An improved search algorithm for vector quantization using mean pyramid structure

Vector quantization (VQ) is a well-known data compression technique. In the codebook design phase as well as the encoding phase, given a block represented as a vector, searching the closest codeword in the codebook is a time-consuming task. Based on the mean pyramid structure and the range search approach, an improved search algorithm for VQ is presented in this paper. Conceptually, the proposed algorithm has the bandpass filter effect. Each time, using the derived formula, the search range becomes narrower due to the elimination of some portion of the previous search range. This reduces search times and improves the previous result by Lee and Chen (A fast search algorithm for vector quantization using mean pyramids of codewords. IEEE Trans. Commun. 43(2/3/4), (1995) 1697–1702). Some experimental results demonstrate the computational advantage of the proposed algorithm.