Real-Time Optimization of Video Transmission in a Network of AAVs

Mobile cyberphysical systems have received considerable attention over the last decade, as communication, computing and control come together on a common platform. Understanding the complex interactions that govern the behavior of large complex cyberphysical systems is not an easy task. The goal of this paper is to address this challenge in the particular context of multimedia delivery over an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) network. Bandwidth requirements and stringent delay constraints of real-time video streaming, paired with limitations on computational complexity and power consumptions imposed by the underlying implementation platform, make cross-layer and cross-domain co-design approaches a necessity. In this paper, we propose a novel, low-complexity rate-distortion optimized (RDO) protocol specifically targeted at video streaming over mobile embedded networks. We test the performance of our RDO algorithm on simulation models developed for aerial mobility of multiple wirelessly communicating AAVs. Results show that our optimized streaming leads to 47% and 39% less video distortion with very little computational overhead compared to regular ACKed and non-ACKed transmission, respectively.