Practical multi-resolution source coding: TSVQ revisited

Consider a multi-resolution source code for describing a stationary source at L resolutions. The description at the first resolution is given at rate R/sub 1/ and achieves an expected distortion no greater than D/sub 1/. The description at the second resolution includes both the first description and a refining description of rate R/sub 2/ and achieves expected distortion no greater than D/sub 2/, and so on. Previously derived multi-resolution source coding bounds describe the family of achievable rate and distortion vectors ((R/sub 1/, R/sub 2/, ..., R/sub L/), (D/sub 1/, D/sub 2/, D/sub L/)). By examining these multi-resolution rate-distortion bounds, we gain insight into the problem of practical multi-resolution source coding. These insights lead to a new multi-resolution source code based on the tree-structured vector quantizer. This paper covers the algorithm, its optimal design, and preliminary experimental results.