Image Semantic Communication with Quadtree Partition-based Coding

Abstract: Deep learning based semantic communication (DeepSC) system has emerged as a promising paradigm for efficient wireless transmission. However, existing image DeepSC methods, frequently encounter challenges in balancing rate-distortion performance and computational complexity, and often exhibit inferior performance compared to traditional schemes, especially on high-resolution datasets. To address these limitations, we propose a novel image DeepSC system, using quadtree partition-based joint semantic-channel coding, named Quad-DeepSC, which maintains low complexity while achieving state-of-the-art transmission performance. Based on maturing learned image compression technologies, we establish a unified DeepSC system design and training pipeline. The proposed Quad-DeepSC integrates quadtree partition-based entropy estimation and feature coding modules with lightweight feature extraction and reconstruction networks to form an end-to-end architecture. During training, all components except the feature coding modules are jointly optimized as a compact learned image codec, Quad-LIC, for source compression tasks. The pretrained Quad-LIC is then embedded into Quad-DeepSC and fine-tuned end-to-end over wireless channels. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that Quad-DeepSC is the first DeepSC system to surpass conventional communication systems, which employ VTM for source coding and adopt the optimal MCS index under 3GPP standards for channel coding and digital modulation, in performance across datasets of varying resolutions. Notably, both Quad-DeepSC and Quad-LIC exhibit minimal latency, rendering them well-suited for deployment in real-time wireless communication systems.