Mr. François Marx, researcher and engineer with France Telecom, Research and Development (Grenoble) visited, in October 2005, the Faculty of Sciences and Computer Engineering at USEK for a teaching mission.

“The first aim of this mission was to teach a group of courses on the compression and the transmission of videos to the USEK students. This course seeks to reconcile, on one hand, a theoretical aspect and, on the other hand, a more practical side by using my professional experience and my practical Work. The course is divided into 9 chapters to which brief descriptions are given below:

• Compression without loss. This first chapter presents briefly and quickly the structure of a colored video and insists above all on the compression of information without loss. We approach in particular the Huffman coding, the arithmetic coding, the Run Length Coding. The course ends with a small exercise on the fax.
• Quantification/DPCM. This second chapter presents the quantification and insists on the concepts of scalar quantification, high-resolution quantifier, uniform, entropic and vector quantifier. The binary allocation and the compromise flow/distortion are also studied. Lastly, predictive coding (DPCM) is approached while insisting on its use for video.
• Coding by transform. The different transformed linear like Karhunen-Loeve (KLT), the transformed as a discrete cosine (DCT) and the transformed in small waves were reviewed 
• Video coding. In which we introduce the various formats YUV and typical flow, the compensation of movement as well as the algorithms low complexity for the compensation of movement.
• Standards of video coding. This longest chapter of the course is relatively descriptive and details the various standards of videos: H.261/H.263, MPEG1/2/4, H.264/MPEG.4 leave 10
• Video transmission on the networks. In this chapter, we show the various associated uses and methods to transmit video on a fixed or mobile network while insisting on the various types of networks and their characteristics for the video transmission: telegraphic networks type Internet, networks without cellular standard wire, and networks without standard wire 802.11.
• Tools of resistance to the errors. This chapter details the various types of tools of resistance to the errors of transmissions for video. One can quote in particular: the partitioning of the data, codes VLC RVLC and the UEP (unequal error protection).
• The latest course is a case study on the article of F. Marx and J. Farah, “A Novell Approach to Achieve Unequal Error Protection for video Transmission over 3G Wireless Networks”
• Finally, during a Matlab practical work. The students produce a mini video coder/decoder.

The last day, I had a meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Computer Engineering, Prof Naïm Ouaini, in the presence of the Chief of the Department of Computer Engineering and Telecommunication, Dr. Joumana, during which we approached the present and future collaborations between France Telecom and USEK.
The improvement of the numerical communications provided us with subjects to 5 publications and communications to France Telecom and USEK.

Concerning the future, France Telecom always seeks to recruit good students for theses, which can be an opportunity for USEK students, holder of a Research Master degree. Lastly, it seemed convenient to us to think of a three-members association with a French university in order to launch, for instance, a Cedar project. “