On prediction using variable order Markov models

The developments of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) are being used to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services. The developments of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) are being used to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services. Benefited from the widespread adoption of mobile devices, we can collect amount of mobile data for user mobility analysis. Mining hidden information from users' mobile data is important for builders of smart city to provide better location-based service. This paper focuses on two classical domain-independent prediction models and one improved Markov model that are capable of estimating the next location. By using 27-day-long traffic data of mobile network, we extract trajectories of 4914 individuals for experiments. We find that the original Markov algorithm has a better performance in resource consumption than LZ family algorithms, but its prediction accuracy is lower than prediction accuracy of LeZi Update and Active LeZi algorithm. In order to improve the prediction accuracy of Markov and overcome drawbacks of traditional prediction algorithms, we present a new method based on Markov, which considers both temporal and spatial factors. Extensive experiments demonstrate our improved method has a better performance in location prediction. In addition, we further study the relationship between prediction accuracy and trajectory's regularity, to identify the most suitable prediction algorithm for a trajectory.

Analyses of genomic signatures are gaining attention as they allow studies of species-specific relationships without involving alignments of homologous sequences. A naïve Bayesian classifier was built to discriminate between different bacterial compositions of short oligomers, also known as DNA words. The classifier has proven successful in identifying foreign genes in Neisseria meningitis. In this study we extend the classifier approach using either a fixed higher order Markov model (Mk) or a variable length Markov model (VLMk). We propose a simple algorithm to lock a variable length Markov model to a certain number of parameters and show that the use of Markov models greatly increases the flexibility and accuracy in prediction to that of a naïve model. We also test the integrity of classifiers in terms of false-negatives and give estimates of the minimal sizes of training data. We end the report by proposing a method to reject a false hypothesis of horizontal gene transfer. Software and Supplementary information available at www.cs.chalmers.se/~dalevi/genetic_sign_classifiers/.

Motivation: Several methods in genetic information have recently been developed to estimate classification of protein sequences through their sequence similarity. These methods are essential for understanding the function of predicted open reading frames (ORFs) and their molecular evolutionary processes. However, since many protein sequences consist of a number of independently evolved structural units (we refer to these units as components), the combinatorial nature of the components makes it difficult to classify the sequences. Results: This paper presents a new method for classifying uncharacterized protein sequences. As the measure of sequence similarity, we use similarity score computed by a method based on the Smith-Waterman local alignment algorithm. Here we introduce how this method cope when sequences have multi-component structure. This method was applied to predicted ORFs on the Escherichia coli genome and we discuss the algorithm and experimental results.

داشتن درک درستی از چگونگی تغییرات زمانی و مکانی متغیر های هواشناسی در مطالعات محیطی از اهمیت بسزایی برخوردار است. اخیرا از مدل‌های منطقه ای پیش بینی عددی هواشناسی در تحقیقات بسیاری استفاده می شود. با این وجود برای بررسی چگونگی تغییرات زمانی و مکانی نتایج حاصل از مدل ها تحقیقات زیادی صورت نگرفته است. بر این اساس و با توجه به اهمیت این موضوع یک رویکرد زمانی - مکانی در این مقاله بررسی می شود. در این رویکرد نتایج پیش‌بینی مدل میان مقیاس 4MM5 با مجموعه داده های مشاهده ای، برای میانگین ماهانه و سالانه دما و بارش در دوره سال‌های 1990-2010 در منطقه شمال شرق ایران مورد تحلیل و بررسی قرار گرفت. در این تحقیق ارزیابی کمی شباهت مکانی و زمانی بین مجموعه داده‌ها و مدل آب و هوایی، و نیز شناسایی مناطق جغرافیایی و فصولی که در مدل سازی‌ها مشکل‌ساز می‌باشند انجام شده است. این کار با استفاده از نقشه‌های تهیه شده بر مبنای الگوریتم تشابه5 جبری، که یک روش موثر برای تحلیل مجموعه داده‌های مکانی مختلف، نقشه‌ها و مدل‌ها می‌باشد، انجام شد. مشخص شد که شباهت داده‌های واقعی با نتایج مدل برای متغیر دما بیش‌تر از بارندگی است. نتایج حاصل از مدل برای بارش و دما در فصل‌های گرم سال در مقایسه با داده‌های واقعی از لحاظ پراکندگی مقادیر تشابه، تناقض داشت. هم‌چنین در فصل‌های سرد سال پیش‌بینی دقیق‌تری به وسیله مدل ارائه شده است. علاوه بر این چند منطقه که در آنجا خطای پیش‌بینی بیش‌تر بود به وسیله الگوریتم نقشه‌پردازی تشابه شناسایی شدند. این تحلیل نشان داد که در محدوده‌های کوچکی از جنوب و ناحیه مرکزی منطقه مورد مطالعه بین مدل و داده‌های واقعی تشابه کم‌تری وجود دارد.

