High-Quality Video Streaming Over Urban Vehicular Networks

Video streaming services over vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) are in high demand for numerous applications associated with the connected vehicle (infotainment, driver assistance, accident support, etc.). However, streaming high-quality video through a VANET is not a trivial task, as the wireless channel is highly unreliable and suffers from bandwidth constraints. As a consequence, many packets may be lost, making it very difficult for the receiver to reconstruct a video with the minimum quality required. Our proposed scheme will combine several aspects of the overall video streaming architecture by following a cross-layer approach that includes: (a) the video packet stream content characteristics, (b) an adaptive forward error correction coding scheme, and (c) the use of QoS services. An adaptive RaptorQ coding scheme is proposed to protect the video packet stream without wasting the available network bandwidth. At the same time, we will use the QoS differentiated services of IEEE 802.11p to prioritise critical video packets, in order to avoid degradation of video quality during streaming. Finally, we will provide a mechanism to reduce the impact of synchronisation effects on the IEEE 1609.4 multiplexed service channel, which will reduce the packet collisions at the beginning of the service channel slot. All of these techniques, when properly combined, will enable high-quality video streaming services in urban VANET scenarios, thus providing a pleasant video quality experience to users even under different network conditions, with moderate to high packet error rates. In order to test the performance of our proposal, we will use a highly detailed simulation framework under different network conditions. The results of this work are expected to provide a feasible solution for high-quality video streaming services in urban VANETs.