Adaptive Multi-Path Video Streaming

Multiple description codes are designed for multiple path video streaming with channel diversities. In this paper, we investigate the performance of multi-path video streaming using a multiple description coding (MDC) technique. An efficient MDC technique based on spatial domain processing is applied. The impacts of several codec variables, such as different numbers of MDC sub-streams, different lengths of the group of pictures (GOP), and aligned and unaligned I-frames for MDC sub-streams, are further discussed in this paper. The performance of the system is evaluated by the frame dropout rate, which indicates the probability of playing back frozen frames of the reconstructed video at the receiver devices. To address dynamic channel conditions for video transmissions, we propose an adaptive coding technique by adjusting the GOP lengths according to the channel condition. Different approaches, such as sub-dividing GOPs for a single stream and multiple sub-streams, and an adaptive MDC video streaming system, are examined in this paper