This thesis deals with recurrent neural networks, a particular class of artificial neural networks which can learn a generative model of input sequences. The input is mapped, through a feedback loop and a non-linear activation function, into a hidden state, which is then projected into the output space, obtaining either a probability distribution or the new input for the next time-step. This work consists mainly of two parts: a theoretical study for helping the understanding of recurrent neural networks framework, which is not yet deeply investigated, and their application to non-linear prediction problems, since recurrent neural networks are really powerful models suitable for solving several practical tasks in different fields. For what concerns the theoretical part, we analyse the weaknesses of state-of-the-art models and tackle them in order to improve the performance of a recurrent neural network. Firstly, we contribute in the understanding of the dynamical properties of a recurrent neural network, highlighting the close relation between the definition of stable limit cycles and the echo state property of an echo state network. We provide sufficient conditions for the convergence of the hidden state to a trajectory, which is uniquely determined by the input signal, independently of the initial states. This may help extend the memory of the network and increase the design options for the network. Moreover, we develop a novel approach to address the main problem in training recurrent neural networks, the so-called vanishing gradient problem. Our new method allows us to train a very simple recurrent neural network, making the gradient not to vanish even after many time-steps. Exploiting the singular value decomposition of the vanishing factors in the gradient and random matrices theory, we find that the singular values have to be confined in a narrow interval and derive conditions about their root mean square value. Then, we also improve the efficiency of the training of a recurrent neural network, defining a new method for speeding up this process. Thanks to a least square regularization, we can initialize the parameters of the network, in order to set them closer to the minimum and running fewer epochs of classical training algorithms. Moreover, it is also possible to completely train the network with our initialization method, running more iterations of it without losing in performance with respect to classical training algorithms. Finally, it is also possible to use it as a real-time learning algorithm, adjusting the parameters to the new data through one iteration of our initialization. In the last part of this thesis, we apply recurrent neural networks to non-linear prediction problems. We consider prediction of numerical sequences, estimating the following input choosing it from a probability distribution. We study an automatic text generation problem, where we need to predict the following character in order to compose words and sentences, and a path prediction of walking mobile users in the central area of a city, as a sequence of crossroads. Then, we analyse the prediction of video frames, discovering a wide range of applications related to the prediction of movements. We study the collision problem of bouncing balls, taking into account only the sequence of video frames without any knowledge about the physical characteristics of the problem, and the distribution over days of mobile user in a city and in a whole region. Finally, we address the state-of-the-art problem of missing data imputation, analysing the incomplete spectrogram of audio signals. We restore audio signals with missing time-frequency data, demonstrating via numerical experiments that a performance improvement can be achieved involving recurrent neural networks.

Uncovering problem is one of three main problems of hidden Markov model (HMM), which aims to find out optimal state sequence that is most likely to produce a given observation sequence. Although Viterbi is the best algorithm to solve uncovering problem, I introduce a new viewpoint of how to solve HMM uncovering problem. The proposed algorithm is called longest-path algorithm in which the uncovering problem is modeled as a graph. So the essence of longest-path algorithm is to find out the longest path inside the graph. The optimal state sequence which is solution of uncovering problem is constructed from such path.

Given a video sequence decompressed from a compressed video sequence associated with motion vector information for each image frame, this short note presents an efficient predictive watershed-based video segmentation algorithm using motion vectors. The proposed algorithm has much computation-saving merit since the next frame can inherit the segmented results of the current frame according to the motion vector information of the next frame. Experimental results demonstrate that with little perceptual segmentation degradation, the proposed algorithm has better execution-time performance when compared to the previous Chien et al.'s video segmentation algorithm whose input video sequence is assumed to have no motion vector information. Further, the alleviation of the over-segmentation problem existed in both algorithms is investigated.

