A fast recursive algorithm for computing the discrete cosine transform

Abstract

The discrete cosine transform (DCT) is widely applied in various fields, including image data compression, because it operates like the Karhunen-Loève transform for stationary random data. This paper presents a recursive algorithm for DCT with a structure that allows the generation of the next higher order DCT from two identical lower order DCT's. As a result, the method for implementing this recursive DCT requires fewer multipliers and adders than other DCT algorithms.