Feedforward architectures for parallel viterbi decoding

The Viterbi-Algorithm (VA) is a common application of dynamic programming. The algorithm contains a nonlinear feedback loop (ACS-feedback, ACS: add-compare-select) which is the bottleneck in high data rate implementations. In this paper we show that, asymptotically, the ACS-feedback no longer has to be processed recursively, i.e., there is no feedback. With only negligible performance loss, this fact can be exploited technically to design efficient and purely feedforward architectures for Viterbi decoding that have a modular extendable structure. By designing one cascadable module, any speedup can be achieved simply by adding modules to the implementation. It is shown that optimization criteria, as minimum latency or maximum hardware efficiency, are met by very different architectures.     

一种新的低功耗图像及视频编解码算法

提出一种新的低功耗图像及视频编解码算法。该算法主要基于矢量量化,认为编码算法的质量和功耗地码本尺寸的大小,通过采用小尺寸码本,降低算法所需要的内存数量,从而降低功耗。编码时,利用分形理论中的同构变换计算虚拟码本,弥补由于采用小码本造成的图像质量损失,并使编码过程较少依赖于码本内存。编解码结果与全搜索型矢量量化算法相比,在不损失图像质量的前提下,可以极大地降低编解码功耗。     

Fast coding unit partitioning algorithms for versatile video coding intra coding

Versatile video coding (VVC) is the newest video compression standard. It adopts quadtree with nested multi-type tree (QT-MTT) to encode square or rectangular coding units (CUs). The QT-MTT coding structure is more flexible for encoding video texture, but it is also accompanied by many time-consuming algorithms. So, this work proposes fast algorithms to determine horizontal or vertical split for binary or ternary partition of a 32 × 32 CU in the VVC intra coding to replace the rate-distortion optimization (RDO) process, which is time-consuming. The proposed fast algorithms are actually a two-step algorithm, including feature analysis method and deep learning method. The feature analysis method is based on variances of pixels, and the deep learning method applies the convolution neural networks (CNNs) for classification. Experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce encoding time by 28.94% on average but increase Bjontegaard delta bit rate (BDBR) by about 0.83%.     

Circular intra prediction for 360 degree video coding

Different from traditional 2D video, the contents of 360 degree video are deformed due to the projection from 3D sphere to 2D plane. As a result, the traditional Angular Intra Prediction (AIP) with a linear pattern may not be always efficient. To further improve the coding performance of 360 degree video, a novel intra prediction method is presented in this paper, i.e., Circular Intra Prediction (CIP), which takes consideration of the spherical characteristics of 360 degree video. In specific, the proposed CIP is performed in a circular pattern, where the center of circle is located around the to-be-predicted block, and different centers of circle are able to produce different CIP modes. The distance between center of this circle and center of the to-be-predicted block is adaptively determined according to the degree of projection deformation, where stronger projection deformation needs shorter distance, and vice versa. As the increase of the distance, the CIP is more and more close to the traditional AIP. In addition, one additional binary flag is utilized to achieve better coding performance from the competition between AIP and CIP with the rate-distortion optimization. The proposed algorithm is implemented on the platform of Versatile video coding Test Model (VTM) 5.0 + 360Lib 9.1. Extensive experiments show that the proposed method can achieve bit rate reduction on this platform for 360 degree video coding.     

Generalisation of inter-layer intra prediction for scalable video coding

In the scalable video coding (SVC) standard, a simple inter-layer intra prediction (ILIP) method has been adopted to reduce the bit rate of scalable video sequences. Proposed is an improved ILIP method by generalising the original one adopted in the SVC. Experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce bit rates by 4.1 to 5.9%, compared with the original one, while average PSNR is not decreased.     

Information loss recovery for block-based image coding techniques-afuzzy logic approach

A new technique to recover the information loss in a block-based image coding system is developed in this paper. The proposed scheme is based on fuzzy logic reasoning and can be divided into three main steps: (1) hierarchical compass interpolation/extrapolation (HCIE) in the spatial domain for initial recovery of lost blocks that mainly contain low-frequency information such as smooth background (2) coarse spectra interpretation by fuzzy logic reasoning for recovery of lost blocks that contain high-frequency information such as complex textures and fine features (3) sliding window iteration (SWI), which is performed in both spatial and spectral domains to efficiently integrate the results obtained in steps (1) and (2) such that the optimal result can be achieved in terms of surface continuity on block boundaries and a set of fuzzy inference rules. The proposed method, which is suitable for recovering both isolated and contiguous block losses, provides a new approach for error concealment of block-based image coding systems such as the JPEG coding standard and vector quantization-based coding algorithms. The principle of the proposed scheme can also be applied to block-based video compression schemes such as the H.261, MPEG, and HDTV standards. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Iterative wyner-ziv decoding for unidirectional distributed video coding

