ASIC implementation of a new and efficient wavelet coding algorithm

The image compression based on discrete wavelet transform has been widely accepted in industry since it shows no block artifacts and provides a better image quality when compressed to low bits per pixel, compared to JPEG. The coefficients generated by discrete wavelet transform are quantized to reduce the number of code bits to represent them. After quantization, lossless coding processes are usually applied to make further reduction. This paper presents a new and efficient lossless variable-length coding algorithm for quantized wavelet coefficients. Proposed algorithm has been implemented in an image compression chip, using 0.5μm standard cells. The experimental results show the efficiency and performance of the resulting chip.