Error localization for robust video transmission

The convergence of Internet, multimedia and mobile applications has led to an increased demand for efficient and reliable video data transmission over heterogeneous networks. Due to their coding efficiency, variable-length codes (VLC) are usually employed in the entropy coding stage of video compression standards. However, error propagation is a major problem associated with VLC. We propose the use of a class of self-synchronizing VLC (SSVLC) to achieve the dual goal of optimal coding efficiency and optimal error localization. Performance evaluation has confirmed that the use of SSVLC provides better performance than standard VLC techniques.