While most books on the subject focus on resource allocation in just one type of network, this book is the first to examine the common characteristics of multiple distributed video communication systems. Comprehensive and systematic, Optimal Resource Allocation for Distributed Video Communication presents a unified optimization framework for resource allocation across these systems. The book examines the techniques required for optimal resource allocation over Internet, wireless cellular networks, wireless ad hoc networks, and wireless sensor networks. It provides you with the required foundation in video communications, including Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks, wireless networks, and visual sensor networks. Whether youre in industry or academia, youll value how the book outlines current challenges facing the field and outlines a general solution framework for addressing these challenges. From problem formulations and theoretical analysis to practical algorithms, it facilitates the comprehensive understanding required to achieve optimized video and multimedia communications. Presents the resource allocation techniques for scalable video communications over Internet or wireless networks Examines two resource allocation problems - distributed throughput maximization for scalable P2P Video-on-Demand (VoD) systems and streaming capacity for P2P VoD systems Outlines an optimal prefetching framework for reducing seeking delays in P2P VoD applications Examines distributed optimization techniques for unicast and multicast video streaming over wireless ad hoc networks Considers the network lifetime maximization problem in wireless visual sensor networks Detailing methods that can immediately improve the performance of your video communication systems, this book presents multiple applications of optimal resource allocation. For each of the applications, the authors present the problem formulation, the distributed algorithm, and the simulation results.