This study focuses on predicting which firms will increase capital by issuing new stocks in the near future. Many stakeholders, including banks, credit rating agencies and investors, performs a variety of analyses for firms' growth, profitability, stability, activity, productivity, etc., and regularly report the firms' financial analysis indices. In the paper, we develop predictive models for rights issues using these financial analysis indices and data mining techniques. This study approaches to building the predictive models from the perspective of two different analyses. The first is the analysis period. We divide the analysis period into before and after the IMF financial crisis, and examine whether there is the difference between the two periods. The second is the prediction time. In order to predict when firms increase capital by issuing new stocks, the prediction time is categorized as one year, two years and three years later. Therefore Total six prediction models are developed and analyzed. In this paper, we employ the decision tree technique to build the prediction models for rights issues. The decision tree is the most widely used prediction method which builds decision trees to label or categorize cases into a set of known classes. In contrast to neural networks, logistic regression and SVM, decision tree techniques are well suited for high-dimensional applications and have strong explanation capabilities. There are well-known decision tree induction algorithms such as CHAID, CART, QUEST, C5.0, etc. Among them, we use C5.0 algorithm which is the most recently developed algorithm and yields performance better than other algorithms. We obtained data for the rights issue and financial analysis from TS2000 of Korea Listed Companies Association. A record of financial analysis data is consisted of 89 variables which include 9 growth indices, 30 profitability indices, 23 stability indices, 6 activity indices and 8 productivity indices. For the model building and test, we used 10,925 financial analysis data of total 658 listed firms. PASW Modeler 13 was used to build C5.0 decision trees for the six prediction models. Total 84 variables among financial analysis data are selected as the input variables of each model, and the rights issue status (issued or not issued) is defined as the output variable. To develop prediction models using C5.0 node (Node Options: Output type = Rule set, Use boosting = false, Cross-validate = false, Mode = Simple, Favor = Generality), we used 60% of data for model building and 40% of data for model test. The results of experimental analysis show that the prediction accuracies of data after the IMF financial crisis (59.04% to 60.43%) are about 10 percent higher than ones before IMF financial crisis (68.78% to 71.41%). These results indicate that since the IMF financial crisis, the reliability of financial analysis indices has increased and the firm intention of rights issue has been more obvious. The experiment results also show that the stability-related indices have a major impact on conducting rights issue in the case of short-term prediction. On the other hand, the long-term prediction of conducting rights issue is affected by financial analysis indices on profitability, stability, activity and productivity. All the prediction models include the industry code as one of significant variables. This means that companies in different types of industries show their different types of patterns for rights issue. We conclude that it is desirable for stakeholders to take into account stability-related indices and more various financial analysis indices for short-term prediction and long-term prediction, respectively. The current study has several limitations. First, we need to compare the differences in accuracy by using different data mining techniques such as neural networks, logistic regression and SVM. Second, we are required to develop and to evaluate new prediction models including variables which research in the theory of capital structure has mentioned about the relevance to rights issue.

The tremendous quantity and quality of data obtained by conformations of DNA and protein sequences makes their analysis very time consuming, complex, expensive and impractical. Therefore, the feasible way to identify new sequences is to compare them with well-known sequences available in established genetic databank. Comparing sequences may reveal functional, structural, and evolutionary analogies between sequences. Needleman and Wunsch (NW), and Smith and Waterman (SW) algorithms are pioneers in dynamic programming matrix for comparing two sequences with gap penalty function. However, for long sequences both methods contribute toward time and space complexity. FASTA and BLAST are heuristic method based on hitting techniques for fast detection of similar region; unfortunately they produced results with no sensitivity. There remains a need for an efficient method(s) that can detect similar regions in two sequences with accurate results and reasonable time. In this paper, we extend an existing approach to develop an efficient parallel algorithm for pairwise local sequence alignment. Our method is based on load-balancing algorithm with the CPU scheduling technique in order to accelerate the calculation of data-dependency problem in sequences alignment. Using X86-based PC with eight logical processors we able to apply 4 MBP on the proposed algorithm with a speedup of 33% increase compared to the original SW algorithm.

