Error protection for progressive image transmission over memoryless and fading channels

Product channel codes are proposed to protect progressively compressed and packetized images for noisy channels. Within packets, the product code uses the concatenation of a rate-compatible punctured convolutional code and an error detecting parity check code. Across packets, Reed-Solomon codes are used. Benefits include flexible choice of delay, adaptability of error protection level (i.e., unequal error protection), and scalable decoding complexity. The system outperforms the best known image coders for memoryless channels and performs well on fading channels.