Unidirectional distributed video coding (DVC) is one of the untouched areas of DVC, which has to be necessarily employed when the feedback channel is not available. Thus, to serve that purpose, proposed is a unidirectional distributed video coding using a parallel Wyner-Ziv architecture. Simulation results show that up to 6.5 dB PSNR gain can be obtained with the proposed codec over the conventional DVC codec with no feedback channel at the same bit rate and the computational cost     

基于感兴趣区域的自适应帧内更新编码算法

针对视频压缩码流对信道差错异常敏感的问题,提出了一种基于感兴趣区域的自适应帧内更新编码算法。该算法利用人眼的视觉感知特性设计感兴趣区域提取模型,根据信道差错累积情况自适应调整帧内更新编码策略,将更少的失真分配给人眼感兴趣区域,提高差错信道下传输视频图像的主客观质量。实验结果表明,与基于端到端失真的帧内更新算法相比,在不同的信道丢包条件下,所提算法可以获得更好的主客观质量,感兴趣区域的峰值信噪比(PSNR)平均提高0.87 dB左右,提高了差错信道下视频通信的鲁棒性。     

An efficient computation-constrained block-based motion estimationalgorithm for low bit rate video coding

We present an efficient computation constrained block-based motion vector estimation algorithm for low bit rate video coding that yields good tradeoffs between motion estimation distortion and number of computations. A reliable predictor determines the search origin, localizing the search process. An efficient search pattern exploits structural constraints within the motion field. A flexible cost measure used to terminate the search allows simultaneous control of the motion estimation distortion and the computational cost. Experimental results demonstrate the viability of the proposed algorithm in low bit rate video coding applications. The resulting low bit rate video encoder yields essentially the same levels of rate-distortion performance and subjective quality achieved by the UBC H.263+ video coding reference software. However, the proposed motion estimation algorithm provides substantially higher encoding speed as well as graceful computational degradation capabilities.     

A novel fast intra mode decision for versatile video coding

The latest video coding standard Versatile Video Coding (VVC) obtains superior coding efficiency compared to the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), which is achieved by incorporating more effective and complex new coding tools. In this paper, we propose a novel fast intra mode decision algorithm for VVC, including following two strategies: (1) the correlation between the optimal modes of the adjacent blocks and the modes selected in the rough modes decision (RMD) process is analyzed and applied to reduce the modes in the candidate list; (2) modes in the candidate list are sorted in ascending order according to the modes’ cost calculated in the RMD process. An early termination method is proposed for terminating the optimal prediction mode decision process based on this new order early. These two strategies are incorporated into intra coding to reduce the coding complexity. Since these two strategies do not add any additional computational complexity, the proposed fast algorithm can achieve more complexity reduction. The experimental results show that the complexity reduction of the proposed algorithm is up to 44.74% compared to VVC reference software VTM2.0, and averagely 30.59% encoding time saving with 0.86% BDBR increase.     

结合预处理的深度视频帧内快速编码算法

多视点彩色加深度(MVD)视频是三维(3D)视频的 主流格式。在3D高效视频编码中,深度视频帧内编码 具有较高的编码复杂度;深度估计软件获取的深度视频由于不够准确会使深度图平坦 区域纹理增加, 从而进一步增加帧内编码复杂度。针对以上问题,本文提出了一种联合深度处理的深度视频 帧内低复杂度 编码算法。首先,在编码前对深度视频进行预处理,减少由于深度图不准确而出现的纹理信 息;其次,运 用反向传播神经网络(BPNN,backpropagation neural network)预测最大编码单元 (LCU,la rgest coding unit)的最大划分深度;最后联合深度视频的边缘信 息及对应的彩色LCU最大划分深度进行CU提前终止划分和快速模式选取。实验结果表明, 本文算法在保证 虚拟视点质量的前提下,BDBR下降0.33% ,深度视频编码时间平均节省50.63%。     

Unified depth intra coding for 3D video extension of HEVC

With the development of high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), the newest video coding standard, 3D video extension of HEVC (3D-HEVC) has been actively investigated. Since 3D-HEVC uses multi-view texture and depth data for input, various coding tools have been added to HEVC. In 3D-HEVC, on top of the existing 35 HEVC intra modes, eight additional modes exist, which are specifically for depth coding. In this paper, we propose a unified depth intra coding method that incorporates such depth intra modes into the regular intra mode set. In particular, the most rarely used HEVC intra modes are replaced by depth intra modes. As a result, binarization for depth intra modes is removed. Furthermore, the most probable mode selection procedure is modified to consider the elimination of several angular intra modes. The proposed method is implemented and tested on 3D video HEVC test model version 7.0. Simulation results report 2.2 % synthesis gain under all-intra configuration.     

