Content-based multiple bitstream image transmission over noisy channels

We propose a novel combined source and channel coding scheme for image transmission over noisy channels. The main feature of the proposed scheme is a systematic decomposition of image sources so that unequal error protection can be applied according to not only bit error sensitivity but also visual content importance. The wavelet transform is adopted to hierarchically decompose the image. The association between the wavelet coefficients and what they represent spatially in the original image is fully exploited so that wavelet blocks are classified based on their corresponding image content. The classification produces wavelet blocks in each class with similar content and statistics, therefore enables high performance source compression using the set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) algorithm. To combat the channel noise, an unequal error protection strategy with rate-compatible punctured convolutional/cyclic redundancy check (RCPC/CRC) codes is implemented based on the bit contribution to both peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and visual quality. At the receiving end, a postprocessing method making use of the SPIHT decoding structure and the classification map is developed to restore the degradation due to the residual error after channel decoding. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme is indeed able to provide protection both for the bits that are more sensitive to errors and for the more important visual content under a noisy transmission environment. In particular, the reconstructed images illustrate consistently better visual quality than using the single-bitstream-based schemes.     

Progressive transmission of images over memoryless noisy channels

An embedded source code allows the decoder to reconstruct the source progressively from the prefixes of a single bit stream. It is desirable to design joint source-channel coding schemes which retain the capability of progressive reconstruction in the presence of channel noise or packet loss. Here, we address the problem of joint source-channel coding of images for progressive transmission over memoryless bit error or packet erasure channels. We develop a framework for encoding based on embedded source codes and embedded error correcting and error detecting channel codes. For a target transmission rate, we provide solutions and an algorithm for the design of optimal unequal error/erasure protection. Three performance measures are considered: the average distortion, the average peak signal-to-noise ratio, and the average useful source coding rate. Under the assumption of rate compatibility of the underlying channel codes, we provide necessary conditions for progressive transmission of joint source-channel codes. We also show that the unequal error/erasure protection policies that maximize the average useful source coding rate allow progressive transmission with optimal unequal protection at a number of intermediate rates     

Concatenated block codes for unequal error protection of embedded bit streams

A state-of-the-art progressive source encoder is combined with a concatenated block coding mechanism to produce a robust source transmission system for embedded bit streams. The proposed scheme efficiently trades off the available total bit budget between information bits and parity bits through efficient information block size adjustment, concatenated block coding, and random block interleavers. The objective is to create embedded codewords such that, for a particular information block, the necessary protection is obtained via multiple channel encodings, contrary to the conventional methods that use a single code rate per information block. This way, a more flexible protection scheme is obtained. The information block size and concatenated coding rates are judiciously chosen to maximize system performance, subject to a total bit budget. The set of codes is usually created by puncturing a low-rate mother code so that a single encoder-decoder pair is used. The proposed scheme is shown to effectively enlarge this code set by providing more protection levels than is possible using the code rate set directly. At the expense of complexity, average system performance is shown to be significantly better than that of several known comparison systems, particularly at higher channel bit error rates.     

Clustering source output bits and equalizing bit error sensitivity to improve the quality and robustness of transmitted images over wireless channels

A joint design of source coding and channel coding is proposed to transmit images over error-prone wireless channels. First, the importance of each source output bit is quantified in bit error sensitivity (BES). Next, clustered set partitioning in hierarchical trees (C-SPIHT) is adopted to cluster SPIHT output bits so that the resultant bit-clusters have distinct BES. Then, we prove that equalizing the mean BES of bit-clusters provides the optimal assignment of channel coding rates for the unequal error protection. Besides, to achieve the best PSNR performance under a transmission rate, we use a heuristic method to allocate the source coding rate and channel coding rate. Simulation results show that, under different channel bit error rates, our design not only improves the mean PSNR performance, but also reduces the variations of PSNR performance, i.e. the robustness of PSNR to the channel noise interference is improved.     

Scalable image and video transmission using irregular repeat-accumulate codes with fast algorithm for optimal unequal error protection

This paper considers designing and applying punctured irregular repeat-accumulate (IRA) codes for scalable image and video transmission over binary symmetric channels. IRA codes of different rates are obtained by puncturing the parity bits of a mother IRA code, which uses a systematic encoder. One of the main ideas presented here is the design of the mother code such that the entire set of higher rate codes obtained by puncturing are good. To find a good unequal error protection for embedded bit streams, we employ the fast joint source-channel coding algorithm in Hamzaoui et al. to minimize the expected end-to-end distortion. We test with two scalable image coders (SPIHT and JPEG-2000) and two scalable video coders (3-D SPIHT and H.26L-based PFGS). Simulations show better results with IRA codes than those reported in Banister et al. with JPEG-2000 and turbo codes. The IRA codes proposed here also have lower decoding complexity than the turbo codes used by Banister et al.     

