A region-based representation of images in MARS

We study the problem of representing images within a multimedia Database Ma nagement System (DBMS), in order to support fast retrieval operations witho ut compromising storage efficiency. To achieve this goal, we propose new im age coding techniques which combine a wavelet representation, embedded codi ng of the wavelet coefficients, and segmentation of image-domain regions in the wavelet domain. A bitstream is generated in which each image region is encoded independently of other regions, without having to explicitly store information describing the regions. Simulation results show that our propo sed algorithms achieve coding performance which compares favorably, both pe rceptually and objectively, to that achieved using state-of-the-art image/v ideo coding techniques while additionally providing region-based support.