Joint source-channel coding for scalable video over DS-CDMA multipath fading channels

We extend our previous work on joint source-channel coding to scalable video transmission over wireless direct-sequence code-division-multiple-access (DS-CDMA) multipath fading channels. A SNR scalable video coder is used and unequal error protection (UEP) is allowed for each scalable layer. At the receiver-end an adaptive antenna array auxiliary-vector (AV) filter is utilized that provides space-time RAKE-type processing and multiple-access interference suppression. The choice of the AV receiver is dictated by realistic channel fading rates that limit the data record available for receiver adaptation and redesign. Our problem is to allocate the available bit rate of the user of interest between source and channel coding and across scalable layers, while minimizing the end-to-end distortion of the received video sequence. The optimization algorithm that we propose utilizes universal rate-distortion characteristic curves that show the contribution of each layer to the total distortion as a function of the source rate of the layer and the residual bit error rate (the error rate after channel coding). These plots can be approximated using appropriate functions to reduce the computational complexity of the solution