Refined Data Partitioning for improved video prioritization

Abstract

Data partitioning is a coarse form of compressed data prioritization or layering that is effective in error-prone environments. This paper proposes a further sub-partition of one of the H.264/AVC codec's data-partitions, which can result in up to a 5 dB improvement in objective video quality. Specifically, the partition bearing spatially-coded data is divided into those data naturally inserted by the encoder and those data inserted for intra-refresh purposes. The refinement is helpful when communicating over wireless channels or when selectively dropping packets during congestion. Suitable applications are in two-way user-to-user communication for which HTTP adaptive streaming is inappropriate and the HEVC codec consumes too much energy.