An unequal error protection method for progressively transmitted 3D models

In this paper, we present a packet-loss resilient system for the transmission of progressively compressed three-dimensional (3D) models. It is based on a joint source and channel coding approach that trades off geometry precision for increased error resiliency to optimize the decoded model quality on the client side. We derive a theoretical framework for the overall system by which the channel packet loss behavior and the channel bandwidth can be directly related to the decoded model quality at the receiver. First, the 3D model is progressively compressed into a base mesh and a number of refinement layers. Then, we assign optimal forward error correction code rates to protect these layers according to their importance to the decoded model quality. Experimental results show that with the proposed unequal error protection approach, the decoded model quality degrades more gracefully (compared to either no error protection or equal error protection methods) as the packet-loss rate increases.