20227157
Trellis coded color quantization of images
We examine color quantization of images using trellis coded quantization (TCQ). Together with a simple dithering scheme, an 8-bit trellis coded color quantizer reproduces images that are visually indistinguishable from the 24-bit originals. The proposed algorithm can be viewed as a predictive trellis coded color quantization scheme. It is universal in the sense that no training or lookup table is needed. The complexity of TCQ is linear with respect to image size, making trellis coded color quantization suitable for interactive graphics and a window-based display environment.
18292356
On dualities in multiterminal coding problems
It has been shown recently that under certain conditions there exist dualities between different multiterminal (MT) source and channel coding problems. Following these results, we study lossless MT source coding and deterministic MT channel coding problems and point out different dualities between them. In particular, we show that there exists a functional duality between a Slepian-Wolf (SW) coding problem and a deterministic broadcast channel (DBC) coding problem and between a lossless multiple-description (MD) coding problem and a deterministic multiple-access channel (DMAC) coding problem. In analogy to the duality established between DBC and DMAC coding problems, we further propose a similar duality between SW and lossless MD coding problems; in this way, we form a closed "duality loop" of four MT coding problems, which imposes the existence of a single common rate point in the achievable rate regions of all four dual problems. We also consider duality in zero-error MT coding and shed light on practical code design with an example. Finally, extension to the case with only one lossless/deterministic component in the source/channel coding problem is provided.
206577228
Fast Trellis-Coded Color Quantization of Images
We examine color quantization of images using trellis-coded quantization (TCQ) in both the RGB domain and YUV domain. Together with a simple dithering scheme, an eight-bit trellis-coded color quantizer reproduces images that are visually indistinguishable from the 24-bit originals. It can be viewed as a predictive trellis-coded color quantization scheme. We also study trellis-coded vector quantization (TCVQ) for color quantization. Our proposed TCQ-based color quantization schemes are universal in the sense that no training or look-up table is needed. The complexity of TCQ is linear with respect to image size, making trellis-coded color quantization suitable for color printing, real-time interactive graphics and window-based display environment.
9060129
Extended Depth-of-Field Microscope Imaging: MPP Image Fusion VS. WAVEFRONT CODING
Biomedical specimens thicker than the microscope depth-of-field (DOF) produces images of limited quality where a part of the specimen is in focus and others out of focus. Even the best in-focus image always contains objects that are blurred. These blurred contents make the quantitative and accurate analysis of the specimen difficult. The problem can be remedied by extending the DOF of the imaging system. One way to achieve this is to apply digital image fusion, a software technique that combines multiple images into a carefully synthesized image. Another way, albeit more expensive, is to incorporate modification in the optical system. In this paper we describe an extended DOF method that is based on multiscale pointwise product (MPP) image fusion, and compare it with the state-of-the-art wavefront coding technique which involves optical modification. We show competitive performance of our method and contrast its pros and cons with those of the wavefront coding.
928702
Non-ubiquitous digital watermarking for record indexing and integrity protection of medical images
Two novel non-ubiquitous digital watermarking schemes are proposed and evaluated in parallel (one in the spatial domain and one in the wavelet domain) for the purpose of record indexing and integrity protection of medical images. A fingerprint of the regions of interest (ROI) in a medical image is generated using the MD5 message-digest algorithm [R. Rivest, April 1992], and it is embedded along with the medical record information into the non-ROI parts of the image. Our experiments show that with both schemes, a payload of 420 bits of information can be achieved watermarking clinical cytogenetic images, without affecting image content in the ROI nor incurring perceptible differences between original and watermarked images. Furthermore, the resulting watermarked images can survive common image processing operations such as cropping, JPEG compression, sharpening, and their combinations.
26902554
Smart Media: Empower Media with Active Data Hiding
The seamless development in computing, networking, communication, and signal processing is making media a more and more important part of our daily lives. The passive nature of media, however, limits the capability of it. In this paper, we introduce the notion of 'smart' media which carry additional active information imperceptibly in the media content itself for added interactive-ability. With smart media, traditional information access -- from single medium to multimedia -- can be enhanced with new, two-way communication abilities. Active data hiding, endowed with perceptual intelligent high capacity data hiding techniques, is used to embed an agent imperceptibly into a medium. It infuses mobility to the passive data stream by introducing personality and controllability into the medium. The design of active data hiding system for smart media shall be discussed, along with a variety of applications.
