Performance modeling of MPEG-4 video streaming over IEEE 802.11 using distribution coordination function

Delivering video streaming over wireless Internet is becoming increasingly popular. However, most of the research studies focused on the modeling analysis of system performance such as saturation throughput and channel utilization. Perceived quality of video streaming cannot be assessed solely based on the results of analytical models. In this paper, we propose a model to assess the perceived quality of MPEG-4 video streaming over IEEE 802.11 distribution coordination function (DCF)-based wireless local area networks. The analysis of our proposed model considers not only effects of losses such as collision loss from channel access competition but also wireless loss caused by wireless interferences. Moreover, the impact of the loss of specific MPEG-4 video frames is also taken into account in the performance analysis. The model was validated by comparing our performance results with results obtained from simulation and analytical models. The results show that our proposed model is able to predict the perceived quality of MPEG-4 video streaming over DCF-based WLAN more accurately than other models.