Optimal variable rate multiplexing of scalable code streams

Summary form only given. The problem of multiplexing of several rate-distortion scalable multimedia code streams to be transmitted via a variable-rate channel is investigated. The aim is to minimize the expected distortion at the receiver, weighted by the probability distribution of the truncation point, P(l). Firstly, a very simple algorithm is presented which solves the problem in the case when the distribution of the truncation point is uniform or exponential. Secondly, the problem of constructing the optimal code stream is treated with the side information included. In order to reduce the amount of side information, a trade off between the optimal order of the /spl alpha/-atom strings described and a predefined order is proposed. Finally, a dynamic programming algorithm is presented to determine the optimal number of refinement stages. The time complexity of this algorithm is quadratic in the total number of /spl alpha/-atom strings.