A data embedded video coding scheme for error-prone channels

We propose a novel data embedding scheme for fractional-pixel based video coding algorithms such as H.263 and MPEG-2. By modifying the motion estimation procedure at fractional-pixel precision, two bits data can be embedded in a motion vector (MV) for an inter-mode coded macroblock (MB). For half-pixel precision motion estimation, the resulted bitstream is compatible with the current video coding standards. Performance of the proposed data embedding scheme in terms of compression efficiency is also studied. As an application example of the proposed data embedding scheme, an error-resilient video coding scheme is also presented where some redundant information, which is used to protect MVs and coding modes of MBs in one frame, is embedded into the MVs in the next frame. When errors occur in one group of blocks (GOB), the decoder can exactly recover the MVs of the corrupted GOB if the next frame can be received correctly. Simulations show that the proposed scheme has better performance than standard H.263 coding scheme for transmission over error-prone channels.