Fast motion and disparity estimation for HEVC based 3D video coding

The emerging international standard for high efficiency video coding (HEVC) based 3D video coding (3D-HEVC) is an extension of HEVC. In the test model of 3D-HEVC, variable size motion estimation (ME) and disparity estimation (DE) are both employed to select the best coding mode for each treeblock in the encoding process. This technique achieves the highest possible coding efficiency, but it brings extremely high computational complexity which limits 3D-HEVC from practical applications. In this paper, a fast ME/DE algorithm based on inter-view and spatial correlations is proposed to reduce 3D-HEVC computational complexity. Since the multi-view videos represent the same scene with similar characteristic, there is a high correlation among the coding information from inter-view prediction. Besides, the homogeneous regions in texture video have a strong spatial correlation, and thus spatially neighboring treeblocks have similar coding information. Therefore, we can determine ME search range and skip some specific ME and DE rarely used in the previously coded view frames and spatially neighboring coding unit. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce computational complexity of 3D-HEVC encoding while maintaining almost the same rate-distortion performance.     

Early SKIP mode decision for MVC using inter-view correlation

In the joint multiview video model (JMVM) proposed by JVT, the variable block-size motion estimation (ME) and disparity estimation (DE) have been employed to determine the best coding mode for each macroblock (MB). These give a high coding efficiency for multiview video coding (MVC), however, they cause a very high computational complexity in encoding system. This paper proposes to reduce the complexities of the ME and DE processes with an early SKIP mode decision algorithm based on the analysis of prediction mode distribution regarding the corresponding MBs in the neighbor view. In this method, the mode decision procedures of most of MBs can be early terminated, and thus much of computation for ME and DE can be greatly reduced. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm can achieve computational saving of 46–57% (depending on the tested sequences) with no significant loss of rate-distortion performance.     

Hierarchical Search Motion Estimation Algorithms for Real—time Video Coding

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Selective VS-MRF-ME and intra coding in H.264 based on spatiotemporal continuity of motion field

The new video coding standard, H.264 uses variable size motion estimation (VS-ME), multiple reference frame motion estimation (MRF-ME) and spatial-based intra prediction with selectable block size in inter frame coding. These tools have achieved significant coding efficiency compared to coding a macroblock (MB) only based on motion-compensation in regular size with single reference frame. However, these new features also give rise to an exhaustive computation in the coding procedure since there are so many combinations of coding modes and reference frames to be tried. In this paper, a fast motion estimation algorithm based on the selective VS-MRF-ME and intra prediction is proposed to reduce H.264 coding computational complexity. The basic idea of the method is to utilize the spatiotemporal property of motion field in predicting where VS-MRF-ME and intra prediction are needed, and only in these regions VS-MRF-ME and intra coding are enabled. The motion field is generated by motion vectors from 16×16 motion estimation on the nearest reference frame. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can save 50% computational complexity on average, with negligible loss of coding efficiency.     

计算能力可伸缩的运动估计率失真优化

不同硬件设备具有不同的计算能力,能否在任意给定计算能力约束下达到最好的编码效率,是当前视频编码研究领域的一个极具挑战性问题.同时,随着分块结构越来越灵活的编码标准不断出现（如：HEVC,H.264等）,运动估计不得不反复地应用在大小不同的各种分块上,导致其对编码总体计算复杂度的影响愈加重要.在此背景下,本文提出了一种针对运动估计的计算能力可伸缩（Complexity scalable）优化算法.我们通过对运动估计过程中预测失真度和计算复杂度的变化规律建模,发现根据各宏块的特性设置不同的预测失真度阈值可以优化地分配计算资源.而该阈值的大小则恰恰是各宏块的最小预测失真度加上一个由复杂度约束统一决定的偏移量.有鉴于此,我们进一步构造了计算能力可伸缩的优化运动估计算法,在不增加额外计算量的前提下,快速地得到各个宏块所对应的优化阈值,并完成运动估计.通过实验分析,该算法不仅具备自动适应不同计算复杂度约束的能力,而且在任意给定的复杂度约束下,都能提供优化的编码性能.     

