UT ECE Professors Robert W. Heath Jr., Jeffrey G. Andrews, Alan Bovik, Constantine Caramanis, and Gustavo de Veciana were selected to receive a $900,000 gift over three years from Intel and Cisco to develop novel algorithms for Perceptual Optimization of Wireless Video Networks.

From laptops, to the now-pervasive smart-phones and other portable devices capable of displaying, streaming, generating and also sharing video, wireless networks are fast becoming the dominant means for video content delivery. Unfortunately, the application-agnostic approach of current data networks is not well-suited to meet projected growth in video traffic volume, nor is it capable of leveraging unique characteristics of real-time and stored video to deliver video more efficiently.

UT's innovative approach to improving wireless video capacity is built on a foundation of providing high perceptual quality. The research agenda is aligned along three critical research directions. The first is developing video quality metrics for 2-D and 3-D video with the end goal of providing high (human) visual quality. Another direction is in spatio-temporal interference management with the objective of predicting and scheduling video more efficiently over long time periods with less interference. The third direction involves using performance data generated to help the network adapt and deliver video more efficiently.

UT's team believes that fundamental advances in the areas of video quality, interference management, and learning will allow wireless networks to meet the anticipated increases in demand for high quality video delivered over wireless networks.