Real-time streaming of prestored multiple description video with restart

Streaming prestored video with low latency requires an architecture which does not rely on buffering and retransmissions. We propose a scheme based on multiple description encoding which attempts to maintain a constant video quality despite packet loss, and test its performance on a real-time streaming test-bed. The scheme relies on a low complexity restart mechanism which enhances the inherent robustness of multiple descriptions by efficiently stopping inter-frame error propagation. Our multiple-description-with-restart scheme uses a second version of the video, generated by a different predictive pattern, to break faulty prediction chains. When a loss is detected, a frame from this second bitstream is transmitted and corrects errors on the fly. At the network layer, source routing is performed to take advantage of different network paths. Experiments performed on our prototype streaming system show performance improvements compared to less adaptive schemes.