Network coding has recently emerged as an alternative

to traditional routing algorithms in communication

systems. In network coding, the network nodes combine

the packets they receive before forwarding them to the

neighbouring nodes. Intensive research efforts have demonstrated

that such a processing in the network nodes can

provide advantages in terms of throughput or robustness.

These potentials, combined with the advent of ad hoc and

wireless delivery architectures have triggered the interest

of research community about the application of the network

coding principles to media streaming applications.

This paper describes the potentials of network coding in

emerging delivery architectures such as overlay or peerto-

peer networks. It overviews the principles of practical

network coding algorithms and outlines the challenges posed

by multimedia streaming applications