This award is for support of a cooperative project by Dr. Nasir Memon of the Department of Computer Science at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Dr. Khalid Sayood, Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Dr. Bulent Sankur, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Bogazici (Bosporus) University in Istanbul, Turkey and Dr. Emin Anarim of HAVELSAN ELECTRONICS Corp. in Ankara, Turkey. The objective of this research is to develop lossless image compression techniques that are based on subband decompositions. Such techniques offer features that cannot be matched by currently popular predictive techniques for lossless image compression. However, the best known lossless image compression techniques based on subband decomposition do not match the compression performance provided by state-of-the-art predictive techniques. The proposed research aims at removing this performance difference and possibly achieving performance that surpasses the best known predictive techniques. Scope: This research project will be useful in promoting the scientific and technological knowledge of computer graphics in general, and especially of image compression. The techniques developed may have applications in teleradiology and in the world-wide-web. The collaboration involves four scientists who have had some academic interaction in the past. Each of the four has outstanding academic credentials and a solid research record and publications. Their expertise complement each other in the tasks of this project. The US team has primary expertise in lossless image compression, while the Turkish team has expertise in subband coding. The participation of high-technology private research organization such as HAVELSAN is especially useful because of its practical experience. This proposal meets INT objective of increasing U.S.-foreign collaboration in areas that benefit both sides, and, since Dr. Memon received his Ph.D. in 1992, in enhancing junior scientists' international experience. This award includes partial funding by the Division of Networking and Communications Research.
