Analysis of Packet-Level Forward Error Correction for Video Transmission

In this paper, packet-level coding is considered in the framework of H.264/AVC video transmission. Two distinct solutions are proposed and compared in different realistic communication scenarios. The first is based on classical Reed-Solomon (RS) codes applied at the RTP layer, while the second on modern LDPC codes implemented at the UDP-Lite layer. An end-to-end Quality of Experience (QoE) evaluation is presented, in terms of achieved peak signal-to-noise power ratio (PSNR). Our numerical results show that, in low-latency video applications across communication channels introducing errors and erasures, the adoption of a packet-level coding scheme becomes essential to guarantee a satisfactory quality. The solution based on LDPC codes exhibits better performances in presence of severe packet loss rates.