Is rate-distortion optimization really worth it?

With the increase in transmission of video content across mobile and wireless networks, bandwidth is at a premium. Various optimization techniques have been proposed to apportion the resource in such a way that it is put to its best use at any moment in time. The relationship between transmission data rate and video distortion can be used to determine the most appropriate allocation of resource in a multimedia network, for example. Framing resource allocation as a network utility maximization problem, we compare the implementation of two popular optimization techniques: Particle Swarm Optimization and Nash Bargaining Solution. We consider the practical application of these techniques under the timing constraints of a wireless network. We discuss whether the overhead involved can be justified by the improvement in resource allocation.