Method for detecting motion vectors for use in a segmentation-based coding system

• US 5,686,973 A
• Filed: 12/28/1995
• Issued: 11/11/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wi-LAN Inc.
• Original Assignee: Daewoo Electronics (Government of South Korea)
• Inventors: Lee, Min-Sup
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, RICHARD J
• Application Number:
  US08/580,238
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 348/384, 348/390, 348/400-402, 348/407, 348/409-416, 348/420, 348/699, 348/26, 382/232, 382/236, 382/238, 382/266
• US Class Current: 348/699
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/20 using video object coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/543 using regions

Abstract

A method, for use in a segmentation-based coding system, for detecting motion vectors between a current frame and a previous frame of digital video signal comprises the steps of (a) generating segmentation data for each of the segmented regions, the segmentation data including contour information representing the shape and location for each segmented region and texture information representing a mean gray level of all pixels contained in each segmented region, (b) generating candidate segmentation data for each of the candidate regions, (c) producing a minimum-sized predetermined geometric pattern for encompassing a segmented region, (d) producing a minimum-sized predetermined geometric pattern for encompassing each of the candidate regions, (e) calculating an error value between the segmented region and each of the candidate regions, (f) selecting a candidate region yielding a smallest error value as a search region, (g) detecting one or more motion vectors between the segmented region and the search region; and (h) repeating said steps (c) to (g) for all the segmented regions.

Claims

1. A method, for use in a segmentation-based coding system, for detecting motion vectors between a current frame and a previous frame of a digital video signal, wherein the current frame includes a plurality of segmented regions and the previous frame includes a multiplicity of candidate regions, which comprises the steps of:

(a) generating segmentation data for each of the segmented regions, the segmentation data including contour information representing the shape and location for each segmented region and texture information representing a mean gray level of all pixels contained in each segmented region;

(b) generating candidate segmentation data for each of the candidate regions, the candidate segmentation data including contour information representing the shape and location for each candidate region and texture information representing a mean gray level of all pixels contained in each candidate region;

(c) producing a minimum-sized predetermined geometric pattern for enveloping a segmented region to thereby generate size information thereof;

(d) producing a minimum-sized predetermined geometric pattern for enveloping each of the candidate regions to thereby generate size information thereof;

(e) calculating an error value between the segmented region and each of the candidate regions based on the segmentation data and the size information for the segmented region and each of the candidate regions, thereby providing a set of error values for the segmented region;

(f) selecting a candidate region yielding a smallest error value in the set of error values as a search region having a closest similarity to the segmented region;

(g) detecting one or more motion vectors between the segmented region and the search region; and

(h) repeating said steps (c) to (g) for all the segmented regions.