Dynamic rate shaping on MPEG-2 video streams for bandwidth saving on a faded satellite channel

In a previous work, we studied how to send a video stream over a noisy satellite channel using the scalability features of the MPEG-2 standard. The base and the enhancement flows were sent with different levels of protection (bit and coding rates) in order to deal with the channel degradation. In this paper, we add Dynamic Rate Shaping (DRS), thus obtaining a greater flexibility in the choice of transmission parameters. In fact, it is possible to trim the required bandwidth in continuous mode in the working range, thus saving some bandwidth when keeping the video quality constant during changing fade conditions. The performances of DRS applied to both the non-scalable and the seal able MPEG-2 coded video streams are shown separately. An application of the techniques presented is discussed. and some criteria are given for choosing the most suitable parameters, according to the service quality requirements.