2936245
On failure recoverability of client-server applications in mobile wireless environments
Analytical results for the Cdf of the failure recovery time for client-server applications in mobile wireless environments characterized by logging, and mobility handoff strategies for facilitating failure recovery are reported in the paper. The results can be applied to determine if a mobile application can satisfy its recoverability requirement upon a mobile host failure when operating under a set of parameter values characterizing the mobile application, the underlying client-server environment, and the logging & mobility handoff strategies adopted by the mobile application. Model parameters which affect the shape of the failure recovery time Cdf for two mobility handoff strategies, namely, Eager and Lazy, are identified, and their effects are analyzed, with numerical data and result interpretations given. A tradeoff analysis between the cost invested by these two mobility handoff strategies for maintaining the logging and checkpoint information before failure versus the return of investment in terms of improved failure recoverability is given, and the best checkpoint interval period that would yield the best return of investment for the eager mobility handoff strategy over the lazy strategy is identified.
9588683
Performance evaluation of an admission control algorithm: dynamic threshold with negotiation
An admission control algorithm for a multimedia server is responsible for determining if a new request can be accepted without violating the QoS requirements of the existing requests in the system. Most admission control algorithms treat every request uniformly and hence optimize the system performance by maximizing the number of admitted and served requests. In practice, requests might have different levels of importance to the system. Requests offering high contribution or reward to the system performance deserve priority treatment. Failure of accepting a high-priority request would incur high penalty to the system.A novel threshold-based admission control algorithm with negotiation for two priority classes of requests is proposed in our previous study. The server capacity is divided into three partitions based on the threshold values: one for each class of requests and one common pool shared by two classes of requests. Reward and penalty are adopted in the proposed system model. High-priority requests are associated with higher values of reward as well as penalty than low-priority ones. In this paper, given the characteristics of the system workload, the proposed analytical models aim to finds the best partitions, optimizing the system performance based on the objective function of the total reward minus the total penalty. The negotiation mechanism reduces the QoS requirements of several low-priority clients, by cutting out a small fraction of the assigned server capacity, to accept a new high-priority client and to achieve a higher net earning value. Stochastic Petri-Net model is used to find the optimal threshold values and two analytical methods are developed to find sub-optimal settings. The experiment results show that the sub-optimal solutions found by the proposed analytical methods are very close to optimal ones. The methods enable the algorithm to dynamically adjust the threshold values, based on the characteristics of the system workload, to achieve higher system performance.
16467768
Automatic Leveling System for E-Learning Examination Pool Using Entropy-Based Decision Tree
In this paper, we propose an automatic leveling system for e-learning examination pool using the algorithm of the decision tree. The automatic leveling system is built to automatically level each question in the examination pool according its difficulty. Thus, an e-learning system can choose questions that are suitable for each learner according to individual background. Not all attributes are relevant to the classification, in other words, the decision tree tells the importance of each attribute.
15145046
A novel approach to diagnose diabetes based on the fractal characteristics of retinal images
A novel diagnostic scheme to develop quantitative indexes of diabetes is introduced in this paper. The fractal dimension of the vascular distribution is estimated because we discovered that the fractal dimension of a severe diabetic patient's retinal vascular distribution appears greater than that of a normal human's. The issue of how to yield an accurate fractal dimension is to use high-quality images. To achieve a better image-processing result, an appropriate image-processing algorithm is adopted in this paper. Another important fractal feature introduced in this paper is the measure of lacunarity, which describes the characteristics of fractals that have the same fractal dimension but different appearances. For those vascular distributions in the same fractal dimension, further classification can be made using the degree of lacunarity. In addition to the image-processing technique, the resolution of original image is also discussed here. In this paper, the influence of the image resolution upon the fractal dimension is explored. We found that a low-resolution image cannot yield an accurate fractal dimension. Therefore, an approach for examining the lower bound of image resolution is also proposed in this paper. As for the classification of diagnosis results, four different approaches are compared to achieve higher accuracy. In this study, the fractal dimension and the measure of lacunarity have shown their significance in the classification of diabetes and are adequate for use as quantitative indexes.
76461
Software Architecture-Based Adaptation for Pervasive Systems
An important requirement for pervasive computing systems is the ability to adapt at runtime to handle varying resources, user mobility, changing user needs, and system faults. In this paper we describe an approach in which dynamic adaptation is supported by the use of software architectural models to monitor an application and guide dynamic changes to it. The use of externalized models permits one to make reconfiguration decisions based on a global perspective of the running system, apply analytic models to determine correct repair strategies, and gauge the effectiveness of repair through continuous system monitoring. We illustrate the application of this idea to pervasive computing systems, focusing on the need to adapt based on performance-related criteria and models.