Retransmission-based error spreading for layered video streaming over wireless LANs

Robust video streaming over wireless LANs is very challenging due to the burst-error behavior of wireless channels. In this paper, a novel error-resilience scheme, called retransmission-based error spreading, is proposed for layered video streaming over wireless LANs. Considering the unequal importance of different video partitions under the real-time and bandwidth constraints, the proposed scheme uses unequal retransmission attempts at the medium access control (MAC) layer to spread out burst errors. Consequently, burst errors are separated into those relatively unimportant partitions in a picture, and graceful quality degradation can be achieved. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can be aware of time-varying channel conditions, and thus significantly improve the quality of received video.