A multi-level error protection technique based on macroblocks´ importance of the H.264/AVC video frames

This paper presents a multi-level error protection for H.264/AVC video frames based on the importance of macroblocks. It is basically accomplished by comparing motion activities of macroblocks with their neighbouring areas. Those macroblocks having higher motion activities than their neighbouring areas are highly protected. Two-level error protection formed by this comparison is extended to construct a multi-level error protection for the video frames. In this case, an algorithm is implemented, which considers motion activities of macroblocks in two consecutive frames. Conducted analysis and simulation results express that the newly presented multi-level protection significantly improves the video performance compared to other motion-based error protection techniques, while similar code rates for channel codes are applied.