Efficient Inter Prediction Mode Decision Method for Fast Motion Estimation in High Efficiency Video Coding

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the most recent video coding standard to achieve a higher coding performance than the previous H.264/AVC. In order to accomplish this improved coding performance, HEVC adopted several advanced coding tools; however, these cause heavy computational complexity. Similar to previous video coding standards, motion estimation (ME) of HEVC requires the most computational complexity; this is because ME is conducted for three inter prediction modes — namely, uniprediction in list 0, uniprediction in list 1, and biprediction. In this paper, we propose an efficient inter prediction mode (EIPM) decision method to reduce the complexity of ME. The proposed EIPM method computes the priority of all inter prediction modes and performs ME only on a selected inter prediction mode. Experimental results show that the proposed method reduces computational complexity arising from ME by up to 51.76% and achieves near similar coding performance compared to HEVC test model version 10.1.     

多视点编码中一种快速的模式选择方法

在多视点视频编码中,多尺寸的运动估计和视点估计被用来选择宏块的最优编码模式。这些技术大大提高了编码效率,但是却带来了庞大的计算复杂度,从而影响了多视点视频编码的广泛应用。提出了一种新的模式选择的快速算法,利用了相邻视点的模式相关性来减少执行不需要的模式。实验表明,所提出的快速模式选择算法在不降低编码效率的同时可以显著降低计算复杂度。     

Content-adaptive motion estimation algorithm for coarse-grain SVC

A joint model of scalable video coding (SVC) uses exhaustive mode and motion searches to select the best prediction mode and motion vector for each macroblock (MB) with high coding efficiency at the cost of computational complexity. If major characteristics of a coding MB such as the complexity of the prediction mode and the motion property can be identified and used in adjusting motion estimation (ME), one can design an algorithm that can adapt coding parameters to the video content. This way, unnecessary mode and motion searches can be avoided. In this paper, we propose a content-adaptive ME for SVC, including analyses of mode complexity and motion property to assist mode and motion searches. An experimental analysis is performed to study interlayer and spatial correlations in the coding information. Based on the correlations, the motion and mode characteristics of the current MB are identified and utilized to adjust each step of ME at the enhancement layer including mode decision, search-range selection, and prediction direction selection. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the computational complexity of SVC while maintaining nearly the same rate distortion performance as the original encoder.     

基于网格模型的运动估计技术

网格模型的运动估计和跟踪在基于模型的编码方法中占有重要的地位,在现有的网格运动估计技术中,六边形匹配(Hexagonal Matching)是一种有效的网格模型运动估计算法,它采用局部最优和迭代策略相结合的方法得到较好的全局运动估计结果.六边形匹配算法由块搜索和迭代六边形匹配两步组成,同所有的基于模型的运动估计技术一样,六边形匹配算法也存在运算量大的问题难于满足实时编码需要.本文对六边形匹配算法从三个方面进行改进:用四步搜索替代全搜索、快速的纹理映射技术和有效的节点排序减少迭代次数.改进后的算法在基本上保证原算法的运动估计效率的情况下,算法的复杂度有明显的降低,使得基于模型的编码技术向实用化前进了一步.     

A low-power oriented architecture for H.264 variable block size motion estimation based on a resource sharing scheme

In the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard, motion estimation (ME) adopts many new features to increase the coding performances such as block matching algorithm (BMA), motion vector prediction (MVP) and variable block size motion estimation (VBSME). However, VBSME is utilized in the MPEG4-AVC/H.264 standard which leads to high computational complexity and data dependency that make the hardware implementation very complex.     

