M-channel multiple description coding based on uniformly offset quantizers with optimal deadzone

This paper proposes an improved source-splitting-based two-rate M-channel multiple description coding scheme, where the source is split into M subsets. In each description, one subset is coded at a high rate, and others are predictively coded at a low rate. Uniform offsets among low-rate quantizers of different descriptions are achieved by employing unequal deadzones and by quantizing the predictions. When several descriptions are received, the optimal reconstruction of each subset is achieved by finding the intersection of all received quantization bins. The closed-form expression of the expected distortion is obtained. The proposed scheme is applied to lapped transform-based multiple description image coding and achieves improved performance. The optimal deadzone selection and its impact are also given in this paper.