A protection scheme for multimedia packet streams in bursty packet loss networks based on small block low-density parity-check codes

This paper proposes an enhanced forward error correction (FEC) scheme based on small block low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes to protect real-time packetized multimedia streams in bursty channels. The use of LDPC codes is typically addressed for channels where losses are uniformly distributed (memoryless channels) and for large information blocks. This work suggests the use of this type of FEC codes at the application layer, in bursty channels (e.g., Internet protocol (IP)-based networks) and for real-time scenarios that require low transmission latency. To fulfil these constraints, the appropriate configuration parameters of an LDPC scheme have been determined using small blocks of information and adapting the FEC code to be capable of recovering packet losses in bursty environments. This purpose is achieved in two steps. The first step is performed by an algorithm that estimates the recovery capability of a given LDPC code in a burst packet loss network. The second step is the optimization of the code: an algorithm optimizes the parity matrix structure in terms of recovery capability against the specific behavior of the channel with memory. Experimental results have been obtained in a simulated transmission channel to show that the optimized LDPC matrices generate a more robust protection scheme against bursty packet losses for small information blocks.