Low-Complexity Multiresolution Image Compression Using Wavelet Lower Trees

In this paper, a new image compression algorithm is proposed based on the efficient construction of wavelet coefficient lower trees. The main contribution of the proposed lower-tree wavelet (LTW) encoder is the utilization of coefficient trees, not only as an efficient method of grouping coefficients, but also as a fast way of coding them. Thus, it presents state-of-the-art compression performance, whereas its complexity is lower than the one presented in other wavelet coders, like SPIHT and JPEG 2000. Fast execution is achieved by means of a simple two-pass coding and one-pass decoding algorithm. Moreover, its computation does not require additional lists or complex data structures, so there is no memory overhead. A formal description of the algorithm is provided, while reference software is also given. Numerical results show that our codec works faster than SPIHT and JPEG 2000 (up to three times faster than SPIHT and fifteen times faster than JPEG 2000), with similar coding efficiency