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-1 and achieves an expected distortion no greater than D-1. The description at the second resolution includes both the first description and a refining description of rate R-2 and achieves expected distortion no greater than D-2, and so on. Recently derived multi-resolution source coding bounds describe the family of achievable rate and distortion vectors ((R-1, R-2...,R-L), (D-1, D-2,...,D-L)). By examining these multi resolution rate-distortion bounds, we gain insight into the problem of practical multiresolution 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.