JPEG2000 is the latest still image coding standard from
the JPEG committee, which adopts new algorithms such
as Embedded Block Coding with Optimized Truncation
(EBCOT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). These algorithms
enable superior coding performance over JPEG
and support various new features at the cost of the increased
computational complexity. The Sony-Toshiba-IBM
Cell Broadband Engine (or the Cell/B.E.) is a heterogeneous
multicore architecture with SIMD accelerators. In
this work, we optimize the computationally intensive algorithmic
kernels of JPEG2000 for the Cell/B.E. and also introduce
a novel data decomposition scheme to achieve high
performance with low programming complexity. We compare
the Cell/B.E.’s performance to the performance of the
Intel Pentium IV 3.2 GHz processor. The Cell/B.E. demonstrates
3.2 times higher performance for lossless encoding
and 2.7 times higher performance for lossy encoding. For
the DWT, the Cell/B.E. outperforms the Pentium IV processor
by 9.1 times for the lossless case and 15 times for the
lossy case. We also provide the experimental results on one
IBM QS20 blade with two Cell/B.E. chips and the performance
comparison with the existing JPEG2000 encoder for
the Cell/B.E.
