QoE-Driven Cross-Layer Design for Video Communication over Software-Defined Radio

Mohammad Nazmus Sadat, Erwin Vargas-Alfonso, Rui Dai, Ziqian Huang, Yiling Fu, Sunmeng Lin

Abstract: With the prevalence of wireless imaging applications, there is an emerging need to support the exchange of videos among different wireless communication entities. Software-defined radio (SDR) is a promising technology for handling the needs of video communication in dynamic wireless conditions. This paper presents a cross-layer video over SDR communication solution that aims to provide satisfactory Quality of Experience (QoE) to application users. First, a practical video communication over SDR platform is built upon GNU radio, Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) B210 hardware, and GStreamer, a comprehensive library for video processing. Next, measurement results from the platform are summarized to understand how the parameters in the physical layer and the application layer contribute to the perceptual quality of videos presented to application users. Based on these measurement results, a cross-layer protocol is designed that jointly adjusts the physical layer parameters and the application settings to maximize the QoE for video streaming. Finally, the cross-layer video communication protocol is integrated in the testbed, and evaluation results show that it could effectively boost the QoE of received videos.