A constant key length coding scheme for linear quadtrees

Although the linear quadtree is popular in both image processing and GIS, most linear quadtree coding methods need in representation a bit length that is proportional to the resolution of images; the proportionality factor is replaced with a constant bit length that induces a more compact linear quadtree. We propose a linear quadtree coding scheme named constant key length quadtree coding (CKQC) that has advantages of easy implementation and decreased memory requirements. The proposed CKQC scheme is developed on the bases of node classification, order of traversal with breadth first and the Morion sequence. The major characteristic is to apply a constant bit length to construct quaternary codes. The bit length of each quaternary code is constant, either four or eight bits, no matter what the resolution of a raster image. In terms of memory space required and duration complexities, the overall performance is analyzed and compared with other methods to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed CKQC scheme. Several experimental results validate the applicability of the proposed scheme.