Error Resilient Video Streaming with BCH Code Protection in Wireless Sensor Networks

Video streaming in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a promising and challenging application for enabling high-value services. In such a context, the reduced amount of available bandwidth, as well as the low-computational power available for acquiring and processing video frames, imposes the transmission of low resolution images at a low frame rate. Considering the aforementioned limitations, the amount of information carried by each video frame must be considered of utmost importance and preserved, as much as possible, against network losses that could introduce possible artifacts in the reconstructed dynamics of the scene. In this paper we first evaluate the impact of the bit error rate on the quality of the received video stream in a real scenario, then we propose a forward error correction technique based on the use of BCH codes with the aim of preserving the video quality. The proposed technique, against already proposed techniques in the WSN research field, has been specially designed to maintain a full back-compatibility with the IEEE802.15.4 standard in order to create a suitable solution aiming at accomplishing the Internet of Things (IoT) vision. Performance results evaluated in terms of Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) show that the proposed solution reaches a PSNR improvement of 4.16 dB with respect to an unprotected transmission, while requiring an additional overhead equal to 22.51% in number of transmitted bits, and minimal impact on frame rate reduction and energy consumption. When higher protection levels have been imposed, bigger PSNR values have been experienced at the cost of an increased additional overhead, lower frame rates, and bigger energy consumption values.