Non-Linear Analog Coding for Image Transmission over Noisy Channels

We propose a novel analog joint source-channel coding system for image transmission over noisy channels. First, a variable density compressive sensing encoder is applied to the desired image. Then, the resulting compressive measurements are encoded using a recently proposed non-linear analog encoder, which can operate in a rate-less fashion and produces continuous amplitude symbols that are directly transmitted over the noisy channel. Due to the non-uniform energy allocation resulting from the compressive sensing encoder, the non-linear encoder has to be carefully designed following the insights provided by an optimization analysis. Simulation results show the potential of the proposed framework, which completely skips the digital domain (bits are never utilized during the encoding process).