Haptic Encoder and Data Compression of Multimodal Data Traffic in the Tactile Internet

The efficient transmission of haptic, audio, and video (HAV) data in the Tactile Internet (TI) is the bases for successful tele-operation services over long-rage area networks. The IEEE P1918.1.1 Working Group is going to standardize the encoding of haptic data in such networks. This study presents a first implementation of the haptic encoder that is in compliance with the future IEEE 1918.1.1 standard for non-delay transmissions. The encoder's details are outlined and the haptic encoding performance is discussed. In a basic leader-follower system configuration, a significant encoding gain at 44 % was observed when haptic devices are idle. Hence, a haptic tele-operation system can be realized with superior efficiency when haptic devices are in idle state, so that data traffic is optimized while reducing operational network costs.