The Modified BFPQ algorithm

Inhalt:
The TECSAR Satellite is part of a space borne SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite technology demonstration program. This paper reviews the need for data compression in space borne SAR missions and discusses the Modified Block Floating Point Quantization (MBFPQ) algorithm. This algorithm is used to condense the volume of SAR raw-data, without the need to assume the inherent Gaussian distribution of incoming signals. To avoid use of the predefined distribution, the signal statistics are continuously measured by the radar hardware, and the compression and decompression tables are computed based on these data. This paper presents the Signal to Distortion Noise Ratio (SDNR) as an ideal quantizer, and a 6 bit quantizer versus a 3 bit MBFPQ quantizer.