Machine learning-guided protein engineering is a new paradigm that enables the optimization of complex protein functions. Machine-learning methods use data to predict protein function without requiring a detailed model of the underlying physics or biological pathways. They accelerate protein engineering by learning from information contained in all measured variants and using it to select variants that are likely to be improved. We begin with a review of the basics of machine learning with a focus on applications to protein engineering and protein sequence-function datasets (Chapter 1). We used the entire machine-learning guided engineering paradigm to engineer the algal-derived light-gated channel channelrhodopsin (ChR), which can be used to modulate neuronal activity with light. We build models that discover ChRs with strong plasma membrane localization in mammalian cells (Chapter 2) and unprecedented light sensitivity and photocurrents for optogenetic applications (Chapter 3). Machine learning-guided evolution requires a machine-learning model that learns the relationship between sequence and function. For machine-learning models to learn about protein sequences, protein sequences must be represented as vectors or matrices of numbers. How each protein sequence is represented determines what can be learned. We learn continuous vector encodings of sequences from patterns in unlabeled sequences (Chapter 4). Learned encodings are low-dimensional, do not require alignments, and may improve performance by transferring information in unlabeled sequences to specific prediction tasks. Alternately, we demonstrate an interpretable Gaussian process kernel tailored to biological sequences (Chapter 6). In addition to a model to predict function from sequence, engineering requires a method to use the model to choose sequences for the next round of evolution. Most machine-learning guided engineering strategies assume that selected sequences can be queried directly. However, in directed evolution it is common to design a library of sequences and then sample stochastic batches from that library. We propose a batched stochastic Bayesian optimization algorithm for iteratively designing and screening site-saturation mutagenesis libraries (Chapter 5).

