Index Assignment for N Balanced Multiple Description Scalar Quantization

In this paper, we address the design of any number of balanced multiple descriptions using the multiple description scalar quantization(MDSQ) technique. The proposed scheme has the advantages of low complexity, the possibility of being extended easily to any number of descriptions and the possibility to trade off between the side, partial and central distortions. Unlike existing schemes, it can produce balanced descriptions at low rates, at the price however of a slightly higher distortion. The behavior of the proposed index assignment at high rate is in the same time similar to state-of-the-art schemes. The proposed scheme offers the possibility to adapt to loss probability, and rate constraints, in playing with both the number of descriptions, and the rate of each of them, to minimize the average distortion. The comparison with the systematic FEC (N; k) scheme shows that the FEC scheme in general gives smaller average distortion, but that our scheme seems to be more robust to sudden changes in network conditions and that receiving all the descriptions in general gives smaller distortions

Zero-Delay Multiple Descriptions of Stationary Scalar Gauss-Markov Sources

In this paper, we introduce the zero-delay multiple-description problem, where an encoder constructs two descriptions and the decoders receive a subset of these descriptions. The encoder and decoders are causal and operate under the restriction of zero delay, which implies that at each time instance, the encoder must generate codewords that can be decoded by the decoders using only the current and past codewords. For the case of discrete-time stationary scalar Gauss—Markov sources and quadratic distortion constraints, we present information-theoretic lower bounds on the average sum-rate in terms of the directed and mutual information rate between the source and the decoder reproductions. Furthermore, we show that the optimum test channel is in this case Gaussian, and it can be realized by a feedback coding scheme that utilizes prediction and correlated Gaussian noises. Operational achievable results are considered in the high-rate scenario using a simple differential pulse code modulation scheme with staggered quantizers. Using this scheme, we achieve operational rates within 0.415 bits / sample / description of the theoretical lower bounds for varying description rates