Multiview coding and error correction coding for 3D video over noisy channels

We consider the joint source–channel coding problem of stereo video transmitted over AWGN and flat Rayleigh fading channels. Multiview coding (MVC) is used to encode the source, as well as a type of spatial scalable MVC. Our goal is to minimize the total number of bits, which is the sum of the number of source bits and the number of forward error correction bits, under the constraints that the quality of the left and right views must each be greater than predetermined PSNR thresholds at the receiver. We first consider symmetric coding, for which the quality thresholds are equal. Following binocular suppression theory, we also consider asymmetric coding, for which the quality thresholds are unequal. The optimization problem is solved using both equal error protection (EEP) and a proposed unequal error protection (UEP) scheme. An estimate of the expected end-to-end distortion of the two views is formulated for a packetized MVC bitstream over a noisy channel. The UEP algorithm uses these estimates for packet rate allocation. Results for various scenarios, including non-scalable/scalable MVC, symmetric/asymmetric coding, and UEP/EEP, are provided for both AWGN and flat Rayleigh fading channels. The UEP bit savings compared to EEP are given, and the performances of different scenarios are compared for a set of stereo video sequences.     

一种视频编码数据分割方案

数据分割是在无线移动信道等传输视频码流时用于抵御信道误码、提高编码比特流健壮性的一种机制.在对现在流行的视频编码标准中数据分割方案进行研究的基础上,文中提出了一种视频编码中数据分割的新方案.在该方案中,运动矢量信息和头信息分割于不同部分;而且运动矢量的水平和垂直分量也可以分割到不同的部分,从而可以更好地抵御信道误码.在这种分割方案下,又提出了可以改进运动矢量编码效率的新编码方法.实验表明该方法对具有尖峰概率密度函数的情形尤为有效.采用文中数据分割方案具有抗信道误码能力强、运动矢量编码比特位数少、编码效率高等优点.     

Robust transmission based on variable-rate error control andgenetic programming

This paper presents a novel variable-rate error control design algorithm matched to full-search vector quantizers (VQs) for robust transmission. In the algorithm, different locations of binary strings obtained from VQ encoders are protected by channel codes with different protection levels. The degree of protection at each location is determined by a genetic programming technique minimizing the end-to-end average distortion of transmission systems. The technique outperforms the equal error protection method. Moreover, as compared with a full search algorithm for optimal unequal error protection, our technique attains comparable performance with significantly lower computational complexities     

Unequal error protection for MPEG-2 video transmission over wireless channels

This paper proposes an unequal error protection (UEP) method for MPEG-2 video transmission. Since the source and channel coders are normally concatenated, if the channel is noisy, more bits are allocated to channel coding and fewer to source coding. The situation is reversed when the channel conditions are more benign. Most of the joint source channel coding (JSCC) methods assume that the video source is subband coded, the bit error sensitivity of the source code can be modeled, and the bit allocations for different subband channels will be calculated. The UEP applied to different subbands is the rate compatible punctured convolution channel coder. However, the MPEG-2 coding is not a subband coding, the bit error sensitivity function for the coded video can no longer be applied. Here, we develop a different method to find the rate-distortion functions for JSCC of the MPEG-2 video. In the experiments, we show that the end-to-end distortion of our UEP method is smaller than the equal error protection method for the same total bit-rate.     

Bilayer expurgated LDPC codes with uncoded relaying

Bilayer low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are an effective coding technique for decode-and-forward relaying, where the relay forwards extra parity bits to help the destination to decode the source bits correctly. In the existing bilayer coding scheme, these parity bits are protected by an error correcting code and assumed reliably available at the receiver. We propose an uncoded relaying scheme, where the extra parity bits are forwarded to the destination without any protection. Through density evolution analysis and simulation results, we show that our proposed scheme achieves better performance in terms of bit erasure probability than the existing relaying scheme. In addition, our proposed scheme results in lower complexity at the relay.     

