RMF Based EZW Algorithm

School of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, VLSI and M-5 Research Group

June 1, 2000

Organization

The EZW algorithm

Basic concept Introduction of the algorithm An example 1-D RMF example 2-D RMF example Basic Idea Band_max construction algorithm An example Experimental results

A brief introduction of RMF

The RMF based EZW algorithm

Conclusions

EZW basic concepts(1)

E The EZW encoder is based on progressive encoding. Progressive encoding is also known as embedded encoding Z A data structure called zero-tree is used in EZW algorithm to encode the data W The EZW encoder is specially designed to use with wavelet transform. It was originally designed to operate on images (2-D signals)

EZW basic concepts(2)

Lower octave has higher resolution and contains higher frequency information

A Multi-resolution Analysis Example

EZW basic concepts(3)

The EZW algorithm is based on two observations:

Natural images in general have a low pass spectrum. When an image is wavelet transformed, the energy in the sub-bands decreases with the scale goes lower (low scale means high resolution), so the wavelet coefficient will, on average, be smaller in the lower levels than in the higher levels. Large wavelet coefficients are more important than small wavelet coefficients.

631 544 730 655 19 23 25 -49 32 -10 6 34 -12 -2 13 -3

86 10 -7 29 55 -54 -13 30 -12 44 41 32 37 17 -4 13 -13 39 32 -4 9 -23 -17 -35 56 -22 -7 -25 40 -10 -44 4 13 -12 21 24 -8 -24 -42 9 -21 45 -16 -15 31 -11 -10 -17

typical wavelet coefficients for a 8*8 block in a real image

EZW basic concepts(4)

The observations give rise to the basic progressive coding idea:
1.

2.

3.

We can set a threshold T, if the wavelet coefficient is larger than T, then encode it as 1, otherwise we code it as 0. 1 will be reconstructed as T (or a number larger than T) and 0 will be reconstructed as 0. We then decrease T to a lower value, repeat 1 and 2. So we get finer and finer reconstructed data.

The actual implementation of EZA algorithm should consider : 1. What should we do to the sign of the coefficients. (positive or negative) ? answer: use POS and NEG 2. Can we code the 0s more efficiently? -- answer: zero-tree 3. How to decide the threshold T and how to reconstruct? answer: see the algorithm

EZW basic concepts(5)

coefficients that are in the same spatial location consist of a quad-tree.

EZW basic concepts(6)

The definition of the zero-tree: There are coefficients in different subbands that represent the same spatial location in the image and this spatial relation can be depicted by a quad tree except for the root node at top left corner representing the DC coeeficient which only has three children nodes. Zero-tree Hypothesis
If a wavelet coefficient c at a coarse scale is insignificant with respect to a given threshold T, i.e. |c|<T then all wavelet coefficients of the same orientation at finer scales are also likely to be insignificant with respect to T.

EZW the algorithm(1)

First step: The DWT of the entire 2-D image will be computed by FWT Second step: Progressively EZW encodes the coefficients by decreasing the threshold Third step: Arithmetic coding is used to entropy code the symbols

EZW the algorithm(2)

What is inside the second step?
threshold = initial_threshold; do { dominant_pass(image); subordinate_pass(image); threshold = threshold/2; } while (threshold > minimum_threshold);
The main loop ends when the threshold reaches a minimum value, which could be specified to control the encoding performance, a 0 minimum value gives the lossless reconstruction of the image The initial threshold t0 is decided as:

Here MAX() means the maximum coefficient value in the image and y(x,y) denotes the coefficient. With this threshold we enter the main coding loop

EZW the algorithm(3)

In the dominant_pass

All the coefficients are scanned in a special order If the coefficient is a zero tree root, it will be encoded as ZTR. All its descendants dont need to be encoded they will be reconstructed as zero at this threshold level If the coefficient itself is insignificant but one of its descendants is significant, it is encoded as IZ (isolated zero). If the coefficient is significant then it is encoded as POS (positive) or NEG (negative) depends on its sign.
This encoding of the zero tree produces significant compression because gray level images resulting from natural sources typically result in DWTs with many ZTR symbols. Each ZTR indicates that no more bits are needed for encoding the descendants of the corresponding coefficient

EZW the algorithm(5)

At the end of dominant_pass

all the coefficients that are in absolute value larger than the current threshold are extracted and placed without their sign on the subordinate list and their positions in the image are filled with zeroes. This will prevent them from being coded again. All the values in the subordinate list are refined. this gives rise to some juggling with uncertainty intervals and it outputs next most significant bit of all the coefficients in the subordinate list.

