Method and apparatus for video compression using sequential frame cellular automata transforms

Digital video data is encoded by using the evolving states of cellular automata. The method involves performing a frame-by-frame encoding of a group of M frames. Each of the frames is transformed with transform basis functions derived from the evolving cellular automata. The ensuing transform coefficients are encoded using a sub-band-based embedded stream technique that places the most important coefficients at the top of a hierarchical storage/transmission. The embedded stream encoding of the ensuing transform coefficients achieves an automatic redundancy removal in the cellular automata frequency space. Compression of the M frames is achieved when the stream encoding/decoding is terminated after: 1) a stipulated maximum bit budget is reached, or 2) when a predefined maximum error rate is attained. An encoding method is provided for accelerating the transmission of video data through communications networks and storing the compressed data on digital storage media.