Scan-based processing with JPEG-2000

Many space-borne remote sensing missions are based on scanning sensors that create images a few lines at a time. Moreover, spacecraft typically have limited amounts of available memory, on account of weight, size and power constraints. For these reasons, the JPEG-2000 emerging standard has a requirement for stripe processing in order to meet the needs of the remote sensing profile. This paper first briefly presents the JPEG-2000 algorithm, highlighting details pertinent to scan-based processing. A technique for meeting the stripe processing requirement is then presented. This technique uses a sliding window rate control mechanism that maintains the desired average bit rate over entire images, while retaining a minimum number of bytes in memory at any given time. Results are then presented to show performance over various sliding window sizes.