Multiple description coding based on Gaussian mixture models

An algorithm for multiple description coding (MDC) based on Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) is presented. Based on the parameters of the GMM, the algorithm combines MDC scalar quantizers, yielding a source-optimized vector MDC system. The performance is evaluated on a speech spectrum source in terms of mean-squared error and log spectral distortion. It is demonstrated experimentally that the proposed system outperforms single description coding and repetition coding over a wide range of channel failure probabilities. The proposed algorithm has a complexity that is linear in rate and dimension while retaining a near optimal vector quantizer point density.