Content-Aware Fast Motion Estimation Algorithm

In this paper, we propose the Content-Aware Fast Motion Estimation Algorithm (CAFME) that can reduce computation complexity of motion estimation (ME) in H.264/AVC while maintaining almost the same coding efficiency. Motion estimation can be divided into two phases: searching phase and matching phase. In searching phase, we propose the Simple Dynamic Search Range Algorithm (SDSR) based on video characteristics to reduce the number of search points (SP). In matching phase, we integrate the Successive Elimination Algorithm (SEA) and the integral frame to develop a new SEA for H.264/AVC video compression standard, called Successive Elimination Algorithm with Integral Frame (SEAIF). Besides, we also propose the Early Termination Algorithm (ETA) to early terminate the motion estimation of current block.We implement the proposed algorithm in the reference software JM9.4 of H.264/AVC and the experimental results show that our proposed algorithm can reduce the number of search points about 93.1%, encoding time about 42%, while maintaining almost the same bitrate and PSNR.     

一种高效的基于H.264/AVC压缩域信息的全局运动估计方法

本文提出了一种基于H.264/AVC压缩域的高效全局运动估计算法.由于H.264采用了多种新的视频压缩编码技术,使得其压缩码流的运动矢量(MV)场中包含大量噪声运动矢量,可参与全局运动估计的运动矢量相对较少.噪声运动矢量这里指的是与全局运动不相符的运动矢量.为了降低噪声运动矢量的影响、提高全局运动估计的精度和效率,在全...     

270 MHz Full HD H.264/AVC High Profile Encoder with Shared Multibank Memory‐Based Fast Motion Estimation

We present a full HD (1080p) H.264/AVC High Profile hardware encoder based on fast motion estimation (ME). Most processing cycles are occupied with ME and use external memory access to fetch samples, which degrades the performance of the encoder. A novel approach to fast ME which uses shared multibank memory can solve these problems. The proposed pixel subsampling ME algorithm is suitable for fast motion vector searches for high‐quality resolution images. The proposed algorithm achieves an 87.5% reduction of computational complexity compared with the full search algorithm in the JM reference software, while sustaining the video quality without any conspicuous PSNR loss. The usage amount of shared multibank memory between the coarse ME and fine ME blocks is 93.6%, which saves external memory access cycles and speeds up ME. It is feasible to perform the algorithm at a 270 MHz clock speed for 30 frame/s real‐time full HD encoding. Its total gate count is 872k, and internal SRAM size is 41.8 kB.     

一种基于H.264/AVC的高效块匹配搜索算法

本文针对H.264/AVC的编码特点,提出了一种利用时空域运动相关性的快速块匹配搜索算法.该算法充分利用了视频序列的运动程度与宏块编码模式间的关联特性以及运动矢量的统计特征,明显减少了运动估计的搜索复杂度.实验表明,本文方法的搜索速度分别比FS和DS算法平均提高了77.96%和32.19%;重建图像的PSNR比DS算法平均提高了0.06dB,更接近FS算法的编码质量.     

Adaptive fractional motion and disparity estimation skipping in MV-HEVC

MV-HEVC can efficiently compress multiview video data captured from different viewpoints. To achieve high coding efficiency, it consists of not only inter coding but also interview coding. The inter coding includes a motion estimation (ME) process that reduces temporal redundancies between consecutive frames, and the interview coding performs a disparity estimation (DE) that reduces interview redundancies between neighboring views. As a result, MV-HEVC needs high encoding complexity to perform both ME and DE. In order to reduce the complexity, this paper proposes an adaptive fractional ME and DE skipping method in a partitioned inter prediction unit (PU) mode, based on a result of a 2 N × 2 N inter PU coding. Experimental results show that the proposed method efficiently reduces the encoding complexity with negligible coding loss, compared to conventional methods.     

