Method for selecting reproduction quality of transmitted vector quantized data
First Claim
1. A method of communicating image data from a first location to a second location, comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving image data to be transmitted, and converting the image data to an input vector;
(b) defining a first codebook having a plurality N of levels of codevectors, the codevectors at each succeeding level of the first codebook representing a possible input vector with generally greater accuracy than the codevectors at a preceding level, each of the codevectors having an address associated therewith, and utilizing up to at least a selected level of the codevectors for comparison to the input vector;
(c) selecting from the selected level the codevector that most closely resembles the input vector;
(d) transmitting from the first location an indication of at least the address associated with the selected codevector; and
(e) performing the following steps at the second location;
(i) providing a second codebook having a plurality L of levels of codevectors, where L is a user selectable number between 1 and N inclusive, the codevectors of the L levels of the second codebook being substantially identical to the codevectors of a corresponding L levels of the first codebook, and identifying a selected level of the codevectors of the second codebook;
(ii) receiving the transmitted indication from the first location, obtaining the address therefrom, and placing the obtained address in a form for addressing up to the selected level of the codevectors of the second codebook;
(iii) retrieving from the second codebook the codevector residing at the obtained address to obtain a representation of the codevector selected in step (c);
(iv) employing the codevector retrieved in step (iii) to substantially re-create the image data at the second location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of communicating data from a first location to a second location employing a vector quantization data compression technique that allows users to select the reproduction quality of the transmitted vector quantized data. According to the method, data is encoded (compressed) from the last level of a first tree search vector quantization codebook at the first location. A second tree search vector quantization codebook is provided at the second location having a number of levels equal to or less than the number of levels in the first codebook. The reproduction quality of the transmitted vector quantized data is a function of the number of levels in the second codebook.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of communicating image data from a first location to a second location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving image data to be transmitted, and converting the image data to an input vector; (b) defining a first codebook having a plurality N of levels of codevectors, the codevectors at each succeeding level of the first codebook representing a possible input vector with generally greater accuracy than the codevectors at a preceding level, each of the codevectors having an address associated therewith, and utilizing up to at least a selected level of the codevectors for comparison to the input vector; (c) selecting from the selected level the codevector that most closely resembles the input vector; (d) transmitting from the first location an indication of at least the address associated with the selected codevector; and (e) performing the following steps at the second location; (i) providing a second codebook having a plurality L of levels of codevectors, where L is a user selectable number between 1 and N inclusive, the codevectors of the L levels of the second codebook being substantially identical to the codevectors of a corresponding L levels of the first codebook, and identifying a selected level of the codevectors of the second codebook; (ii) receiving the transmitted indication from the first location, obtaining the address therefrom, and placing the obtained address in a form for addressing up to the selected level of the codevectors of the second codebook; (iii) retrieving from the second codebook the codevector residing at the obtained address to obtain a representation of the codevector selected in step (c); (iv) employing the codevector retrieved in step (iii) to substantially re-create the image data at the second location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 32, 33)
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9. Method according to claim 9 wherein the re-created image data is encoded in NTSC format and retransmitted from the reception site to a plurality of cable television subscribers over the cable television distribution network.
