Joint packet prioritization and QoS mapping for SVC over wlans

The emerging H.264/AVC extension, SVC encoding standard facilitates the truncation of bitstreams at certain points to fit in with wireless network variations. In this paper, we propose a joint packet prioritization and QoS mapping strategy based on priority analysis of SVC packets and the exploration of the service differentiations among IEEE 802.11e EDCA access categories. The proposed scheme enables the interaction among different layers, providing differentiated services for scalable video packets. The cross-layer optimization is performed based on SVC packet information at application layer, differentiated access categories at MAC layer and interface queue (IFQ) control at link layer. Based on these cross-layer information, the proposed joint packet prioritization and QoS mapping strategy minimizes the packet loss impact of visual quality. The proposed approach shows significant performance improvement when compared to conventional schemes for SVC streaming over 802.11e wireless networks.