Seamless Video Streaming Technique Supporting Error Concealment for VOD Services in Vertical Handoff

Vertical handoff is required to achieve anywhere and anytime internet access in the fourth generation (4G) network providing interoperability between universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) and wireless LAN (WLAN). However, video data can be lost due to latency caused by vertical handoff. To solve this problem, in this paper, we propose a video streaming technique supporting error concealment (EC) for video on demand (VOD) services that provides seamless playout at the client in vertical handoff. In the proposed method, the streaming server first predicts the client buffer status (CBS). Using the predicted CBS and the channel rate, the streaming server selects a proper video transmission method for vertical handoff between frame selective pre (FSP)-transmission and re-transmission. Performance evaluations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.