Interleaved source coding (ISC) for predictive video coded frames over the Internet

Unreliable network's packet losses severely impact the playback quality of many predictive coded sources such as compressed video. Prior researches have shown various packet loss resilient coding methods to overcome such deficiency. In this paper, we propose a new packet-loss resilient coding method, interleaved source coding (ISC), based on an interleaving of predictive video coded frames transmitted over the Internet via a single erasure channel that is resilient to packet-losses. To select an interleaving pattern for a given erasure channel model, we employ a Markov decision process (MDP) and a corresponding dynamic programming algorithm. ISC improves the overall playback quality of predictive coded video frames over a lossy channel without complex modifications to standard predictive video coders. ISC eliminates the need for content distribution, path diversity routing, and related synchronization issues and hence, it provides a variable alternative to the path-diversity approaches. Simulations of a various video sequences showed that ISC significantly improves the playback quality of the predictive video over practical traces of Markov erasure channel model when compared with traditional non-interleaving predictive coding method.