Redundant Slice Optimal Allocation for H.264 Multiple Description Coding

• Published in: IEEE transactions on circuits and systems for video technology Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 59 - 70
• Main Authors: Tillo, T., Grangetto, M., Olmo, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.01.2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Circuit properties; Code standards; Coding; Coding, codes; Compressed; Decoders; Decoding; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; H.264; Image processing; Information, signal and communications theory; multiple description coding; Optimization; Propagation losses; rate allocation; Redundancy; Redundant; Representations; Resilience; Signal and communications theory; Signal convertors; Signal processing; Streaming media; Streams; Studies; Sun; Telecommunications and information theory; Video codecs; Video coding; Video compression; rate allocation; Multiple description coding; H.264; Video coding; multiple description coding; Redundancy; Resource allocation; Decoding circuit; Decoding; Video signal processing; Optimal allocation; Error detection; Error correction; Compatibility; Resource management; Growth of error; Syntax
• ISSN: 1051-8215; 1558-2205
• DOI: 10.1109/TCSVT.2007.913751

In this paper, a novel H.264 multiple description technique is proposed. The coding approach is based on the redundant slice representation option, defined in the H.264 standard. In presence of losses, the redundant representation can be used to replace missing portions of the compressed bit stream, thus yielding a certain degree of error resilience. This paper addresses the creation of two balanced descriptions based on the concept of redundant slices, while keeping full compatibility with the H.264 standard syntax and decoding behavior in case of single description reception. When two descriptions are available still a standard H.264 decoder can be used, given a simple preprocessing of the received compressed bit streams. An analytical setup is employed in order to optimally select the amount of redundancy to be inserted in each frame, taking into account both the transmission condition and the video decoder error propagation. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique favorably compares with other H.264 multiple description approaches.