Vector coding for partial response channels

A linear technique for combining equalization and coset codes on partial response channels with additive white Gaussian noise is developed. The technique, vector coding, uses a set of transmit filters or `vectors' to partition the channel into an independent set of parallel intersymbol interference (ISI)-free channels for any given finite (or infinite) block length. The optimal transmit vectors for such channel partitioning are shown to be the eigenvectors of the channel covariance matrix for the specified block length, and the gains of the individual channels are the eigenvalues. An optimal bit allocation and energy distribution, are derived for the set of parallel channels, under an accurate extension of the continuous approximation for power in optimal multidimensional signal sets for constellations with unequal signal spacing in different dimensions. Examples are presented that demonstrate performance advantages with respect to zero-forcing decision feedback methods that use the same coset code on the same partial response channel. Only resampling the channel at an optimal rate and assuming no errors in the feedback path will bring the performance of the decision feedback methods up to the level of the vector coded system     

A novel product coding and recurrent alternate decoding scheme for image transmission over noisy channels

In this letter, we present a novel product channel coding and decoding scheme for image transmission over noisy channels. Two convolutional codes with at least one recursive systematic convolutional code are employed to construct the product code. Received data are decoded alternately in two directions. A constrained Viterbi algorithm is proposed to exploit the detection results of cyclic redundancy check codes so that both reduction in error patterns and fast decoding speed are achieved. Experiments with image data coded by the algorithm of set partitioning in hierarchical trees exhibit results better than those currently reported in the literature.     

一种抗误码能力强的无线信道图像传输方案

本文提出一种新的综合源编码和信道编码的无线信道图像传输方案，对子波变换后各个子带采用基于统计特性的变系数定长（VCFL）编码，数据经过Reed-Solomon编码后选择不同码率的码率兼容删除卷积码（RCPC）编码以提供不同程度的差错保护（UEP），最后数据经交织后传输。在给定传输的总比特数的情况下，通过优化算法使总体失真最小。模拟结果表明新方案在无线衰落信道上表现出良好的性能。     

Real-time unequal error protection algorithms for progressive image transmission

We consider unequal error protection strategies for the efficient progressive transmission of embedded image codes over noisy channels. In progressive transmission, the reconstruction quality is important not only at the target transmission rate but also at the intermediate rates. An adequate error protection strategy may, thus, consist of optimizing the average performance over the set of intermediate rates. The performance can be the expected number of correctly decoded source bits or the expected distortion. For the rate-based performance, we prove some interesting properties of an optimal solution and give an optimal linear-time algorithm to compute it. For the distortion-based performance, we propose an efficient linear-time local search algorithm. For a binary symmetric channel, two state-of-the-art source coders (SPIHT and JPEG2000), we compare the progressive ability of our proposed solutions to that of the strategies that optimize the end-to-end performance of the system. Experimental results showed that the proposed solutions had a slightly worse performance at the target transmission rate and a better performance at most of the intermediate rates, especially at the lowest ones.     

Robust adaptive transmission of images and video over multiple channels

Reliable transmission of images and video over wireless networks must address both potentially limited bandwidths and the possibilities of loss. When bandwidth sufficient to transmit the bit stream is unavailable on a single channel, the data can be partitioned over multiple channels with possibly unequal bandwidths and error characteristics at the expense of more complex channel coding (i.e., error correction). This paper addresses the problem of efficiently channel coding and partitioning pre-encoded image and video bit streams into substreams for transmission over multiple channels with unequal and time-varying characteristics. Within channels, error protection is unequally applied based on both data decoding priority and channel packet loss rates, while cross-channel coding addresses channel failures. In comparison with conventional product codes, the resulting product code does not restrict the total encoded data to a rectangular structure; rather, the data in each channel is adaptively coded according to the channel's varying conditions. The coding and partitioning are optimized to achieve two performance criteria: maximum bandwidth efficiency and minimum delay. Simulation results demonstrate that this approach is effective under a variety of channel conditions and for a broad range of source material.     

Performance of RS coded M-ary modulation with and without symbol overlapping

In this paper, we present analytical bit error probability results for M-ary modulation concatenated with Reed Solomon (RS) codes. The analysis of bit error probability is nontrivial as the number of bits per symbol for the RS codes may not be an integer multiple of the number of bits per symbol for a modulation symbol. We propose a Markov chain technique which allows analytical evaluation of the bit error probability for such cases. The performance of RS coding with coherent biorthogonal, coherent/non-coherent orthogonal modulation over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is evaluated. Simulation of the bit error probability of RS code concatenated with a Nordstrom Robinson (NR) code as an inner code is performed and compared with the case of biorthogonal modulation. From the results, we notice that a stronger inner code gives better bit error probability. In addition, the throughput of the coded system with biorthogonal modulation over an AWGN channel is discussed. For a Rayleigh flat fading and block fading channel, we analyze the bit error probability of RS codes concatenated with biorthogonal modulation. From the result, we notice that a stronger outer code gives a better bit error probability for the case of Rayleigh flat fading channel.     

