Digital video formatting and transmission system and method

• US 4,918,523 A
• Filed: 10/05/1987
• Issued: 04/17/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation, RCA Corporation, Rica Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Wan, Suz H., Keith, John M., Simon, Allen H., Golin, Stuart J., Astle, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Coles, Sr., Edward L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kostak, Victor R.
• Application Number:
  US07/104,456
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 358/133, 358/141, 358/12, 358/13, 358/135, 382/56, 364/518, 340/723, 340/728
• US Class Current: 375/240.23
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 11/042 Codec means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/00 Methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/503 involving temporal prediction adaptive coding with adaptive selection between spatial and temporal predictive coding H04N19/107; adaptive coding with adaptive selection among a plurality of temporal predictive coding modes H04N19/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9206 the additional signal being a character code signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9261 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/24 Systems for the transmission of television signals using pulse code modulation H04N21/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8066 with insertion of the PCM audio signals in the vertical blanking interval of the PCM video signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8216 using time division multiplex

Abstract

A full motion color digital video signal is compressed, formatted for transmission, recorded on compact disc media and decoded at conventional video frame rates. During compression, regions of a frame are individually analyzed to select optimum fill coding methods specific to each region. Region decoding time estimates are made to optimize compression thresholds. Region descriptive codes conveying the size and locations of the regions are grouped together in a first segment of a data stream. Region fill codes conveying pixel amplitude indications for the regions are grouped together according to fill code type and placed in other segments of the data stream. The data stream segments are individually variable length coded according to their respective statistical distributions and formatted to form data frames. The number of bytes per frame is dithered by the addition of auxiliary data determined by a reverse frame sequence analysis to provide an average number selected to minimize pauses of the compact disc during playback thereby avoiding unpredictable seek mode latency periods characteristic of compact discs. A decoder includes a variable length decoder responsive to statistical information in the code stream for separately variable length decoding individual segments of the data stream. Region location data is derived from region descriptive data and applied with region fill codes to a plurality of regions specific decoders selected by detection of the fill code type (e.g., relative, absolute, dyad and DPCM) and decoded region pixels are stored in a bit map for subsequent display.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a compressed digital video signal, each frame of said signal comprising a plurality of coded regions, each said region being represented by a region descriptive code and a region fill code, said region descriptive codes conveying the size and locations of said regions within said frame, said region fill codes conveying pixel amplitude indications for said regions, said method comprising:

forming a group of said region descriptive codes;

forming a group of said region fill codes;

forming a data stream having a segment containing said grouped region specific codes and a separate data segment containing said grouped region fill codes;

separately variable length coding said groups of codes in accordance with their respective statistical distributions; and

transmitting said data stream.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

generating a code set descriptive of the statistical distributions of said variable length coded region descriptive codes and a further code set descriptive of the statistical distribution of said variable length coded region fill codes; and

adding a further segment to said data stream including said code sets.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of variable length coding said further segment of said data stream.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said segments of said data stream are ordered such that the segment containing said region descriptive codes is followed by the segment containing said region fill codes.

5. A method for transmitting a compressed digital video signal, each frame of said signal comprising a plurality of coded regions, each said region being represented by a region descriptive code and a region fill code, said region descriptive codes conveying the size and location of said regions within said frame, said region fill codes conveying pixel amplitude indications for said regions, said method comprising:

forming a group of said region descriptive codes;

forming a group of said region fill codes;

forming a data stream having a segment containing said grouped region descriptive codes and a separate data segment containing said grouped region fill codes; and

transmitting said data stream by recording said stream on media selected from the group comprising magnetic type, magnetic disc, and optical disc media.

6. A method for transmitting a compressed digital video signal, each frame of said signal comprising a plurality of coded regions, each said region being represented by a region descriptive code and a region fill code, said region descriptive codes conveying the size and location of said regions within said frame, said region fill codes conveying pixel amplitude indications for said regions, said method comprising:

forming a group of said region descriptive codes;

forming a group of said region fill codes;

forming a data stream having a segment containing said grouped region descriptive codes and a separate data segment containing said grouped region fill codes, wherein said data stream comprises a number of bytes of digital data, said bytes varying from frame-to-frame;

adding further data to selected frames in reverse order from the last frame of a sequence to the first; and

transmitting said data stream.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein said further data is added in amounts sufficient to provide an average number of bytes per frame by dithering the total number of bytes per frame between first and second integer values.

8. Transmission apparatus for reformatting a digital motion video signal of a type in which each frame thereof is compressed and represented by a number of bytes which may vary from frame-to-frame, comprising:

means for counting the number of bytes for each frame;

means responsive to said count for dithering the number of bytes per frame to provide a output signal having solely integer numbers of bytes per frame and in which the average number of bytes per frame over a sequence of frames equals a predetermined average value having both integer and fractional number of bytes per frame, and

means for transmitting said dithered output signal.

9. A method for transmitting a sequence of compressed digital video frames representative of a motion video sequence of said frames comprising:

storing said frames in the order they are compressed;

recovering the stored frames in reverse order;

modifying a parameter of the recovered reverse frames; and

,

transmitting said recovered and modified frames.

10. A method as recited in claim 9 wherein said transmitting step comprises recording said recovered and modified frames on a storage media.

11. Apparatus for transmitting a region specific coded compressed frame of video data, said data comprising header data, variable length coded absolute fill data, variable length coded DPCM fill data, variable length coded region descriptive data and variable length code data associated with said region fill data and region descriptive data;

said apparatus comprising;

means for generating a data stream having a first block of data including said header data, a second block of data including said variable length code data, a third block of data including said region descriptive data generated for an entire frame, a fourth block of data including said absolute fill data generated for an entire frame, and a fifth block of data including said DPCM fill data generated for an entire frame; and

means for transmitting said data.

12. Apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said generating means provides said blocks of data in a sequence according to the ordinal numbering of said blocks.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said means for transmitting said data includes means for recording said data on a compact disc.

14. A method for transmitting a compressed digital video signal having a variable number of bytes per frame, comprising:

adding further digital data to selected frames of said compressed digital video signal;

varying the amount of said further data added to said selected frames to provide an average frame rate having integer and fractional parts and in which the number of bytes per frame is dithered between first and second integer numbers of bytes; and

transmitting said frames.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein said further data is added to said selected frames in reverse order from the last to the first and said frames are transmitted in an original order from first to last.

16. A method of transmitting color video data comprising:

separating said color video data into a luminance Y, and two chrominance, I.Q. components;

independently region specific encoding said Y, I and Q components on a frame-by-frame basis to generate subframes of encoded Y, I and Q data;

independently variable length encoding each of said Y, I and Q subframes;

appending data descriptive of variable length codes to the corresponding subframes, said data descriptive of variable length codes defining respective code sets implemented in said variable length encoding;

concatenating said variable length encoded and appended subframes to form an encoded video frame, F1;

appending digital audio data to said encoded video frame F1, to form a frame, F2;

appending header data, including byte counts of the encoded subframes data and appended digital audio data, to said frame F2 to form a frame F3;

appending auxiliary data or padding to said frame F3, to form a logical frame having a predetermined number of bytes;

concatenating logical frames to form a comprehended video data stream;

appending a header to said data stream, said header including data identifying ones of said logical frames; and

transmitting said data stream.