In this paper, we discuss the problem of distributing streaming media content, both live and on-demand, to a large number of hosts in a scalable way. Our work is set in the context of the traditional client-server framework. Specifically, we consider the problem that arises when the server is overwhelmed by the volume of requests from its clients. As a solution, we propose Cooperative Networking (CoopNet), where clients cooperate to distribute content, thereby alleviating the load on the server. We discuss the proposed solution in some detail, pointing out the interesting research issues that arise, and present a preliminary evaluation using traces gathered at a busy news site during the flash crowd that occurred on September 11, 2001.

We consider the problem of distributing "five" streaming media content to a potentially large and highly dynamic population of hosts. Peer-to-peer content distribution is attractive in this setting because the bandwidth available to serve content scales with demand. A key challenge, however, is making content distribution robust to peer transience. Our approach to providing robustness is to introduce redundancy, both in network paths and in data. We use multiple, diverse distribution trees to provide redundancy in network paths and multiple description coding (MDC) to provide redundancy in data. We present

We extend the work of Sherwood and Zeger [1, 2] to progressive video coding for noisy channels. By utilizing a three-dimensional (3-D) extension of the set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) algorithm [3], we cascade the resulting 3-D SPIHT video coder [4, 5] with the ratecompatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) channel coder [6] for transmission of video over a binary symmetric channel (BSC). Progressive coding is achieved by increasing the target rate of the 3-D embedded SPIHT video coder as the channel condition improves. The performance of our proposed coding system is acceptable at low transmission rate and bad channel conditions. 1 Introduction Transmission of compressed images/video over a noisy channel may su#er from disturbance or channel noise. The result is usually uncontrolled degradation in reproduction quality, especially when variable-length coding (VLC) is used for high performance compression. Therefore, a major concern of the designer is the control o...

Wavelet video coding using motion vectors estimated simultaneously at the transmitter and receiver side from the transmitted image data have been reported to have good compression capabilities, comparable to the non-scalable version of H.263. When scalability is required, the comparison turns even more in favour of the wavelet coding scheme. This paper shows that it is possible to reduce the bit-rate further in backward motion estimation schemes by using the certainty of each estimated motion vector. In this paper we report a lowering in bit rate of about 20 % by using the motion vector certainty as background information in the entropy coding / decoding process. We also propose a low-complexity algorithm which does not require motion estimation / compensation, but uses the motion vector certainty. Keywords: Certainty, confidence, motion estimation, backward motion estimation, scalable video, scalability, wavelet video, multiresolution video coding, motion compensated wavelet coding, ...

In this paper, we discuss the problem of distributing streaming media content, both live and on-demand, to a large number of hosts in a scalable way. Our work is set in the context of the traditional client-server framework. Speci cally, we consider the problem that arises when the server is overwhelmed by the volume of requests from its clients. As a solution, we propose Cooperative Networking (CoopNet), where clients cooperate to distribute content, thereby alleviating the load on the server. We discuss the proposed solution in some detail, pointing out the interesting research issues that arise, and present a preliminary evaluation using traces gathered at a busy news site during the ash crowd that occurred on September 11, 2001.

This paper presents a color-resolution layered coding scheme for a scalable video delivery system which operates over heterogeneous networks and distributes real-time streaming video to diverse types of video clients running on devices which range from high-powered workstations to mobile computing devices such as handheld and palm-sized computers. The layered coding scheme employs a wavelet transform-based technique to generate a scalable bit stream that is further separated into layers based on the colour and resolution information. These layers are then delivered over different multicast channels to video clients which selectively receives the layered streams and decodes the video according to their own bandwidth availability, processing power and display size. The layered coding scheme has been implemented in the scalable video delivery system on both the personal computer (PC) and digital signal processing (DSP) card platforms. Various issues related to the design, implementation and performance of this layered coding scheme on these platforms will be discussed in this paper.