Joint H.264/scalable video coding-multiple input multiple output rate control for wireless video applications

Integrating H.264 scalable video coding (SVC) technology with a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless system can significantly enhance the overall performance of high-quality real-time wireless video transmissions. However, the state-of-the-art techniques in these two areas are largely developed independently. In this research, with the objective to deliver the optimal visual quality and accurate rate regulation for wireless video applications, the authors propose a novel joint H.264/SVC-MIMO rate control (RC) algorithm for video compression and transmission over MIMO systems. The authors first present a systematic architecture for H.264/SVC compression and transmission over MIMO systems. Then, based on MIMO channel properties, the authors use a packet-level two-state Markov model to estimate MIMO channel states and predict the number of retransmitted bits in the presence of automatic repeat request. Finally, an efficient joint rate controller is proposed to regulate the output bit rate of each layer according to the available channel throughput and buffer fullness. The authors' extensive simulation results demonstrate that their algorithm outperforms JVT-W043 RC algorithm, adopted in the H.264/SVC reference software, by providing more accurate output bit rate, reducing buffer overflow, lessen frame skipping, and finally, improves the overall coding quality.