Transform coded image reconstruction exploiting interblock correlation

Transmission of still images and video over lossy packet networks presents a reconstruction problem at the decoder. Specifically, in the case of block-based transform coded images, loss of one or more packets due to network congestion or transmission errors can result in errant or entirely lost blocks in the decoded image. This article proposes a computationally efficient technique for reconstruction of lost transform coefficients at the decoder that takes advantage of the correlation between transformed blocks of the image. Lost coefficients are linearly interpolated from the same coefficients in adjacent blocks subject to a squared edge error criterion, and the resulting reconstructed coefficients minimize blocking artifacts in the image while providing visually pleasing reconstructions. The required computational expense at the decoder per reconstructed block is less than 1.2 times a non-recursive DCT, and as such this technique is useful for low power, low complexity applications that require good visual performance.