Random linear network coding with ladder-shaped global coding matrix for robust video transmission

Robust video multicast in erasure networks using network coding (NC) to reduce the impact of packet loss is studied in this paper. In our proposed solution, random linear network coding (RLNC) is adopted at intermediate nodes of the network. RLNC linearly combines a group of packets by randomly selecting weighting coefficients on a finite field, and the loss of an RLNC-coded packet is equivalent to the loss of one constraint in a linear system of equations required for RLNC decoding. Unless the global coding coefficient matrix, or simply called the global coding matrix (GCM), is of full rank, a receive node cannot reconstruct all source packets. To address this rank deficiency problem, we propose to construct a special-structured GCM, called the ladder-shaped GCM (LGCM), for layered H.264/SVC (scalable video coding) video multicast. The ladder shape of the sparse coding matrix is maintained throughout the RLNC process to achieve two objectives: (1) to enable partial decoding of a block; and (2) to provide unequal erasure protection for H.264/SVC priority layers. Furthermore, quality degradation is minimized by optimizing the amount of redundancy assigned to each layer, and graceful quality degradation is achieved by error concealment (EC). Simulation results are given to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed RLNC–LGCM scheme over the traditional RLNC with a general GCM. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.