An efficient adaptive group of pictures (GOP)-level bit allocation algorithm was developed based on reverse dynamic programming (RDP). The algorithm gives the initial delay and sequence distortion curve with just one iteration of the algorithm. A simple GOP-level rate and distortion model was then developed for two-level constant quality rate control. The initial delay values and the corresponding optimal GOP-level bit allocation scheme can be obtained for video streaming along with the proper initial delay for various distortion tolerance levels. Simulations show that the algorithm provides an efficient solution for delay and buffer constrained GOP-level rate control for video streaming.

A simple, efficient multiple description coding (MDC) algorithm was developed based on weighted signal combinations. The scheme uses the standard video encoder with a pre-processing stage to generate multiple descriptions. The decoder then uses a post-processing algorithm to combine the descriptions to provide better image quality. A scalable codec in the MDC system allows the system to provide multiple descriptions and scalability at the same time. In addition, since the different scalable descriptions may have different qualities, a simple averaging process is not optimal. An optimal weighted combination of the two descriptions was developed based on the signal to noise ratios. Compared with the simple average combination, the algorithm significantly improved the video quality, especially with large quality differences between the two descriptions, with gains of up to 3.56 dB.