Communications Toolbox

Source Coding

Source coding, also known as quantization or signal formatting, is a way of processing data in order to reduce redundancy or prepare it for later processing. Analog-to-digital conversion and data compression are two categories of source coding.

Source coding divides into two basic procedures: source encoding and source decoding. Source encoding converts a source signal into a digital signal using a quantization method. The symbols in the resulting signal are nonnegative integers in some finite range. Source decoding recovers the original information from the source coded signal.

Source Coding Features of the Toolbox

This toolbox supports scalar quantization, predictive quantization, and arithmetic coding. It does not support vector quantization. Functions in the toolbox can accomplish these tasks:

• Quantize a signal according to a partition and codebook that you specify
• Optimize partition and codebook parameters for a set of training data
• Encode or decode a signal using the differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) technique
• Optimize DPCM parameters for a set of training data
• Perform µ-law or A-law compressor or expander calculations
• Perform arithmetic coding and decoding

Scatter Plots

Representing Quantization Parameters