Modeling and analysis of a variable bit rate video multiplexer

The authors develop a new analytic model for a variable bit rate video source, which can model a variety of video applications by a suitable choice of model parameters. Using the model they studied the performance of a video multiplexer that multiplexes several full motion video sources. The video sources were assumed to use a layered coding technique. A service strategy is proposed that guarantees delivery of packets marked essential, whereas nonessential packets may be dropped in the event of congestion. The study showed that with layered coding, good tail probabilities can be obtained for a given number of sources at the expense of some loss for nonessential packets. The performance of the video multiplexer was investigated when the video sources were correlated, and when independent video sources with different thresholds for essential packet rate were multiplexed together