Constant-rate wavelet-based image compressor (CWIC)

A space-qualified, electronic hardware module named CWIC (and pronounced quick) is being developed for the on-board compression of satellite image data. This module is designed for sampling rates of up to 10 mega-samples per second and for a sample resolution of up to 16 bits. Compression is based on a wavelet transform and on a successive approximation quantization and encoding scheme which yields embedded code. The compression module may be used either in fixed quality or in fixed rate modes. Using a bit-true simulation software, the compression performance of CWIC has been evaluated. Evaluation results obtained with a 10 bit satellite image are presented and discussed. A real-time demonstrator will be available in the third quarter of 1999.