Abstract
The use of 3D models in many multimedia applications is becoming widespread. In many of these applications, 3D models are often transmitted over communication networks which degrade the quality of the models. This thesis investigates error control strategies for the transmission of progressively compressed 3D models over error-prone wireless channels. In the first part of the thesis, the use of product channel codes for protecting the compressed 3D model bitstream is considered. In the scheme proposed therein, bit allocation between source and parity bits is done in a joint source-channel coding framework. Next, the use of power control for the protection of 3D models against channel errors is investigated. Taking the importance of the various levels of the compressed bistream into account, an unequal power allocation scheme is proposed. The proposed scheme allocates unequal amounts of transmit power levels to the various levels of the compressed bitstream in such a manner that the expected distortion in the decoded 3D model is minimized. Finally, the problem of transmitting 3D models over wireless networks with feedback channels is addressed. For this scenario, an error control system which combines a hybrid automatic repeat request scheme with a forward error correction scheme is proposed. With the proposed system, the base mesh is always delivered, thus guaranteeing a minimum quality of service for 3D model transmission. The effectiveness of the proposed schemes is demonstrated through simulations, which are assessed with the use of objective and subjective performance measures.