Jointly Optimized Mode Decisions in Redundant Video Streaming

This letter investigates source-channel coding for error-resilient video streaming using redundant encoding. We estimate the end-to-end distortion per redundantly encoded macroblock (MB) via extension of the recursive optimal per-pixel estimate to encompass redundant transmissions. Redundant encoding is formulated as joint optimization of the MB parameters in the primary and redundant transmissions. We present three encoding strategies with different gain-complexity tradeoffs. The proposed methods are general in nature, and could be implemented on top of any (hybrid) video codec. Simulation results employing H.264´s redundant slice mechanism show significant performance gains over conventional error-resilient encoding methods and naive redundant encoding schemes.