Distributed Functional Scalar Quantization Simplified

Distributed functional scalar quantization (DFSQ) theory provides optimality conditions and predicts performance of data acquisition systems in which a computation on acquired data is desired. We address two limitations of previous works: prohibitively expensive decoder design and a restriction to sources with bounded distributions. We rigorously show that a much simpler decoder has equivalent asymptotic performance as the conditional expectation estimator previously explored, thus reducing decoder design complexity. The simpler decoder has the feature of decoupled communication and computation blocks. Moreover, we extend the DFSQ framework with the simpler decoder to acquire sources with infinite-support distributions such as Gaussian or exponential distributions. Finally, through simulation results we demonstrate that performance at moderate coding rates is well predicted by the asymptotic analysis, and we give new insight on the rate of convergence

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

Fast rates for empirical vector quantization

We consider the rate of convergence of the expected loss of empirically optimal vector quantizers. Earlier results show that the mean-squared expected distortion for any fixed distribution supported on a bounded set and satisfying some regularity conditions decreases at the rate O(log n/n). We prove that this rate is actually O(1/n). Although these conditions are hard to check, we show that well-polarized distributions with continuous densities supported on a bounded set are included in the scope of this result.Comment: 18 page

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

Quantization of Prior Probabilities for Hypothesis Testing

Bayesian hypothesis testing is investigated when the prior probabilities of the hypotheses, taken as a random vector, are quantized. Nearest neighbor and centroid conditions are derived using mean Bayes risk error as a distortion measure for quantization. A high-resolution approximation to the distortion-rate function is also obtained. Human decision making in segregated populations is studied assuming Bayesian hypothesis testing with quantized priors

Vector quantization

During the past ten years Vector Quantization (VQ) has developed from a theoretical possibility promised by Shannon's source coding theorems into a powerful and competitive technique for speech and image coding and compression at medium to low bit rates. In this survey, the basic ideas behind the design of vector quantizers are sketched and some comments made on the state-of-the-art and current research efforts

One-pass adaptive universal vector quantization

The authors introduce a one-pass adaptive universal quantization technique for real, bounded alphabet, stationary sources. The algorithm is set on line without any prior knowledge of the statistics of the sources which it might encounter and asymptotically achieves ideal performance on all sources that it sees. The system consists of an encoder and a decoder. At increasing intervals, the encoder refines its codebook using knowledge about incoming data symbols. This codebook is then described to the decoder in the form of updates on the previous codebook. The accuracy to which the codebook is described increases as the number of symbols seen, and thus the accuracy to which the codebook is known, grows

Anisotropic oracle inequalities in noisy quantization

The effect of errors in variables in quantization is investigated. We prove general exact and non-exact oracle inequalities with fast rates for an empirical minimization based on a noisy sample $Z_i=X_i+\epsilon_i,i=1,\ldots,n$, where $X_i$ are i.i.d. with density $f$ and $\epsilon_i$ are i.i.d. with density $\eta$. These rates depend on the geometry of the density $f$ and the asymptotic behaviour of the characteristic function of $\eta$. This general study can be applied to the problem of $k$-means clustering with noisy data. For this purpose, we introduce a deconvolution $k$-means stochastic minimization which reaches fast rates of convergence under standard Pollard's regularity assumptions.Comment: 30 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1205.141