Evaluation of MPEG-4 video streaming over multi-hop cellular networks

Next generation communication networks will comprise third generation (3G) cellular and multi-hop ad hoc networks. MPEG-4 video streaming can be a killer application for this novel multihop cellular network. The paper has evaluated the end-to-end performance of streaming MPEG-4 video over a multi-hop cellular network that comprises the High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and the IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks. The factors, which can affect the end-to-end performance of MPEG-4 video transmission, are analyzed using simulation. For the same configurations, the simulation results reveal that different MPEG-4 video contents can cause different performance for HSDPA. The transmission strategies used in HSDPA and UMTS also results in performance differences. Moreover, the number of hops, error rate in the 802.11 multi-hop network and traffic contentions level have a strong impact on the end-to-end MPEG-4 video streaming performance. Our results can be used for gateway selection, resource reservation and QoS provision in the novel multi-hop cellular network.