Estimation of erased data in a H.263 coded stream by using unbalanced multiple description coding

In this work we tackle the problem of error propagation that packet losses can cause in commonly used predictive video coding environments. Using unbalanced multiple description coding (UMDC) to generate redundant source data, we apply the consistency sequence estimation (CSE) algorithm for estimating the lost data. The CSE algorithm, proposed by Singh and Ortega for a 1-D input source signal in a DPCM context, uses a sequence search to verify the consistency of the estimates with the received data. The novelty of our work is the extension of the CSE algorithm to a block matching ME/MC video coder (such as H.263). To reach this aim we propose to work in the spatial domain. Among the advantages of the proposed error resilience scheme are its low-complexity and its compatibility with standard video coders.