In this paper

a novel data partitioning method is presented

aiming at reducing error propagation for video streaming.The proposed method modifies the approach defined in H.264

differentiating the importance level of every encoded macroblock by using the degree of the error propagation caused by the loss of the macroblock and then forming separate sub-bitstreams.Given the network bandwidth and packet loss rate

a bit rate allocation algorithm based on rate-distortion optimization is presented to protect individual sub-bitstreams at different levels

which enhances the possibility of correctly receiving the macroblocks of high level and improves the reconstructed quality of video streaming.The proposed method is easy to implement.Most important

the method effectively reduces the error propagation as packet loss happens.The simulations show that the proposed method gains 0.3-0.6dB than H.264 under the same channel conditions.