A scalable architecture for MPEG-4 embedded zero tree coding

Wavelet-based image compression has been adopted in emerging standards such as MPEG-4 and JPEG2000. An embedded zero tree (EZT) coding scheme enables the compression and the quantization of the wavelet coefficients. This paper presents the OZONE chip, a dedicated hardware solution for an EZT coding coprocessor. Realized in a 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS technology, the OZONE performs visual-lossless compression of more than 30 CIF images per second. Due to its new scalable architecture, parallel operation of multiple OZONEs is supported.