Journal of Internet Computing and Services (인터넷정보학회논문지)

Korean Society for Internet Information (한국인터넷정보학회)
권호 표지

A Diamond Web-grid Search Algorithm Combined with Efficient Stationary Block Skip Method for H.264/AVC Motion Estimation

H.264/AVC 움직임 추정을 위한 효율적인 정적 블록 스킵 방법과 결합된 다이아몬드 웹 격자 탐색 알고리즘

  • Received : 2009.11.12
  • Accepted : 2009.12.16
  • Published : 2010.04.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

H.264/AVC offers a better encoding efficiency than conventional video standards by adopting many new encoding techniques. However, the advanced coding techniques also add to the overall complexity for H.264/AVC encoder. Accordingly, it is necessary to perform optimization to alleviate the level of complexity for the video encoder. The amount of computation for motion estimation is of particular importance. In this paper, we propose a diamond web-grid search algorithm combined with efficient stationary block skip method which employs full diamond and dodecagon search patterns, and the variable thresholds are used for performing an effective skip of stationary blocks. The experimental results indicate that the proposed technique reduces the computations of the unsymmetrical-cross multi-hexagon-grid search algorithm by up to 12% while maintaining a similar PSNR performance.

H.264/AVC 표준은 여러 가지 신기술들을 접목시킴으로써 기존의 동영상 표준들보다 한층 개선된 부호화 효율성을 제공한다.하지만, H.264/AVC 인코더의 향상된 부호화 기술은 그것의 전반적인 복잡도를 크게 증가시켰다. 따라서, 인코더의 복잡도 수준을 경감시키기 위한 최적화의 연구는 중대한 선결 과제이다. 특히, 움직임 추정 부분에 대한 계산량의 비율은 인코더의 작업시간을 크게 좌우한다. 본 논문에서는 완전 다이아몬드와 12각형을 기본 탐색 패턴으로 사용하고 특정한 임계기준치를 적용시킴으로써 효율적으로 정적 블록들을 스킵하는 다이아몬드 웹 격자 탐색 알고리즘을 제안한다. 실험 결과는 본 논문에서 제안된 기법이 기존의 UMHexagonS 알고리즘의 계산량을 12%까지 감소시키면서도 유사한 PSNR을 유지한다는 것을 보여준다.

Keywords

References

  1. K. R. Rao, J. J Hwang, "Techniques and Standards for Image, Video and Audio Coding," Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.
  2. H. Schwarz, T. Wiegand, "The emerging JVT/H.26L video coding standard," Proc. of IBC 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sep. 2002.
  3. "Draft ITU-T Rec. and Final Draft International Standard of Joint Video Specification (ITU-T Rec. H.264-ISO/IEC 14 496-10 AVC)," Joint Video Team (JVT) of ITU-T and ISO/IEC JTC1, Geneva, JVT of ISO/IEC MPEG and ITU-T VCEG, JVT-G050r1, 2003.
  4. T. Koga, K. Iinuma, A. Hirano, Y. Iijima, T. Ishiguro, "Motion compensated interframe coding for video conferencing," Proc. Nat. Telecommun. Conf., New Orleans, LA, Nov. 29–Dec. 3 1981, pp. G5.3.1–G5.3.5.
  5. R. Li, B. Zeng, M. L. Liou, "A new three-step search algorithm for block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., Aug. 1994, vol. 4, pp. 438-442. https://doi.org/10.1109/76.313138
  6. L. M. Po, W. C. Ma, "A novel four-step search algorithm for fast block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., June. 1996, vol. 6, pp. 313-317. https://doi.org/10.1109/76.499840
  7. L. K. Liu, E. Feig, "A block-based gradient descent search algorithm for block motion estimation in video coding," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., Aug. 1996, vol. 6, pp. 419-423. https://doi.org/10.1109/76.510936
  8. J. Y. Tham, S. Ranganath, M. Ranganath, A. A. Kassim, "A novel unrestricted center-biased diamond search algorithm for block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., Aug. 1998, vol. 8, pp. 369-377. https://doi.org/10.1109/76.709403
  9. S. Zhu, K. K. Ma, "A new diamond search algorithm for fast block matching motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Image Process., Feb. 2000, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 287-290. https://doi.org/10.1109/83.821744
  10. C. Zhu, X. Lin, L. P. Chau, "Hexagon-based search pattern for fast block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., May. 2002, vol. 12, pp. 349-355. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2002.1003474
  11. C. H. Cheung, L. M. Po, "A novel cross-diamond search algorithm for fast block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., Dec. 2002, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 1168-1177. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2002.806815
  12. X. Jing, L. P. Chau, "An efficient three-step search algorithm for block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Multimedia., June. 2004, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 435-438. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMM.2004.827517
  13. C. H. Cheung, L. M. Po, "Novel cross-diamond-hexagonal search algorithms for fast block motion estimation," IEEE Trans. Multimedia., Feb. 2005, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMM.2004.840609
  14. Z. Chen, Y. He, J. Xu, "Hybrid unsymmetrical-cross multi-hexagon-grid search strategy for integer pel motion estimation in H.264," Proc. Picture Coding Symp., Saint Malo, Apr. 2003, pp. 17-22.
  15. H.264/AVC Reference Software Joint Model, Download: http://iphome.hhi.de/suehring/tml/
  16. S. Hiratsuka, S. Goto, T. Ikenaga, "A locally adaptive subsampling algorithm for software based motion estimation," Proc. of ISCAS 2005, Kobe, Japan, May. 2005, pp. 2891-2894.