Dear SCPE Reader, We present a selection of papers which are extensions of papers presented at the 7-th International Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Computing, 1–5 July 2008, in Krakow, Poland. The motivation for publishing the selection in the SCPE Journal was, on the one hand, to present the flavour of the research reported at the conference and on the other hand to present some of the most relevant topics currently focused on the research on parallel and distributed computing in general. The selection contains only 6 papers out of about 60 presented at the conference, and thus, is far from covering all relevant topics represented at the ISPDC 2008. This is because not all of the invited authors were patient enough to accept a fairly long paper publishing process. Nevertheless, we hope that the presented papers will bring you closer to the research covered by the ISPDC conferences and will encourage you to participate in future ISPDC editions. The first paper ``The Impact of Workload Variability on Load Balancing Algorithms'' is by Marta Beltran and Antonio Guzman from King Juan Carlos University in Spain. It concerns an important topic of load balancing in cluster systems, namely adaptativity of the load balancing algorithms to changes of the workload in the system. Adequate accounting for additional load in the hosting system is of great relevance for correct optimization effects. The paper presents a thorough formal analysis of the workload variability metrics and their influence on the quality of load balancing algorithms. Four basic activities appearing in load balancing algorithms are identified, and based on them some algorithmic solutions are proposed to correctly deal with workload variability in system load balancing. The problem of dynamic load balancing algorithms robustness has been discussed. Two different robustness metrics sensitive to the applied type of opimization: local task-oriented or a global one enable selecting task remote execution or migration as load balancing operations. The proposed approach is illustrated with experiments. The second paper ``Model-Driven Engineering and Formal Validation of High-Performance Embedded Systems'' is by Abdoulaye Gamatie, Eric Rutten, Huafeng Yu, Pierre Boulet, Jean-Luc Dekeyser, from University of Lille and INRIA in France. The paper is concerned with a very advanced methodology of designing correct parallel embedded systems for intensive data-parallel computing. In their previous research, the authors of the paper designed the GASPARD embedded system design framework. It is based on the hardware/software co-design approach through model-driven engineering. The framework is based on an UML-like model specification language in which hardware and software elements are modelled using a component approach with special mechanisms for repetitive structures. This paper tries to combine the modelling framework of GASPARD with the mechanisms of synchronous languages to achieve design verifiability provided for such languages. The paper shows how GASPARD models can be translated into synchronous models based on data flow equations in order to formally check their correctness. The proposed approach is illustrated with an example of a video processing system. The third paper ``Relations Between Several Parallel Computational Models'' is by Stephan Bruda and Yuanqiao Zhang from Bishop’s University in Canada. The paper is concerned with theoretical aspects of shared memory systems described by the parallel random access machine PRAM model and aims in studying performance properties of different types of PRAM systems. The attention is focussed on analysing the computational power of two more sophisticated PRAM models (Combining CRCW and Broadcast Selective Reduction), which include data reduction in case of concurrent writes. The paper shows that these two models have equivalent computational power, which is a new result comparing the existing literature. The performance of both models applied to reconfigurable multiple bus machines was studied as a possible architectural solution for current VLSI processor implementations. It was shown that in such systems under reasonable assumptions concurrent-write does not enhance performance comparing the exclusive-write model. Another result important for the VLSI technology is that the Combining CRCW PRAM model (in which data of concurrent writes are arthmetically or logically combined before write) and the exclusive-write on directed reconfigurable busses perform in equivalent way under strong real-time requirements. The fourth paper ``Experiences with Mesh-Like Computations Using Prediction Binary Trees'' is by Gennaro Cordasco, Biagio Cosenza, Rosario de Chiara, Ugo Erra and Vittorio Scarano from the University ``degli Studi'' of Salerno and the University ``degli Studi della Biasilicata'' of Potenza in Italy. The paper concerns optimization methods for mesh-like computations in clusters of processors. The computations are perfomed assuming a phase-like program execution control using a tiling approach which reduces inter-processor communication. A temporal coherence is also assumed, which means that task sizes provide similar execution times in consecutive phases. Temporary coherent computations are structured in a Prediction Binary Tree, in which leaves represent computing tiles to be mapped to processors. A phase-by-phase semi-static load balancing is introduced to the scheduling algorithm. The scheduling algorithm is equipped with a predictor, which estimates the computation time of next phase tiles based on previous execution times and modifies the tiles to achieve balanced execution in phases. For this, two heuristics are used to leverage on data locality in processors. The proposed approach is illustrated by the example of interactive rendering with Parallel Ray Tracing algorithm. The fifth paper ``The Influence of the IBM pSeries Servers Virtualization Mechanism on Dynamic Resource Allocation in AIX 5L'' is by Maciej Mlynski from ASpartner Limited in Poland. The paper concerns a very up-to-date problem of system virtualization and presents the results of research carried on IBM pSeries servers. IBM is strongly developing the virtualization technique especially on IBM pSeries servers enabling an improved and flexible sharing of system resources between applications. The paper investigates novel facilities for dynamic resource management such as micro-partitioning and partition load manager. They enable dynamic creation of workload logical partitions of system resources and their dynamic mangement. It includes run-time resource re-alocation between logical partitions including setting of sharing specifications as well as run-time adding/removing/setting parameters of resources in the system. It remains an open question how to properly tune parameters of the operating system using the provided virtualization facilities to obtain the best efficiency for a given application program. The paper presents the results of experiments which study the effects of tuning the disk subsystem parameters under the IBM AIX 5L operating system with the use of the provided virtualization facilities on the resulting application execution performance. The results show that even small deterioration in the resource pool status requires an immediate adaptation of the operating system parameters to maintain the required performance. The sixth paper ``HeteroPBLAS: A Set of Parallel Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms Optimized for Heterogeneous Computational Clusters'' is by Ravi Reddy, Alexey Lastovetsky and Pedro Alonso from University College Dublin in Ireland and Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain. The paper concerns the methodology for parallelization of linear algebra computations for execution in heterogeneous cluster environments. The design of the HeteroPBLAS library (Parallel Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms) for heterogeneous computational clusters is presented. The main contribution of the paper is the automation of the parallelization and optimization of the PBLAS, which is done by means of a special user interface and the underlying set of functions. An important element is here a performance model that is based on program code instrumentation, which determines parameters of the application and the executive heterogeneous platform relevant for execution performance of parallel code. The parameter values specified for or returned by execution of the performance model functions are next used for generation and optimal mapping of the parallel code of the library subroutines. The proposed approach is illustrated by experimental results of execution of optimized HeteroPBLAS programs on homogeneous and heterogeneous computing clusters. Marek Tudruj

