Efficient rate control for video streaming

With the increasing importance of heterogeneous networks and time-varying communication channels, such as packet-switched networks and wireless communications, fine scalability has become a highly desirable feature in both image and video coders. A single highly scalable bitstream can provide precise rate control for constant bitrate (CBR) traffic and accurate quality control for variable bitrate (VBR) traffic. In this paper, we propose two methods that provide constant quality video under buffer constraints. These methods can be used with all scalable coders. Experimental results using the Motion JPEG2000 coder demonstrate substantial benefits.