In the subordinate_pass

EZW An example(1)

Wavelet coefficients for a 8*8 block

EZW An example(2)
The initial threshold is 32 and the result from the dominant_pass is shown in the figure
63 POS -31 IZ 15 ZTR -9 ZTR --5 -34 NEG 23 ZTR 14 IZ -7 ZTR 9 49 POS 14 ZTR 3 10 ZTR -13 ZTR -12 7 IZ 3 IZ 5 13 IZ 4 IZ -7 -12 7

-1

-14

-2

Data without any symbol is a node in the zero-tree.

-1 IZ -3 IZ 6

47 POS 2 IZ -4

-2

-2

-3

11

-4

EZW An example(3)
The result from the dominant_pass is output as the following:
POS, NEG, IZ, ZTR, POS, ZTR, ZTR, ZTR, ZTR, IZ, ZTR, ZTR, IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ, POS, IZ, IZ
POS01, NEG11, ZTR00, IZ--10

The significant coefficients are put in a subordinate list and are refined. A one-bit symbol is output to the decoder.
Original data Output symbol Reconstructed data 63 1 56 34 0 40 49 1 56 47 0 40

For example, the output for 63 is: sign 32 16 8 4 2 1 0 1 1 ? ? ? ?

If T+.5T is less than data item take the average of 2T and 1.5T. So 63 will be reconstructed as the average of 48 and 64 which is 56. If it is more, put a 0 in the code and encode this as t+.5T+.25T. Thus, 34 is reconstructed as 40.

EZW An example(4)
*
-31 15 -9 --5 3 2 5

*
23 14 -7 9 0 -3 11

*
14 3 -14 -1 -3 6 5

10
-13 -12 8 * 2 -4 6

7
3 5 4 4 3 3 0

13
4 -7 -2 6 -2 6 3

-12
6 3 3 -2 0 3 -4

7
-1 9 2 2 4 6 4

After dominant_pass, the significant coefficients will be replaced by * or 0 Then the threshold is divided by 2, so we have 16 as current threshold

EZW An example(5)
The result from the second dominant_pass is output as the following:
IZ, ZTR, NEG, POS, IZ,IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ, IZ

The significant coefficients are put in the subordinate list and all data in this list will be refined as:
Original data Output symbol Reconstructed data 63 1 60 34 0 36 49 0 52 47 1 44 31 1 28 23 0 20

For example, the output for 63 is: sign 32 16 8 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 ? ? ? The computatin is now extended with respect to the next significant bit. So 63 will be reconstructed as the average of 56 and 64 - 60!

EZW An example(6)
The process is going on until threshold =1, the final output as:
D1: pnztpttttztttttttptt S1: 1010 D2: ztnptttttttt S2: 100110 D3: zzzzzppnppnttnnptpttnttttttttptttptttttttttptttttttttttt S3: 10011101111011011000 D4: zzzzzzztztznzzzzpttptpptpnptntttttptpnpppptttttptptttpnp S4: 11011111011001000001110110100010010101100 D5: zzzzztzzzzztpzzzttpttttnptppttptttnppnttttpnnpttpttppttt S5: 10111100110100010111110101101100100000000110110110011000111 D6: zzzttztttztttttnnttt Here p=pos, n=neg, z=iz, t=ztr
For example, the output for 63 is: sign 32 16 8 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 So 63 will be reconstructed as 32+16+8+4+2+1=63! Note, how progressive transmission can be done.

The Limitations of EZW algorithm

bad

It is not possible to encode sub-images because the entire image must be transformed before the encoding can start. EZW algorithm is computational expensive

1-D RMF Example

Complete wavelet coefficients for (x1, x2)

Complete wavelet coefficients for (x1, x2, x3, x4)

input

x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8

filter

s1 d1 s2 d2 s3 d3 s4 d4

Merge & filter

Merge & filter

S1 D1 d1 d2 S2 D2 d3 d4

Merge & filter

S1 D1 D1 D2 d1 d2 d3 d4

Wavelet coefficients

The RMF computation maintains the spatial locality coherence

2-D RMF Example

RMF

The The The The

new new new new

HH band is the concatenation of the four smaller HH bands HL band is the concatenation of the four smaller LH bands followed by the column-wise 1-D RMF LH band is the concatenation of the four smaller HL bands followed by the row-wise 1-D RMF LL band is the concatenation of the four smaller LL bands followed by the 2-D RMF

RMF-EZW basic idea (1)

Input image

DWT for 2*2 block

The sub-image level coding is possible because: we have the complete wavelet coefficients for each sub-image. For each of them, we apply the EZW algorithm.

