H.264/AVC Compatible Scalable Multiple Description Video Coding with RD Optimization

We present a multiple description video coding scheme based on H.264/AVC. Each description is independently decodable by a standard compliant decoder, and mutually refining decoding of more than one description is possible with moderate pre-processing on the bit stream level. The scheme allows for fine-granular control of redundancy. Scalability is added by enabling the tools defined in the scalable extension of H.264/AVC. Then, the redundancy can be dynamically adjusted according to the network conditions. Furthermore, based on a formulation for the error propagation in the proposed system, we demonstrate that the redundancy can be generated in a rate-distortion optimized way