A three-layer algorithm for M-channel multiple description image coding

In this paper, a three-layer scheme is developed for M-channel multiple description image coding. In each description, a subset of the source samples is encoded in the first layer. In the second layer, the remaining subsets are encoded sequentially by predicting from the already encoded subsets. The third layer encoding is designed to refine the reconstruction when only one description is lost, which is the dominant loss scenario in practice. We first derive the closed-form expressions of the expected distortion of the system for 1-D sources when different numbers of descriptions are received. The scheme is then applied to lapped transform based image coding. Simulation results show that the method outperforms some competing schemes.