Reliable JPEG Image Transmission Using Unequal Error Protection with Modified Non-Binary Turbo Codes

Abstract — JPEG is a widely deployed image compression standard used in several applications. However, JPEG image transmission is challenging and sophisticated strategies are required for reliable transmission. This paper proposes a JPEG image transmission using non-binary Turbo codes with Unequal Error Protection (UEP), extrinsic information scaling and iterative detection. UEP is achieved by applying a lower code-rate to protect the DC-layer of the image more efficiently and a higher code-rate for protecting the AC-layer. Additionally, the non-binary Turbo code is modified by scaling its extrinsic information to improve performance and by using a stopping criterion to limit the number of iterations required for decoding. The proposed UEP scheme provides a gain of at least 10 dB in Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) over an Equal Error Protection (EEP) scheme when duo-binary Turbo codes are used and a gain of at least 14 dB in PSNR when triple binary codes are used, over a range of Eb/No values. Moreover, the use of triple binary turbo codes provides greater bandwidth efficiency. Keywords- JPEG; UEP; Non-Binary Turbo Codes