Wireless video transmission using feedback-controlled adaptive H.264 source and channel coding

For wireless video, the present paper demonstrates that combining adaptive source and channel coding can provide a robust service over a wide range of transmission channel conditions. Various feedback-controlled adaptive coding solutions are considered for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing-based systems. At the receiver, the reliabilities of subchannels (SCHs) are estimated and decisions are fed back to the transmitter to adapt modulation modes and channel code-rates to provide reliable transmission and yet avoid over-protection. The resulting available transmission capacity (which can vary widely with channel conditions) can inform an online collaborating source coder which itself exploits the available feedback to reduce error propagation. To ensure further improvement for fading channels, an efficient low-delay retransmission arrangement is also considered in which only the contents of unreliable SCHs within an erroneous packet are retransmitted. Simulation results demonstrate that such collaborative adaptive source and channel coding can provide efficient use of a continuously varying wireless channel.