Accelerating QTMT-based CU partition and intra mode decision for versatile video coding

The H.266/VVC achieves about 50% bitrate saving compared to its predecessor H.265/HEVC at the expense of exponentially increased computational complexity. The most efficient but complex technique for H.266/VVC intra frame coding is the QuadTree with a nested Multi-type Tree encoding structure (QTMT), which usually requires traversing the Rate-Distortion (R-D) cost of each partition and each mode for the best option. To alleviate such computational burden while preserving the coding efficiency as much as possible, this paper develops a multi-feature guided Fast CU Partition (FCP) and Laplacian guided Fast Mode Selection (FMS) to accelerate the intra QTMT decision together. For FCP, we regard the CU partition as a classification problem and adopt the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for its low-complexity implementation; after evaluating the contribution of a set of features, three representative features of video textures are selected and used to train the SVM model. Additionally, an advanced technique is applied by adopting a soft decision in SVM for a more flexible trade-off between the complexity and R-D performance. For FMS, we utilize the Laplace operator to determine the most probable directions of the current CU and skip half of the candidate modes for runtime saving. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed FCP reduces the encoding time of H.266/VVC by 51.03% with 1.65% Bjøntegaard Delta Bit-Rate (BDBR) increase; the proposed FMS reduces the encoding time by 12.68% with 0.09% BDBR loss. Their direct combination and advanced combination finally lead to 54.84% encoding time reduction with 1.74% BDBR increase and 40.39% encoding time reduction with 1.33% BDBR increase, respectively, outperforming state-of-the-art approaches significantly.     

Dynamic macroblock wavefront parallelism for parallel video coding

Wavefront parallelism is effective for parallel video encoding thanks to its merits of low latency, no quality loss and high degree of parallelism. In traditional video encoders, macroblock row wavefront (MRW) parallelism was widely adopted. However the performance of MRW is limited by workload unbalance and computing resource unbalance among multiple work threads. This paper proposes a new dynamic macroblock wavefront (DMW) parallelism to alleviate the limitations of MRW. In DMW, the available macroblocks (MBs) are scheduled to work threads MB by MB other than MB row by MB row; and after one MB is encoded by a work thread, the MB on its right (if available) has the highest priority to be scheduled to avoid synchronization delay. Experimental results demonstrate that video encoder with traditional MRW can be accelerated by more than 10% with our proposed DMW. When hyper-threading is used, the advantage of DMW is more prominent.     

Error-resilient image and video coding for wireless communicationsystems

Current techniques for coding images and video sources with resilience to channel errors can remove much of the need for complex high-redundancy channel coding and provide a graceful degradation of performance with decreasing channel quality. The main function of these error-resilient techniques is to reduce the propagation of errors within the decoded data. Two main techniques are discussed in detail: the error-resilient entropy code (EREC) and pyramid vector quantisation (PVQ). The paper concludes with a comparison of the relative merits of these systems and areas for further consideration     

Best neighborhood matching: an information loss restorationtechnique for block-based image coding systems

Imperfect transmission of block-coded images often results in lost blocks. A novel error concealment method called best neighborhood matching (BNM) is presented by using a special kind of information redundancy-blockwise similarity within the image. The proposed algorithm can utilize the information of not only neighboring pixels, but also remote regions in the image. Very good restoration results are obtained by experiments.     

Model-based image coding advanced video coding techniques for verylow bit-rate applications

The paper gives an overview of model-based approaches applied to image coding, by looking at image source models. In these model-based schemes, which are different from the various conventional waveform coding methods, the 3-D properties of the scenes are taken into consideration. They can achieve very low bit rate image transmission. The 2-D model and 3-D model based approaches are explained. Among them, a 3-D model based method using a 3-D facial model and a 2-D model based method utilizing 2-D deformable triangular patches are described. Works related to 3-D model-based coding of facial images and some of the remaining problems are also described