Multistage vector quantizer optimization for packet networks

A multistage vector quantizer (MSVQ) based coding system is source-channel optimized for packet networks. Resilience to packet loss is enhanced by a proposed interleaving approach that ensures that a single lost packet only eliminates a subset of the vector stages. The design is optimized while taking into account compression efficiency, packet loss rate, and the interleaving technique in use. The new source-channel-optimized MSVQ is tested on memoryless speech line spectral frequency (LSF) parameter quantization as well as block-based image compression. With LSF coding, a source-channel-optimized MSVQ is shown to yield gains of up to 2.0 dB in signal-to-ratio (SNR) over traditional MSVQ and to substantially enhance the robustness of packetized speech transmission. Substantial gains were also obtained in the case of block-based image compression. Although the formulation is given in the context of packet networks, the work is directly extendible to the broader category of erasure channels.