Statistical Multiplexing of Layered Video Streams Over ATM Networks with Leaky-Bucket Traffic Descriptors

We consider the transmission of variable-bit-rate (VBR) video over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks using statistical multiplexing The encoder output is assumed to comply with a leaky-bucket traffic descriptor, and the network uses cell-level but not burst-level buffering at switches. Feasible multiplexing levels are determined based on given requirements on cell loss, delay jitter, and the duration of periods of consecutive cell loss. Earlier work on single-layer VBR encoding is extended to two-layer encoding, where the enchancement layer is coded VBR, and the base layer is coded using various bit- rate constraints.