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18. A method of communicating image data from a first location to a second location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving image data to be transmitted, and converting the image data to an input vector; (b) providing a first codebook having a plurality N of levels of codevectors, the codevectors at each succeeding level of the first codebook representing a possible input vector with generally greater accuracy than the codevectors at a preceding level, there being an address associated with each of said codevectors, the address of each of said codevectors having a length corresponding to the level at which that codevector resides such that the addresses of codevectors at a same level have a same length and the lengths increase with each successive level; (c) comparing the input vector tot he codevectors at each level of the first codebook until the Nth level has been reached and selecting from the Nth level the codevector that most closely resembles the input vector; (d) transmitting from the first location an indication of at least the address associated with the selected codevector; and (e) performing the following steps at the second location; (i) providing a second codebook having a plurality L of levels of codevectors, where L is a user selectable number between 1 and N inclusive, the codevectors of the L levels of the second codebook being substantially identical to the codevectors of a corresponding L levels of the first codebook; (ii) receiving the transmitted indication from the first location, and obtaining the address therefrom, the obtained address being capable of addressing up to an Nth level of codevectors in the second codebook; (iii) performing the following steps (1) and (2) when the number L of levels in the second codebook is less than the number N of levels in the first codebook, but preceeding to step (iv) below when the number of levels L in the second codebook is equal to the number of levels N in the first codebook; (1) truncating the obtained address for addressing only up to the Lth level of codevectors in the second codebook; and (2) retrieving from the Lth level of the second codebook the codevector residing at the truncated address to obtain a representation of the codevector selected in step (c), and proceeding to step (v); (iv) employing the obtained address in a non-truncated form to retrieve from the Lth level of the second codebook the codevector residing at the obtained address to substantially reproduce the codevector selected in step (c); (v) employing the codevector obtained in step (iii) (2) or (iv) to substantially re-create the image data at the second location. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. In a cable television system, a method of communicating image data to receiving locations of pay television signals, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving image data to be transmitted, and converting the image data to an input vector; (b) providing, in a memory located at a transmitter location of pay television signals, a first tree-search vector quantization codebook having a plurality N of levels of codevectors, the codevectors at each succeeding level of the first codebook representing possible input vectors with generally greater accuracy than the codevectors at a preceding level, there being a memory address associated with each of said codevectors, the address associated with each codevector having a length corresponding to the level at which that codevector resides such that the addresses of codevectors at a same level have a same length and the lengths of the addresses increase with each successive level; (c) comparing the input vector to the codevectors at each level of the first codebook until the Nth level is reached, and selecting from the Nth level the codevector that most closely resembles the input vector; (d) transmitting an indication of at least the address associated with the selected codevector to the receiving locations of the pay television signals; and (e) performing the following additional steps at each receiving location; (i) providing, in a memory at each receiving location, a second tree search vector quantization codebook having a plurality L of levels of codevectors, where L is a user selectable number between 1 and N inclusive, the codevectors of the L levels of the second codebook corresponding to th codevectors of the first L levels of the first codebook on a one to one basis, each of the codevectors of the second codebook being substantially identical to the corresponding codevector of the first codebook; (ii) receiving the transmitted indication at each receiving location, obtaining the address therefrom, the obtained address being capable of addressing up to an Nth level of codevectors; (iii) performing the following steps (1) and (2) when the number L of levels in the second codebook is less than the number N of levels in the first codebook, but proceeding to step (iv) below when the number L of levels in the second codebook is equal to the number N of levels in the first codebook; (1) truncating the obtained address for addressing only up to the Lth level of codevectors in the second codebook; and (2) retrieving from the Lth level of the second codebook the codevector residing at the truncated address to obtain a representation of the codevector selected in step (c), and proceeding to step (v); (iv) employing the obtained address in a non-truncated form to retrieve from the Lth level of the second codebook the codevector residing at the obtained address to substantially reproduce the codevector selected in step (c); (v) employing the codevector obtained in step (iii)(2) or (iv) to substantially re-create the image data at the second location, the re-created image data having an accuracy that is a function of the number L of levels in the second codebook, the re-created image data being most accurate when L is equal to N. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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34. A pay television system for transmitting data indicative of temporally spaced image frames representing moving pictures to a plurality of receivers of pay television signals, wherein each image frame comprises a plurality of blocks of image data, the pay television system comprising:
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a transmitter of pay television signals comprising; a means for receiving the blocks of image data to be transmitted, and for converting each block of image data to an input vector; a vector quantization encoder employing a first tree search codebook having N levels of codevectors, each codevector representing a possible input vector and having an address associated therewith, the encoder comparing each input vector to the codevectors of the first codebook and selecting for each input vector the codevector that most closely resembles the input vector; and a means for transmitting indications of at least the addresses of the selected codevectors; each of the plurality of pay television receivers comprising; a means for receiving each of the indications transmitted from the transmitter of pay television signals and for each indication obtaining the address therefrom; a vector quantization decoder employing a second tree search codebook having L levels of codevectors, where L is a subscriber selectable number between 1 and N inclusive, the codevectors of the L levels of the second codebook being substantially identical to the codevectors of a corresponding first L levels of the first codebook, the decoder placing the obtained addresses in a form for addressing up to the Lth level of codevectors in the second codebook and obtaining a representation of the codevectors selected at the transmitter by retrieving from the second codebook the codevectors residing at the obtained addresses, different ones of the receivers having a different number of levels L in their respective codebooks; and means for employing the retrieved codevectors to substantially re-create the blocks of image data for display on a television set at a locale of the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification