Performance analysis of AL-FEC for RTP-based streaming video traffic to residential users

Real-time applications used by residential customers, such as streaming video and IPTV, are sensitive to packet losses, whether due to IP-layer congestion, or link-layer problems such as bit errors induced by impulse noise. To achieve acceptable user experience for these applications, numerous application-layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) schemes have been proposed. We evaluate some of the FEC schemes developed as part of the OpenFEC project, using packet loss traces of IPTV-like traffic measured on ADSL and Cable links. We consider the effectiveness of these schemes in correcting the loss patterns present on residential links, explain why performance is different using measured loss traces compared with previous simulations using uniform random packet loss, and give recommendations for the use of FEC in streaming video applications deployed to residential Internet users.