Burst-loss-resilient packetization of video

In video transmission over packet-based networks, packet losses often occur in bursts. In this paper, we present a novel packetization method for increasing the robustness of compressed video against bursty packet losses. The proposed method is based on creating a coding order of macroblocks (MBs) so that the blocks that are close to each other in the coding order end up being far from each other in the frame. We formulate this idea as a discrete optimization problem, prove its NP-hardness, and discuss several possible solution methods. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method improves the quality of reconstructed frames under burst loss by several decibels compared to conventional flexible MB ordering techniques, and about 0.7 dB compared to the state-of-the-art method called explicit chessboard wipe.