Video coding for OFDM systems with imperfect CSI: A hybrid digital-analog approach

摘要

Performance of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is greatest when the exact channel state information (CSI) is used for transmitter rate control and power allocation. However, in real systems CSI can only be approximately known. Moreover, in video communication, it can be difficult to use any CSI for rate control of a video codec if the channel changes significantly during a group of pictures coded jointly, such as when the receiver is moving. We address this issue through a hybrid digital-analog (HDA) coding system where a standard video codec is used to generate a fixed-rate base layer upon which the analog quantization error is superimposed as a refinement layer. The system adapts to channel variations by proper transmit-power allocation between digital and analog components and across OFDM subcarriers, based on CSI. We present a power allocation scheme for this system which explicitly takes into account the imprecise nature of the available CSI. Experimental results obtained with simulated OFDM channel traces show that proposed scheme is able to achieve a much better quality-vs-reliability trade-off in video transmission, compared to the best known digital-only and analog-only alternatives.