Rate controlled redundancy-adaptive multiple description video coding

This paper proposes a rate controlled redundancy-adaptive multiple description video coding method. The method adjusts the level of redundancy allocated to each macroblock based on an end to end distortion model that takes into account the effects of error propagation and concealment. Rate control at the macroblock level ensures that the total bit rate of all descriptions does not exceed the target rate. Results show that the proposed MDC codec can adapt very well to changing transmission conditions. Gains of up to 14 dB at high packet error rates (low SNR) were recorded when coupled with a MIMO architecture, with no perceptible performance deficit at low packet error rates (high SNR).