Integrated packet loss and error control schemes in wireless multimedia data links

This paper describes a novel forward error correction (FEC) based technique, VHPG FEC, which combats packet losses and packet errors simultaneously. The scheme proposed uses a two-dimensional (2-D) coding approach in which, at the encoder, information carrying packets are arranged vertically to form the 2-D matrix. The first code is applied along the horizontal direction to form the redundancy packets mainly to recover from lost packets; the second code is applied along the vertical direction within the individual packets to minimize the bit error rate (BER). Within the group of packets, the overall effect of this scheme is the reduction in the effective packet loss and the BER without need for retransmission. The scheme is applicable in environments where the packet loss is not exclusively a result of high BER and where the transmission time constraints are critical. The adaptive extension of the scheme proposed, AVHPG FEC, is introduced to deal with dynamic wireless channel characteristics. The performance of the VHPG coding is analyzed through theoretical calculations to illustrate the choice of coding parameters for various channels