基于感知的多视点视频编码宏块模式选择快速算法

多视点视频编码(MVC)采取可变块模式选择技术和 多参考帧技术显著提高了编码的压缩效率,但同时带来了巨大的 编码计算复杂度。为了降低MVC的计算复杂度,提出基于感知的快速MVC宏块模式选择 算法。基于人眼视觉感知的特点,利用视觉恰可察觉失真(JND)的概念建立MVC宏块的最优模 式和JND的联系,并利用该联系确定早期结束最优宏块模式选择过程的阈值,根据当前编码 宏块的JND与阈值的 关系自适应地减少每个编码宏块的模式搜索次数,进而减少MVC的方向搜索和参考帧搜索的 次数,以降 低编码的复杂度,提高MVC速度。实验结果显示,对于不同运动特性、内容、纹理信息、相 机间距和图像 尺寸的测试序列,提出的快速算法在率失真性能几乎不变的情况下平均节约76.00% 编码时间。     

AVS视频编码中子像素运动估计算法的优化研究

由于在AVS技术标准的帧间预测方案中提供了1／4子像素精度的运动估计,这部分运算量较大,运行时间长,有进一步改进的必要。本文通过对AVS视频编码标准中子像素运动估计算法的分析,针对子像素运动估计算法运算量较大的问题,提出了一种新的基于整像素SAD的快速子像素运动估计算法,它对现有的AVS技术标准子像素运动估计算法进行了较大的改进与优化。实验结果证明该方法在保持相同性能的前提下,较大程度地降低了AVS技术标准运动估计算法的复杂度。     

A Modified Block Matching Motion Estimation Algorithm for the Very Low Bit-Rate video Coding

1IntroductionMohonestimationplaysanimportantroleindigitalvideocompression.Block-matchingtechniquehasbeenadoptedinmanyvideocompressionstandardssuchasH.261,MPEG-l,MPEG-2andH.263.Eventhoughthealgorithmtoestimatethemotionvectorsisnotspecifiedexplicitly.However,despiteitssuccessfulapplications,itproducesarathernoisyinchonfield.Inverylowbit-ratevideocodingapplications,theamountofthesideinformationfortheinchonfieldrepresentsanimPOrtantportionofthetotalbit-rate.Therefore,motionestimatetechniques…     

VLSI Architecture of Block Matching Algorithms for Motion Estimation in High Efficiency Video Coding

High-efficiency video coding (HEVC) is a latest video coding standard and the motion estimation unit is the most important block. The work presents the different types of Matching Criteria for Block-Based Motion Estimation technique in HEVC standard. HEVC requires fast motion estimation algorithms to have better real time performance. The hardware implementation of motion estimation helps to achieve high speed though parallel processing. An improved block matching technique is designed with reduced blocks for HEVC. The proposed method has less execution time where only blocks having motion are compared for prediction computation. The searching time complexity is dependent on the number of blocks that are having motion. The searching time of frame having small motion can be reduced to 80–85% as compared to the traditional full search algorithm. In the paper, sum of absolute difference, mean square error and mean absolute difference are computed to find the best matching algorithm for HEVC. However, SAD has less computational complexity with compare to other matching criteria. The results suggest that proposed motion estimation algorithm has better performance with compare to similar previous work.

     

A complexity-bounded motion estimation algorithm

The full search motion estimation algorithm for video coding is a procedure of high computational cost. For this reason, in real-time low-power applications, low-cost motion estimation algorithms are viable solutions. A novel reduced complexity motion estimation algorithm is presented. It conjugates the reduction of computational load with good encoding efficiency. It exploits the past history of the motion field to predict the current motion field. A successive refinement phase gives the final motion field. This approach leads to a sensible reduction in the number of motion vector that have to be tested. The complexity is lower than any other algorithm algorithms known to the authors, in the literature, it is constant as there is no recursivity in the algorithm and independent of any search window area size. Experimental evaluations have shown the robustness of the algorithm when applied on a wide set of video sequences-a good performance compared to other reduced complexity algorithms and negligible loss of efficiency versus the full search algorithm.