supervisor, for his continuous guidance and support throughout this research. His understanding and inspiration have made this research productive, challenging and interesting. The author is grateful to Dr. S. Oraintara, Dr. Q. Liang, Dr. V. Devarajan, and Dr. W.A. Davis who are members of the advisory committee for their generous help and constructive discussions. Special thanks to all the members in Multimedia Processing Research Laboratory, from past to present, for their help at various stages of