Multiresolution vector quantization

Multiresolution source codes are data compression algorithms yielding embedded source descriptions. The decoder of a multiresolution code can build a source reproduction by decoding the embedded bit stream in part or in whole. All decoding procedures start at the beginning of the binary source description and decode some fraction of that string. Decoding a small portion of the binary string gives a low-resolution reproduction; decoding more yields a higher resolution reproduction; and so on. Multiresolution vector quantizers are block multiresolution source codes. This paper introduces algorithms for designing fixed- and variable-rate multiresolution vector quantizers. Experiments on synthetic data demonstrate performance close to the theoretical performance limit. Experiments on natural images demonstrate performance improvements of up to 8 dB over tree-structured vector quantizers. Some of the lessons learned through multiresolution vector quantizer design lend insight into the design of more sophisticated multiresolution codes

Quantization as Histogram Segmentation: Optimal Scalar Quantizer Design in Network Systems

An algorithm for scalar quantizer design on discrete-alphabet sources is proposed. The proposed algorithm can be used to design fixed-rate and entropy-constrained conventional scalar quantizers, multiresolution scalar quantizers, multiple description scalar quantizers, and Wyner–Ziv scalar quantizers. The algorithm guarantees globally optimal solutions for conventional fixed-rate scalar quantizers and entropy-constrained scalar quantizers. For the other coding scenarios, the algorithm yields the best code among all codes that meet a given convexity constraint. In all cases, the algorithm run-time is polynomial in the size of the source alphabet. The algorithm derivation arises from a demonstration of the connection between scalar quantization, histogram segmentation, and the shortest path problem in a certain directed acyclic graph

Network vector quantization

We present an algorithm for designing locally optimal vector quantizers for general networks. We discuss the algorithm's implementation and compare the performance of the resulting "network vector quantizers" to traditional vector quantizers (VQs) and to rate-distortion (R-D) bounds where available. While some special cases of network codes (e.g., multiresolution (MR) and multiple description (MD) codes) have been studied in the literature, we here present a unifying approach that both includes these existing solutions as special cases and provides solutions to previously unsolved examples

Weighted universal image compression

We describe a general coding strategy leading to a family of universal image compression systems designed to give good performance in applications where the statistics of the source to be compressed are not available at design time or vary over time or space. The basic approach considered uses a two-stage structure in which the single source code of traditional image compression systems is replaced with a family of codes designed to cover a large class of possible sources. To illustrate this approach, we consider the optimal design and use of two-stage codes containing collections of vector quantizers (weighted universal vector quantization), bit allocations for JPEG-style coding (weighted universal bit allocation), and transform codes (weighted universal transform coding). Further, we demonstrate the benefits to be gained from the inclusion of perceptual distortion measures and optimal parsing. The strategy yields two-stage codes that significantly outperform their single-stage predecessors. On a sequence of medical images, weighted universal vector quantization outperforms entropy coded vector quantization by over 9 dB. On the same data sequence, weighted universal bit allocation outperforms a JPEG-style code by over 2.5 dB. On a collection of mixed test and image data, weighted universal transform coding outperforms a single, data-optimized transform code (which gives performance almost identical to that of JPEG) by over 6 dB

Optimal modeling for complex system design

The article begins with a brief introduction to the theory describing optimal data compression systems and their performance. A brief outline is then given of a representative algorithm that employs these lessons for optimal data compression system design. The implications of rate-distortion theory for practical data compression system design is then described, followed by a description of the tensions between theoretical optimality and system practicality and a discussion of common tools used in current algorithms to resolve these tensions. Next, the generalization of rate-distortion principles to the design of optimal collections of models is presented. The discussion focuses initially on data compression systems, but later widens to describe how rate-distortion theory principles generalize to model design for a wide variety of modeling applications. The article ends with a discussion of the performance benefits to be achieved using the multiple-model design algorithms

A vector quantization approach to universal noiseless coding and quantization

A two-stage code is a block code in which each block of data is coded in two stages: the first stage codes the identity of a block code among a collection of codes, and the second stage codes the data using the identified code. The collection of codes may be noiseless codes, fixed-rate quantizers, or variable-rate quantizers. We take a vector quantization approach to two-stage coding, in which the first stage code can be regarded as a vector quantizer that “quantizes” the input data of length n to one of a fixed collection of block codes. We apply the generalized Lloyd algorithm to the first-stage quantizer, using induced measures of rate and distortion, to design locally optimal two-stage codes. On a source of medical images, two-stage variable-rate vector quantizers designed in this way outperform standard (one-stage) fixed-rate vector quantizers by over 9 dB. The tail of the operational distortion-rate function of the first-stage quantizer determines the optimal rate of convergence of the redundancy of a universal sequence of two-stage codes. We show that there exist two-stage universal noiseless codes, fixed-rate quantizers, and variable-rate quantizers whose per-letter rate and distortion redundancies converge to zero as (k/2)n -1 log n, when the universe of sources has finite dimension k. This extends the achievability part of Rissanen's theorem from universal noiseless codes to universal quantizers. Further, we show that the redundancies converge as O(n-1) when the universe of sources is countable, and as O(n-1+ϵ) when the universe of sources is infinite-dimensional, under appropriate conditions

Improved bounds for the rate loss of multiresolution source codes

We present new bounds for the rate loss of multiresolution source codes (MRSCs). Considering an M-resolution code, the rate loss at the ith resolution with distortion D/sub i/ is defined as L/sub i/=R/sub i/-R(D/sub i/), where R/sub i/ is the rate achievable by the MRSC at stage i. This rate loss describes the performance degradation of the MRSC compared to the best single-resolution code with the same distortion. For two-resolution source codes, there are three scenarios of particular interest: (i) when both resolutions are equally important; (ii) when the rate loss at the first resolution is 0 (L/sub 1/=0); (iii) when the rate loss at the second resolution is 0 (L/sub 2/=0). The work of Lastras and Berger (see ibid., vol.47, p.918-26, Mar. 2001) gives constant upper bounds for the rate loss of an arbitrary memoryless source in scenarios (i) and (ii) and an asymptotic bound for scenario (iii) as D/sub 2/ approaches 0. We focus on the squared error distortion measure and (a) prove that for scenario (iii) L/sub 1/<1.1610 for all D/sub 2/<0.7250; (c) tighten the Lastras-Berger bound for scenario (i) from L/sub i//spl les/1/2 to L/sub i/<0.3802, i/spl isin/{1,2}; and (d) generalize the bounds for scenarios (ii) and (iii) to M-resolution codes with M/spl ges/2. We also present upper bounds for the rate losses of additive MRSCs (AMRSCs). An AMRSC is a special MRSC where each resolution describes an incremental reproduction and the kth-resolution reconstruction equals the sum of the first k incremental reproductions. We obtain two bounds on the rate loss of AMRSCs: one primarily good for low-rate coding and another which depends on the source entropy

Conditional Entropy-Constrained Residual VQ with Application to Image Coding

This paper introduces an extension of entropy-constrained residual vector quantization (VQ) where intervector dependencies are exploited. The method, which we call conditional entropy-constrained residual VQ, employs a high-order entropy conditioning strategy that captures local information in the neighboring vectors. When applied to coding images, the proposed method is shown to achieve better rate-distortion performance than that of entropy-constrained residual vector quantization with less computational complexity and lower memory requirements. Moreover, it can be designed to support progressive transmission in a natural way. It is also shown to outperform some of the best predictive and finite-state VQ techniques reported in the literature. This is due partly to the joint optimization between the residual vector quantizer and a high-order conditional entropy coder as well as the efficiency of the multistage residual VQ structure and the dynamic nature of the prediction