Multiple Description Image Coding using Pre-and Post-Processing

We address the problem of robust transmission of compressed visual information over unreliable networks. Our approach employs the principle of multiple-descriptions, through pre-and post-processing of the image data, without modification to the source or channel codecs. We employ oversampling to add redundancy to the original image data followed by a partitioning of the oversampled image into “equal” sub-images which can be coded and transmitted over separate channels. Simulations using two descriptors show that this approach yields exceptional performance when only one descriptor is received and outperforms other popular multiple description approaches.