A fast error protection scheme for transmission of embedded coded images over unreliable channels and fixed packet size

Joint source-channel coding enables efficient transmission of embedded bitstreams over unreliable channels. We address channels with fixed packetisation and decoding without or with minimal delays. The computation of an optimal protection scheme for such bitstreams is generally an exponential complexity problem and hence not applicable in a straightforward implementation. Using the rate-distortion characteristics of the source bitstream and the dynamic programming approach we construct an efficient unequal error protection scheme for the predefined channels. Our algorithm is of linear complexity and thus applicable in real time scenarios.