Reducing Packet Loss in Real-Time Wireless Multicast Video Streams with Forward Error Correction

Abstract

Wireless multicast suffers from severe packet loss due to interference and lack of link layer retransmission. In this work, we investigate wether the most recent Forward Error Correction (FEC) draft is suitable for real-time wireless multicast live streaming, with emphasis on three main points: packet reduction effectivity, and latency and overhead impact. We design and perform an experiment in which we simulate wireless packet loss in multicast streams with a Gilbert model pattern of ≈16% random packet loss. We check all FEC configurations (L and D values) within several constraints: maximum 500 milliseconds repair window (latency impact), 66.67% overhead, and a maximum L value of 20. For all these L and D values we stream the tractor sample three times, to avoid possible outliers in the data. We show that packet loss reduction in the most recent FEC draft is effective, at most reducing from ≈16% down to ≈1.02%. We also show that low latency streaming can be conducted, but it requires a minimum of 160 milliseconds additional latency for our stream file. The overhead for such low latency can be as high as 66.67%.