Optimal Design of Multiple Description Lattice Vector Quantizers

In the design of multiple description lattice vector quantizers (MDLVQ), index assignment plays a critical role. In addition, one also needs to choose the Voronoi cell size of the central lattice v, the sublattice index N, and the number of side descriptions K to minimize the expected MDLVQ distortion, given the total entropy rate of all side descriptions Rt and description loss probability p. In this paper we propose a linear-time MDLVQ index assignment algorithm for any K >= 2 balanced descriptions in any dimensions, based on a new construction of so-called K-fraction lattice. The algorithm is greedy in nature but is proven to be asymptotically (N -> infinity) optimal for any K >= 2 balanced descriptions in any dimensions, given Rt and p. The result is stronger when K = 2: the optimality holds for finite N as well, under some mild conditions. For K > 2, a local adjustment algorithm is developed to augment the greedy index assignment, and conjectured to be optimal for finite N. Our algorithmic study also leads to better understanding of v, N and K in optimal MDLVQ design. For K = 2 we derive, for the first time, a non-asymptotical closed form expression of the expected distortion of optimal MDLVQ in p, Rt, N. For K > 2, we tighten the current asymptotic formula of the expected distortion, relating the optimal values of N and K to p and Rt more precisely.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Trans. on Information Theory, Sep 2006 (30 pages, 7 figures

Multiple Description Quantization via Gram-Schmidt Orthogonalization

The multiple description (MD) problem has received considerable attention as a model of information transmission over unreliable channels. A general framework for designing efficient multiple description quantization schemes is proposed in this paper. We provide a systematic treatment of the El Gamal-Cover (EGC) achievable MD rate-distortion region, and show that any point in the EGC region can be achieved via a successive quantization scheme along with quantization splitting. For the quadratic Gaussian case, the proposed scheme has an intrinsic connection with the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization, which implies that the whole Gaussian MD rate-distortion region is achievable with a sequential dithered lattice-based quantization scheme as the dimension of the (optimal) lattice quantizers becomes large. Moreover, this scheme is shown to be universal for all i.i.d. smooth sources with performance no worse than that for an i.i.d. Gaussian source with the same variance and asymptotically optimal at high resolution. A class of low-complexity MD scalar quantizers in the proposed general framework also is constructed and is illustrated geometrically; the performance is analyzed in the high resolution regime, which exhibits a noticeable improvement over the existing MD scalar quantization schemes.Comment: 48 pages; submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Achieving Secrecy Capacity of the Gaussian Wiretap Channel with Polar Lattices

In this work, an explicit wiretap coding scheme based on polar lattices is proposed to achieve the secrecy capacity of the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) wiretap channel. Firstly, polar lattices are used to construct secrecy-good lattices for the mod-$\Lambda_s$ Gaussian wiretap channel. Then we propose an explicit shaping scheme to remove this mod-$\Lambda_s$ front end and extend polar lattices to the genuine Gaussian wiretap channel. The shaping technique is based on the lattice Gaussian distribution, which leads to a binary asymmetric channel at each level for the multilevel lattice codes. By employing the asymmetric polar coding technique, we construct an AWGN-good lattice and a secrecy-good lattice with optimal shaping simultaneously. As a result, the encoding complexity for the sender and the decoding complexity for the legitimate receiver are both O(N logN log(logN)). The proposed scheme is proven to be semantically secure.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Trans. Information Theory, revised. This is the authors' own version of the pape

n-Channel Asymmetric Entropy-Constrained Multiple-Description Lattice Vector Quantization

This paper is about the design and analysis of an index-assignment (IA) based multiple-description coding scheme for the n-channel asymmetric case. We use entropy constrained lattice vector quantization and restrict attention to simple reconstruction functions, which are given by the inverse IA function when all descriptions are received or otherwise by a weighted average of the received descriptions. We consider smooth sources with finite differential entropy rate and MSE fidelity criterion. As in previous designs, our construction is based on nested lattices which are combined through a single IA function. The results are exact under high-resolution conditions and asymptotically as the nesting ratios of the lattices approach infinity. For any n, the design is asymptotically optimal within the class of IA-based schemes. Moreover, in the case of two descriptions and finite lattice vector dimensions greater than one, the performance is strictly better than that of existing designs. In the case of three descriptions, we show that in the limit of large lattice vector dimensions, points on the inner bound of Pradhan et al. can be achieved. Furthermore, for three descriptions and finite lattice vector dimensions, we show that the IA-based approach yields, in the symmetric case, a smaller rate loss than the recently proposed source-splitting approach.Comment: 49 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 201

Gauge-ball spectrum of the four-dimensional pure U(1) gauge theory

We investigate the continuum limit of the gauge-ball spectrum in the four-dimensional pure U(1) lattice gauge theory. In the confinement phase we identify various states scaling with the correlation length exponent $\nu \simeq 0.35$. The square root of the string tension also scales with this exponent, which agrees with the non-Gaussian fixed point exponent recently found in the finite size studies of this theory. Possible scenarios for constructing a non-Gaussian continuum theory with the observed gauge-ball spectrum are discussed. The $0^{++}$ state, however, scales with a Gaussian value $\nu \simeq 0.5$. This suggests the existence of a second, Gaussian continuum limit in the confinement phase and also the presence of a light or possibly massless scalar in the non-Gaussian continuum theory. In the Coulomb phase we find evidence for a few gauge-balls, being resonances in multi-photon channels; they seem to approach the continuum limit with as yet unknown critical exponents. The maximal value of the renormalized coupling in this phase is determined and its universality confirmed.Comment: 46 pages, 12 figure