Abstract
The problem of optimal rate universal coding in the context of rate-distortion theory is considered. A D-semifaithful universal coding scheme for discrete memoryless sources is given. The main result is a refined covering lemma based on the random coding argument and the method of types. The average codelength of the code is shown to appraoch its lower bound, the rate-distortion function, at a rate O(n-1 log n), and this is conjectured to be optimal based on a result of Pilc. Issues of constructiveness and universality are also addressed.

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