Explicit and tractable characterizations of the dynamical behavior of virus particles are pivotal for a thorough understanding of the infection mechanisms of viruses. This thesis deals with the problem of extracting symbolic representations of the dynamical behavior of fluorescent particles from fluorescence microscopy image sequences. The focus is on the behavior of virus particles such as fusion with the cell membrane. A numerical representation is obtained by tracking the particles in the image sequences. We have investigated probabilistic tracking approaches, including approaches based on the Kalman filter as well as based on particle filters. For reasons of efficiency and robustness, we developed a tracking approach based on the probabilistic data association (PDA) algorithm in combination with an ellipsoidal sampling scheme that exploits effectively the image data via parametric appearance models. To track objects in close proximity, we compute the support that each image position provides to each tracked object relative to the support provided to the object's neighbors. After tracking, the problem of mapping the trajectory information computed by the tracking approaches to symbolic representations of the behavior arises. To compute symbolic representations of behaviors related to the fusion of single virus particles with the cell membrane based on their intensity over time, we developed a layered probabilistic approach based on stochastic hybrid systems as well as hidden Markov models (HMMs). We use a maxbelief strategy to efficiently combine both representations. The layered approach describes the intensity, intensity models, and behaviors of single virus particles. We introduce models for the evolution of the intensity and the behavior. To compute estimates for the intensity, intensity models, and behaviors we use a hybrid particle filter and the Viterbi algorithm. The developed approaches have been applied to synthetic images as well as to real microscopy image sequences displaying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) particles. We have performed an extensive quantitative evaluation of the performance and a comparison with several existing approaches. It turned out that our approaches outperform previous ones, thus yielding more accurate and more reliable information about the behavior of virus particles. Moreover, we have successfully applied our tracking approaches to 3D image sequences displaying herpes simplex virus (HSV) replication compartments. We also applied the tracking approaches to image data displaying microtubule tips and analyzed their motion. In addition, our tracking approaches were successfully applied to the 2D and 3D image data of a Particle Tracking Challenge.

In this early part of the post-genomic era, the inference of the functions associated with gene products is a necessary first step in understanding the development and maintenance of living cells. We describe the development of a machine learning method for predicting biological process as defined by the gene ontology (GO). The algorithm uses features that can be generated from amino acid sequence alone, and does not require further experimental studies such as microarrays, 2-hybrid screens or systematic 'pull-down' assays. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used because of its comprehensive set of functional annotations, but the approach is sufficiently general for application to other eukaryote genomes. The input data include phylogenetic profiles, which represent the distribution of orthologous proteins in the genomes of other organisms, position-specific scoring matrices, and secondary structure and dynamic disorder predictions. These are encoded using diffusion kernels, which are used to represent pair-wise relationships such as sequence or secondary structure element similarity between nodes (proteins) in a graph. These kernels are benchmarked on the process prediction problem using a maximal margin (SVM) learning algorithm.

This paper presents a simple and novel generalized pulse width modulation (GPWM) algorithm for voltage source inverter fed induction motor drives. The classical space vector approach requires angle and sector information for the calculation of switching times, which increases the complexity of the PWM algorithm. Hence, to reduce the complexity, the proposed GPWM algorithm generates the modulating signals by using the instantaneous phase voltages only. In the proposed algorithm, a unique zero sequence signal is added to the instantaneous phase voltages in order to generate the modulating waveforms. By varying a constant in the zero sequence signal from 0 to 1, various PWM algorithms such as space vector PWM (SVPWM) and discontinuous PWM (DPWM) algorithms are generated. Moreover, a simple overmodulation algorithm is also presented in this paper. Thus, the proposed GPWM algorithm generates all possible PWM algorithms in the entire modulation region. To validate the proposed algorithm, several simulation and experimental results are presented and compared. The results show the best agreement with the published work.

This dissertation reports on rate-distortion optimized and computation-constrained video coding algorithms which yield effective and efficient block-based video encoders. We first propose a new cost function for motion estimation which can achieve good tradeoffs among motion vector bit rate, compensation distortion, and number of computations. Based on the new cost function, we propose a predictive motion estimation algorithm which can effectively determine the size of the search region according to the statistics of the motion field. The proposed motion estimation algorithm allows control of the motion vector bit rate and the computational cost, simultaneously. We also develop two efficient rate-distortion optimized coding mode selection algorithms, based on thresholding and finite state machine (FSM) methods, respectively. The thresholding method can eliminate consideration of the computationally expensive modes. The FSM method determines the test orders of the modes and associated parameters by exploiting the local statistics of the input video sequence. The proposed two methods can reduce substantially the computation requirements as compared to the full search mode selection method. Based on the proposed motion estimation and mode selection algorithms, we implement an H.263-based video coder and an MPEG-2, compliant video coder for very low bit rate video applications, and high bit rate interlaced video applications, respectively. The resulting video coders achieve excellent tradeoffs among bit rate, quality, and computational complexity. In fact, experimental results show that our video coders outperform the best known video coders in terms of compression performance and encoding speed.