Progressive image transmission applying multipath routing in mobile ad hoc networks

We investigate different allocation problems in mobile ad hoc networks. The objective is to minimize the power consumption and end-to-end distortion when transmitting images. Therefore, we use progressive image coding in combination with unequal erasure protection. We investigate two different scenarios, independent packet loss events and path loss events. For both cases, the expected distortion for progressive image transmission without error protection as well as for unequal erasure protection has been derived. Also, the expected power consumption for a certain path allocation pattern is obtained. The construction of operational distortion-power curves is presented by optimizing the unequal error protection and extracting the convex hull of all possible path allocation patterns. The profit of applying UEP to the progressively coded image bitstream in a multipath environment is shown. The presented error protection and rate allocation can be used as a framework for studying the allocation problem concerning the tradeoff between power and distortion for progressive image transmission in different multipath environments.