Experiments on joint source-channel fractal image coding with unequal error protection

We propose a joint source-channel coding system for fractal image compression. We allocate the available total bit rate between the source code and a range of error-correcting codes using a Lagrange multiplier optimization technique. The principle of the proposed unequal error protection strategy is to partition the information bits
into sensitivity classes and to assign one code from a range of error-correcting codes to each sensitivity class in a nearly optimal way. Experimental results show that joint source-channel coding with fractal image compression is feasible, leads to ef"cient protection strategies, and outperforms previous works in this "eld that
only covered channel coding with a "xed source rate.