Rate Allocation Algorithm for Pixel-Domain Distributed Video Coding Without Feedback Channel

In some video coding applications, it is desirable to reduce the complexity of the video encoder at the expense of a more complex decoder. Distributed video (DV) coding is a new paradigm that aims to achieve this. To allocate a proper number of bits to each frame, most DV coding algorithms use a feedback channel (FBC). However, in some cases, a FBC does not exist. In this paper, we therefore propose a rate allocation (RA) algorithm for pixel-domain distributed video coders without FBC. Our algorithm estimates at the encoder the number of bits for every frame without significantly increasing the encoder complexity. Experimental results show that our RA algorithm delivers satisfactory estimates of the adequate encoding rate, especially for sequences with little motion.