QoE Analysis of Real-Time Video Streaming over 4G-LTE for UAV-Based Surveillance Applications

Abstract

Drones also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) perform an significant role in surveillance at a remote location by streaming real-time video with their attached cameras. A good architecture for such kind of surveillance is required that ensures real-time monitoring at targeted areas. As the streaming video is used in monitoring; it is much important to ensure its quality during transmission so that remote client can view clear insights and could take prompt action on time if required. In this paper, we have proposed a 4G-LTE architecture and examined the effects of different factors in such architecture. We have shown the comparative analysis between two latest codec schemes i.e. H.264 and H.265 (HEVC) in video streaming. Our study is an important step towards exploring the factors that influence the real-time video streaming and degrade the Quality of Experience (QoE) of video viewing in such architecture. To examine the received video quality, two objective metrics, Peak-Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (PSNR) and Structural-Similarity-Index (SSIM) have been considered in this paper. The simulation results are based on the most famous Network simulator in the research community i.e. NS-3. The results have shown that H.265 works better in comparison with H.264 under different circumstances.