Joint Source Encoding and Networking Optimization for Panoramic Video Streaming over LTE-A Downlink

Abstract

With the increasing capacity of wireless networks, more people would like to consume the 360-degree panoramic video (PV) in virtual reality (VR) applications as its immersive experience. However, due to the super-high resolution of the PV and the dynamic features of wireless networks, it is very difficult to efficiently deliver PVs over wireless networks. The traditionally independent PV encoding and networking sometimes also results in the PV quality deterioration since it neglects the harmony between the source encoding and networking. In this paper, a joint source encoding and networking optimization scheme is proposed to transmit the PV over LTE-A downlink. The PV encoding parameters during the source compression, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and relay selection during the networking are jointly considered to optimize the end-to-end PV quality. In addition, the video quality for region of interest (RoI, the possible viewport region) is enhanced by allowing a larger latency bound in the joint source encoding and networking optimization. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme achieves significant performance improvement for the quality of the received PV over traditional PV streaming approaches.