Unequal loss protection and multiple description coding: a performance comparison

In this paper we present a performance comparison between multiple description coding and unequal loss protection as tools to encode a layered source. We address a rate-distortion-based multiple description coding scheme and a stateof-the-art unequal loss protection algorithm based on Reed Solomon FEC codes. The comparison is performed using as a case study JPEG 2000 coded images transmitted over lossy packet networks. Complexity aspects are also considered. The simulation results show that both schemes allocate the same amount of redundancy for any given encoding output rate to protect the transmitted information. Whereas MDC, besides being computationally less intensive, achieves a smoother performance degradation, the ULP scheme yields superior performance in terms of the expected PSNR.