Multipath multi-stream distributed reliable video delivery in Wireless Sensor Networks

Reliably transporting captured video content over Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) poses several challenges due to the unique energy constraints presented by individual sensor nodes. The nature and amount of video content is another challenge that further complicates WSN data reliability problem. Motivated by the aforementioned factors, in this work, we propose an architecture that promises to enhance received video quality along-with sensor network lifetime maximization using a three prong strategy: splitting source coded video into prioritized streams, use path diversity to route video packets and partially and progressively decode the data packets as they traverse the multi-hop network. Further intrigued by quality enhancement for received video, we apply our proposed framework to an actual video sequence and compare the benefits that can be achieved using multipath multi-stream distributed reliability (MMDR) framework that we propose. We show that with little bit of processing within the network, significant enhancements in quality of video can be achieved for same level of energy spent to deliver video over the end-to-end path. We propose selective budgeting of network energy resources for processing within the network. We use low density parity check (LDPC) codes for channel coding the video sensor data. We show that the proposed architecture outperforms prevalent end-to-end channel coding schemes by considerable margins. Further, based on the results achieved, we discuss the associated rate-distortion tradeoffs in design of video sensor networks.