Robust Video Coding Techniques for Wireless Video Communications

The objective of the proposed SBIR project is to develop a video coding technique that is robust for wireless video communications in terms of video quality degradation with an increasing channel noise level. Phase I of the project will be a feasibility study of several innovative error-handling techniques based on the framework of vector transform coding, which has been shown to provide much better compression performance than the standard techniques for still image and video compression. The conventional approach of applying error-correcting codes is not a very good approach for wireless video communications because the channel capacity is low and varies in a wide range. Another method commonly used in computer communications for error handling is to ask for re-transmission if an error is detected by the receiver. However, because the latency for video communications cannot be too long, re-transmission is not a good solution for error handling in wireless video communications either. The proposed SBIR project is to develop a video coding technique that adapts to the channel condition. When the channel noise is small, a high quality video signal can be reconstructed from the compressed bit-stream. When the channel noise increases, degradation of video quality is proportional to the noise level, instead of a sudden quality drop. Anticipated Military Benefits/Potential Commercial Applications of the Research or Development: The results from the SBIR project will be incorporated into a prototype wireless video communication system, which can be a part of a defense communcation system and a wireless video conferencing system through a digital cellular network. The new technology will allow the users to enjoy all the benefits of having digital video communications without the problem of abrupt quality degradation due to channel noise.