一种基于增强奇偶校验码级联极化码的新型编译码方法

极化码作为一种纠错码,具有较好的编译码性能,已成为5G短码控制信道的标准编码方案。但在码长较短时,其性能不够优异。提出一种基于增强奇偶校验码级联极化码的新型编译码方法,在原有的奇偶校验位后设立增强校验位,对校验方程中信道可靠度较低的信息位进行双重校验,辅助奇偶校验码在译码过程中对路径进行修剪,以此提高路径选择的可靠性。仿真结果表明,在相同信道、相同码率码长下,本文提出的新型编译码方法比循环冗余校验(cyclic redundancy check,CRC)码级联极化码、奇偶校验(parity check,PC)码级联极化码误码性能更优异。在高斯信道下,当码长为128、码率为1/2、误码率为10-3时,本文提出的基于增强PC码级联的极化码比PC码级联的极化码获得了约0.3 dB增益,与CRC辅助的极化码相比获得了约0.4 dB增益。     

Bandwidth‐efficient turbo coding over Rayleigh fading channels

Introduced in 1993, turbo codes can achieve high coding gains close to the Shannon limit. In order to design power and bandwidth‐efficient coding schemes, several approaches have been introduced to combine high coding rate turbo codes with multilevel modulations. The coding systems thus obtained have been shown to display near‐capacity performance over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. For communications over fading channels requiring large coding gain and high bandwidth efficiency, it is also interesting to study bit error rate (BER) performance of turbo codes combined with high order rectangular QAM modulations. To this end, we investigate, in this paper, error performance of several bandwidth‐efficient schemes designed using the bit‐interleaved coded modulation approach that has proven potentially very attractive when powerful codes, such as turbo codes, are employed. The structure of these coding schemes, termed ‘bit‐interleaved turbo‐coded modulations’ (BITCMs), is presented in a detailed manner and their BER performance is investigated for spectral efficiencies ranging from 2 to 7 bit/s/Hz. Computer simulation results indicate that BITCMs can achieve near‐capacity performance over Rayleigh fading channels, for all spectral efficiencies considered throughout the paper. It is also shown that the combination of turbo coding and rectangular QAM modulation with Gray mapping constitutes inherently a very powerful association, since coding and modulation functions are both optimized for operation in the same signal‐to‐noise ratio region. This means that no BER improvement is obtainable by employing any other signal constellation in place of the rectangular ones. Finally, the actual influence of the interleaving and mapping functions on error performance of BITCM schemes is discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On block-coded modulation using unequal error protection codes overRayleigh-fading channels

This paper considers block-coded 8-phase-shift-keying (PSK) modulations for the unequal error protection (UEP) of information transmitted over Rayleigh-fading channels. Both conventional linear block codes and linear UEP (LUEP) codes are combined with a naturally labeled 8-PSK signal set, using the multilevel construction of Imai and Hirakawa (1977). Computer simulation results are presented showing that, over Rayleigh-fading channels, it is possible to improve the coding gain for the most significant bits with the use of binary LUEP codes as constituent codes, in comparison with using conventional binary linear codes alone     

Hamming Coding of DCT-Compressed Images Over Noisy Channels

Theoretical and simulation results of using Hamming codes with the two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (2D-DCT) at a transmitted data rate of 1 bit/pixel over a binary symmetric channel (BSC) are presented. The design bit error rate (BER) of interest is 10^-2. The (7, 4), (15, 11), and (31, 26) Hamming codes are used to protect the most important bits in each 16 by 16 transformed block, where the most important bits are determined by calculating the mean squared reconstruction error (MSE) contributed by a channel error in each individual bit. A theoretical expression is given which allows the number of protected bits to achieve minimum MSE for each code rate to be computed. By comparing these minima, the best code and bit allocation can be found. Objective and subjective performance results indicate that using the (7, 4) Hamming code to protect the most important 2D-DCT coefficients can substantially improve reconstructed image quality at a BER of 10^-2. Furthermore, the allocation of 33 out of the 256 bits per block to channel coding does not noticeably degrade reconstructed image quality in the absence of channel errors.