First and foremost, I would like to thank NTU School of Computer Engineering and ST Microelectronics Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. for granting me the opportunity and scholarship to undertake the Ph.D. programme and providing me with a very conducive research environment at Parallel and Distributed Computing Center (PDCC) for my research activities. The road to this thesis has been long but rewarding. However, without the help of the following people, this work could never make its way to the current degree of recognition. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Lau Chiew Tong and my co-supervisor Dr. Benjamin Premkumar, from whom I have received an unconditional support during the course of this work. Their guidance and encouragement throughout difficult times are invaluable towards the completion of this research. My attachment at ST Microelectronics was a fruitful experience because I had the chance to seek feedback on how the industry would perceive my research. I have benefited from the interaction with people in this R&D center. My heartfelt thanks to my supervisor there Ms. Sapna George and Mr. Javed Absar, whose excellence and experience in signal processing field are truly inspiring. Next, I would like to thank the PDCC staff for their support, especially Irene Goh who is always there to solve our technical difficulties. A big thank you to those involved in the listening test, both from PDCC and ST Microelectronics. To my friends who never fail to console me in time of difficulties, I can never thank enough. Last but not least, I must really thank God and my parents for their love, care, and their undying confidence in me. To my beloved sister and brother, the guardian force of my life, I dedicate this work. iv