Reinforcement-Learned Unequal Error Protection for Quantized Semantic Embeddings

TL;DR

This paper presents a reinforcement learning-based method for unequal error protection of semantic embeddings, significantly improving semantic preservation in bandwidth-limited communication systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel RL framework that allocates error protection adaptively per dimension, outperforming traditional coding schemes in semantic fidelity.

Findings

Achieves 6.8% higher chrF scores over uniform protection.

Improves entity preservation by 9.3% at 1 dB SNR.

Demonstrates the effectiveness of simple, adaptive repetition coding for semantic protection.

Abstract

This paper tackles the pressing challenge of preserving semantic meaning in communication systems constrained by limited bandwidth. We introduce a novel reinforcement learning framework that achieves per-dimension unequal error protection via adaptive repetition coding. Central to our approach is a composite semantic distortion metric that balances global embedding similarity with entity-level preservation, empowering the reinforcement learning agent to allocate protection in a context-aware manner. Experiments show statistically significant gains over uniform protection, achieving 6.8% higher chrF scores and 9.3% better entity preservation at 1 dB SNR. The key innovation of our framework is the demonstration that simple, intelligently allocated repetition coding enables fine-grained semantic protection -- an advantage unattainable with conventional codes such as LDPC or Reed-Solomon. Our findings challenge traditional channel coding paradigms by establishing that code structure must align with semantic granularity. This approach is particularly suited to edge computing and IoT scenarios, where bandwidth is scarce, but semantic fidelity is critical, providing a practical pathway for next-generation semantic-aware networks.