and streaming video and audio delivery, remote monitoring using networked microsensors, personal medical monitoring, and home networking of everyday appliances. While these applications require high performance from the network, they suffer from resource constraints that do not appear in more traditional wired computing environments. In particular, wireless spectrum is scarce, often limiting the bandwidth available to applications and making the channel error-prone, and the nodes are battery-operated, often limiting available energy. My thesis is that this harsh environment with severe resource constraints requires an application-specific protocol architecture, rather than the traditional layered approach, to obtain the best possible performance. This dissertation supports this claim using detailed case studies on microsensor networks and wireless video delivery. The first study develops LEACH (Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy), an architecture for remote microsensor networks that combines the ideas of energy-efficient cluster-based routing and media access together with application-specific data aggregation to achieve good performance in terms of system lifetime, latency, and application-perceived quality. This approach improves system lifetime by an order of magnitude compared to general-purpose approaches when the node energy is limited. The second study develops an unequal error protection scheme for MPEG-4 compressed video delivery that adapts the level of protection applied to portions of a packet to the degree of importance of the corresponding bits. This approach obtains better application-perceived performance than current approaches for the same amount of transmission bandwidth. These two systems show that application-specific protocol architectures achieve the energy and latency efficiency and error robustness needed for wireless networks.by Wendi Beth Heinzelman.Ph.D

Block-level discrete cosine transform coefficients for autonomic face recognition

This dissertation presents a novel method of autonomic face recognition based on the recently proposed biologically plausible network of networks (NoN) model of information processing. The NoN model is based on locally parallel and globally coordinated transformations. In the NoN architecture, the neurons or computational units form distributed networks, which themselves link to form larger networks. In the general case, an n-level hierarchy of nested distributed networks is constructed. This models the structures in the cerebral cortex described by Mountcastle and the architecture based on that proposed for information processing by Sutton. In the implementation proposed in the dissertation, the image is processed by a nested family of locally operating networks along with a hierarchically superior network that classifies the information from each of the local networks. The implementation of this approach helps obtain sensitivity to the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) in the middle of the spectrum, as is true for the human vision system. The input images are divided into blocks to define the local regions of processing. The two-dimensional Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), a spatial frequency transform, is used to transform the data into the frequency domain. Thereafter, statistical operators that calculate various functions of spatial frequency in the block are used to produce a block-level DCT coefficient. The image is now transformed into a variable length vector that is trained with respect to the data set. The classification was done by the use of a backpropagation neural network. The proposed method yields excellent results on a benchmark database. The results of the experiments yielded a maximum of 98.5% recognition accuracy and an average of 97.4% recognition accuracy. An advanced version of the method where the local processing is done on offset blocks has also been developed. This has validated the NoN approach and further research using local processing as well as more advanced global operators is likely to yield even better results

A reduced reference video quality assessment method for provision as a service over SDN/NFV-enabled networks

139 p.The proliferation of multimedia applications and services has generarted a noteworthy upsurge in network traffic regarding video content and has created the need for trustworthy service quality assessment methods. Currently, predominent position among the technological trends in telecommunication networkds are Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN) and 5G mobile networks equipped with small cells. Additionally Video Quality Assessment (VQA) methods are a very useful tool for both content providers and network operators, to understand of how users perceive quality and this study the feasibility of potential services and adapt the network available resources to satisfy the user requirements

A reduced reference video quality assessment method for provision as a service over SDN/NFV-enabled networks

139 p.The proliferation of multimedia applications and services has generarted a noteworthy upsurge in network traffic regarding video content and has created the need for trustworthy service quality assessment methods. Currently, predominent position among the technological trends in telecommunication networkds are Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN) and 5G mobile networks equipped with small cells. Additionally Video Quality Assessment (VQA) methods are a very useful tool for both content providers and network operators, to understand of how users perceive quality and this study the feasibility of potential services and adapt the network available resources to satisfy the user requirements

Network distributed 3D video quality monitoring system

This project description presents a research and development work whose primary goal was the design and implementation of an Internet Protocol (IP) network distributed video quality assessment tool. Even though the system was designed to monitor H.264 three-dimensional (3D) stereo video quality it is also applicable to di erent formats of 3D video (such as texture plus depth) and can use di erent video quality assessment models making it easily customizable and adaptable to varying conditions and transmission scenarios. The system uses packet level data collection done by a set of network probes located at convenient network points, that carry out packet monitoring, inspection and analysis to obtain information about 3D video packets passing through the probe's locations. The information gathered is sent to a central server for further processing including 3D video quality estimation based on packet level information. Firstly an overview of current 3D video standards, their evolution and features is presented, strongly focused on H.264/AVC and HEVC. Then follows a description of video quality assessment metrics, describing in more detail the quality estimator used in the work. Video transport methods over the Internet Protocol are also explained in detail as thorough knowledge of video packetization schemes is important to understand the information retrieval and parsing performed at the front stage of the system, the probes. After those introductory themes are addressed, a general system architecture is shown, explaining all its components and how they interact with each other. The development steps of each of the components are then thoroughly described. In addition to the main project, a 3D video streamer was created to be used in the implementation tests of the system. This streamer was purposely built for the present work as currently available free-domain streamers do not support 3D video streaming. The overall result is a system that can be deployed in any IP network and is exible enough to help in future video quality assessment research, since it can be used as a testing platform to validate any proposed new quality metrics, serve as a network monitoring tool for video transmission or help to understand the impact that some network characteristics may have on video quality