A Review of Joint Source-Channel Coding

This article presents methods for robust and efficient communication over wireless channels. Both benefits and limitations of the classical approach of separate source and channel coding are discussed. Joint source-channel coding (JSCC) is presented as the most promising scheme for communication of analogue sources over wireless channels, due to its ability to cope with varying channel qualities and to approach the theoretical bounds of transmission rates. Different schemes for implementing joint source-channel coding are presented, ranging from a traditional tandem structure with resource control to hybrid digital-analogue JSCC techniques providing both bandwidth reduction and expansion. The direct source-channel mapping schemes are shown to be good candidates for joint source-channel coding, providing both robustness and efficiency.