Wavelet coefficients for 4*4 block

DWT for the whole image

RMF-EZW basic idea (2)

In the original EZW algorithm, each time when we check one coefficient is a ZTR or not, we compare all its descendants with the threshold This is very time-consuming! However, if we know the maximum absolute value among these descendants, we only need to compare this maximum absolute value with the threshold. If the maximum absolute value is smaller than the threshold, we can claim that there is no descendant of the current coefficient has an absolute value that is larger than the threshold and the current node is a zero-tree root Obviously, the maximum value for each sub-band should be maintained, we call this maximum value band_max value.

RMF-EZW basic idea (3)

There are two kinds of band_max value. The current_band_max value of each band is the maximum absolute value of wavelet coefficients for that band and its descendant sub-bands. The previous_band_max value is the value that is propagated to the next step of the RMF computation in order to efficiently generate the current_band_max values for the next step band_max construction. The band_max could be constructed as a by-product of the RMF computation

RMF-EZW band_max construction (1)

The construction of the band_max in HH band

current_band_max_HH[octave] =max(maxWT1:WT4(previous_band_max_HH[octave], current_band_max_HH[octave-1]; previous_band_max_HH[octave]

=current_band_max_HH[octave];

Because in 2-D RMF computation, the new HH band is just the concatenation of the four smaller HH bands, the maximum in the new HH band is simply the maximum among the the four maximums in the smaller HH bands.

RMF-EZW band_max construction (2)

The construction of the band_max in HL band

current_band_max_HL[octave] =max(maxWT1:WT4(previous_band_max_HL[octave]), max(the first two rows in HL octave) current_band_max_HL[octave-1]);

In the new HL band, only the coefficients in the first two rows are new.

previous_band_max_HL[octave] =max(maxWT1:WT4(previous_band_max_HL[octave]), max(second row in HL octave));

The coefficients in the first row will be replaced by new data so they shouldnt be considered.

RMF-EZW band_max construction (3)

The construction of the band_max in LH band

current_band_max_LH[octave] =max(maxWT1:WT4(previous_band_max_LH[octave]) max(the first two columns in the LH octave), current_band_max_LH[octave-1]);

In the new LH band, only the coefficients in the first two columns are new.

previous_band_max_LH[octave] =max(maxWT1:WT4(previous_band_max_LH[octave], max(the second column in LH octave);

The coefficients in the first column will be replaced by new data so they shouldnt be considered.

RMF-EZW an example (1)

RMF-EZW an example (2)

ZTR When we encode 23, instead of comparing all its descendants with T, we only need to compare current_band_max_HH[2] with T. We save 19 comparisons! Suppose we have a ZTR in the highest octave of a 512*512 image, In the original EZW algorithm, we need 87380 comparisons but now we need only ONE!
Current_band_max_HH[1]=6 Current_band_max_HH[2]=14

RMF-EZW The experimental results (1)

The sub-image level coding

RMF-EZW The experimental results (2)

Image: Man Image Size EZW Coding Time (s) RMF-EZW Coding Time (s) Improvement Image: Lena Image Size EZW Coding Time (s) RMF-EZW Coding Time (s) Improvement Image: Peppers Image Size EZW Coding Time (s) RMF-EZW Coding Time (s) Improvement 32*32 0.09 0.08 11.11% 64*64 0.89 0.77 13.48% 128*128 9.01 7.06 21.64% 256*256 101.239998 64.150002 36.64% 512*512 1523.650024 802.140015 47.35%

32*32 0.07 0.06 14.29%

64*64 0.61 0.49 19.67%

128*128 5.27 3.92 25.62%

256*256 51.710003 30.49 41.04%

512*512 719.25 320.420013 55.45%

32*32 0.09 0.08 11.11%

64*64 0.78 0.65 16.67%

128*128 7.03 4.78 32.01%

256*256 61.799999 34.899998 43.53%

512*512 1165.319946 549.470032 52.85%

Comparison of the Execution Time by EZW algorithm and RMF-EZW algorithm

RMF-EZW The experimental results (3)

Improvement of The Execution Time by RMF-EZW Algorithm
60.00%

Improvment In Percentage

50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 0 200 400 600 Image Size Man Lena Peppers

Comparison of the Execution Time by EZW algorithm and RMF-EZW algorithm

RMF-EZW conclusions

The RMF algorithm makes the sub-image level EZW coding possible. The band_max information, which is generated as the by-product of RMF computation, could improve the speed of the EZW coding by 11% (for 32*32 image) to 50% (for 512*512 image) or even higher depends on the image size.