Performance evaluation of H.264 video over ad hoc networks based on dual mode IEEE 802.11B/G and EDCA MAC architecture

We present in this paper the performance evaluation for H.264/AVC video transmission over wireless ad hoc networks. In order to achieve robust video transmission under ad hoc mode, the proposed system not only develops a physical rate based strategy for dual band IEEE 802.11b/g, but also adopts EDCA MAC layer architecture of IEEE 802.11e for an improved QoS performance. The dual mode operation allows the ad hoc terminals to move within a larger coverage area while maintaining robust connection via 802.11b/g. The adopted EDCA MAC layer architecture enables the prioritized transmission of differentiated video traffic for various ad hoc terminals. We have also developed several network level metrics, including bit rate, packets delay and drop rate, to evaluate the proposed scheme in comparison with simple dual band IEEE 802.11b/g. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed EDCA-based scheme is able to outperform the simple dual band IEEE 802.1lb/g with much improved received video quality.