Method and system for generating side information at a video encoder to differentiate packet data

An apparatus comprising:

• a video encoder, configured to generate side information associated with a plurality of blocks of pixel data, the side information providing for each block of the plurality of blocks of pixel data an indication of a video quality impact due to a loss individually of each block of the plurality of blocks of pixel data;
• and
• at least one transmitter, configured to transmit on multiple channels, a video bitstream comprising at least said plurality of blocks using an adaptive multiple channel selection process between the multiple channels based, at least in part, on the indication of a video quality impact in the side information for each block of the plurality of blocks,
• wherein the video encoder comprises:
• an error concealment module configured to conceal pixel values for the plurality of blocks of pixel data in an encoding process;
• a distortion calculation module configured to calculate, based on estimated concealed pixel values, a distortion that will be caused by a loss of each of the plurality of blocks;
• and
• a packet loss impact estimation module configured to calculate a distortion for a current group of pictures based on the calculated distortion of each of the plurality of blocks comprising the current group of pictures.

A non-transitory medium having processor-executable computer program instructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions defining code for:

• generating side information associated with a plurality of blocks of pixel data, the side information providing for each block of the plurality of blocks of pixel data an indication of a video quality impact due to a loss individually of each block of the plurality of blocks of pixel data;
• and
• transmitting, on multiple channels, a video bitstream comprising at least said plurality of blocks using an adaptive multiple channel selection process between the multiple channels based, at least in part, on the indication of a video quality impact in the side information for each block of the plurality of blocks,
• wherein said generating of the side information comprises:
• estimating concealed pixel values for the plurality of blocks of pixel data in an encoding process;
• calculating, based on estimated concealed pixel values, a distortion that will be caused by a loss of each of the plurality of blocks;
• and
• calculating a distortion for a current group of pictures based on the calculated distortion of each of the plurality of blocks comprising the current group of pictures.