Fine granularity scalable video: implications for streaming and a trace-based evaluation methodology

Fine granularity scalability (FGS) is a new development in the area of video coding, which is designed to facilitate video streaming over communication networks. With FGS coding, the video stream can be flexibly truncated at very fine granularity to adapt to the available network resources. In this article, we introduce the communications generalist to the basic properties of FGS video coding to provide background for the design of video streaming mechanisms for FGS video. We then outline a methodology for evaluating streaming mechanisms for FGS encoded video. The methodology relies on traces of the rate-distortion characteristics of FGS encoded video and enables networking researchers and practitioners without access to video codecs and video sequences to develop and evaluate rate distortion optimized streaming mechanisms for FGS encoded video.