Data transformation for explicit transmission of control information

• US 6,539,517 B1
• Filed: 11/09/1999
• Issued: 03/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Carrig, James J., Kondo, Tetsujiro, Fujimori, Yasuhiro, Carey, William Knox
• Primary Examiner(s): Decady, Albert
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAMARRE, GUY J
• Application Number:
  US09/437,175
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: 714/787, 714/761, 714/788, 714/762, 714/789, 714/764, 714/820, 714/779, 714/821, 382/239, 382/255, 341/63, 341/87
• US Class Current: 714/787
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/88 involving rearrangement of data among different coding units, e.g. shuffling, interleaving, scrambling or permutation of pixel data or permutation of transform coefficient data among different blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/89 involving methods or arrangements for detection of transmission errors at the decoder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/895 in combination with error concealment
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/98 Adaptive-dynamic-range coding [ADRC]

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for explicitly transmitting a block attribute in the data of a block. In one embodiment, a current block of data is randomized in accordance with an ID value from the current block and from at least one temporally adjacent block of data. The ID of the current block is selected such that when combined with determined bits of the data results in the value of the block attribute. During a decoding process, the block attribute is retrieved by accessing the determined bits of the data. In one embodiment, the data is then decoded by generating possible candidate decodings and evaluating the candidate decodings based upon confidence metrics.

Claims

1. A method of variable length encoding of correlated data, comprising:

selecting a block length based on data points within an original block;

selecting one of a set of transformations; and

applying the selected transformation to data points of the block to generate a transformed block;

wherein the selecting of the transformation occurs such that an intermediate set of bits within the block are transformed to a value representing the block length.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising encoding the original block of data points into an intermediate block;

said applying applied to data points of the intermediate block.

3. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transforms the intermediate set of bits into possible block length representations within the encoded set of bits; and

the selecting of the transformation comprises selecting one that transforms values of the intermediate set of bits into values representative of the block length.

4. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the encoding of the original block into the intermediate block comprises adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) encoding.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

modifying a seed value based on based on a current value of the intermediate set of bits; and

generating the selected transformation based on the seed value.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the applying of the selected transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit-wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the selected transformation.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selected transformation corresponds to a pseudo random sequence.

8. A method of decoding variable length correlated data, comprising:

determining a block length based on an encoded set of bits within an encoded bit stream;

extracting an encoded block from the encoded bit stream based on the determined block length;

applying each of a set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks; and

selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transform an intermediate set of bits into a possible block length representation within the encoded set of bits; and

the selecting of the candidate block comprises selecting the candidate block having a highest correlation measure within itself.

10. The method as set forth in claim 8, further comprising decoding candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

11. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the applying of the transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the transformation.

12. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the set of transformations correspond to a set of pseudo random sequences.

13. A method of decoding variable length correlated data, comprising:

selecting a plurality of block lengths based on a plurality of encoded sets of bits within a bit stream;

extracting a plurality of encoded blocks from the encoded bit stream based on the plurality of block lengths;

for each of the plurality of blocks, modifying a seed value into a set of potential seed values based on possible values of an intermediate set of bits of the block, generating a set of transformations based on the set of potential seed values, applying the set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks, selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure over the plurality of blocks, and selecting one of the potential seed values as a subsequent seed value for subsequent blocks based on the correlation measure.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, further comprising decoding candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

15. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the applying of the transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the transformation.

16. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the set of transformations corresponds to a set of pseudo random sequences.

17. An apparatus configure to perform variable length encoding of correlated data, comprising:

an encoder configured to select a block length based on data points within an original block, select one of a set of transformations and apply the selected transformation to data points of the block to generate a transformed block;

wherein an intermediate set of bits within the block are transformed to a value representing the block length.

18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the encoder is further configured to encode the original block of data points into an intermediate block;

wherein the selected transformation is applied to data points of the intermediate block.

19. The apparatus as set forth in claim 18, wherein the encoder encodes the original block into the intermediate block using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) encoding.

20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the encoder is configured to perform a selected transformation to the intermediate block by performing a bit-wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the selected transformation.

21. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transforms the intermediate set of bits into possible block length representations within the encoded set of bits; and

the encoder is configured to select one that transforms values of the intermediate set of bits into values representative of the block length.

22. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the encoder is further configured to modify a seed value based on based on a current value of the intermediate set of bits and generate the selected transformation based on the seed value.

23. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the selected transformation corresponds to a pseudo random sequence.

24. An apparatus configured to decode variable length correlated data, comprising:

an extractor configured to determine a block length based on an encoded set of bits within an encoded bit stream;

a reverse transformer configured to retrieve an encoded block from the encoded bit stream based on the determined block length, apply each of a set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks and select one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure.

25. The apparatus as set forth in claim 24, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transform an intermediate set of bits into a possible block length representation within the encoded set of bits; and

the reverse transformer selects the candidate block having a highest correlation measure within itself.

26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25, further comprising decoding candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

27. A decoder configured to decode variable length correlated data, the decoder configured to:

select a plurality of block lengths based on a plurality of encoded sets of bits within a bit stream;

extract a plurality of encoded blocks from the encoded bit stream based on the plurality of block lengths; and

for each of the plurality of blocks, modify a seed value into a set of potential seed values based on possible values of an intermediate set of bits of the block, generate a set of transformations based on the set of potential seed values, apply the set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks, select one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure over the plurality of blocks, and select one of the potential seed values as a subsequent seed value for subsequent blocks based on the correlation measure.

28. The method as set forth in claim 27, wherein the decoder is further configured to decode candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

29. The apparatus as set forth in claim 27, wherein the applying of the transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the transformation.

30. The apparatus as set forth in claim 27, wherein the set of transformations corresponds to a set of pseudo random sequences.

31. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processor perform variable length encoding of correlated data, comprising:

selecting a block length based on data points within an original block;

selecting one of a set of transformations; and

applying the selected transformation to data points of the block to generate a transformed block;

wherein the selecting of the transformation occurs such that an intermediate set of bits within the block are transformed to a value representing the block length.

32. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 31, further comprising instructions which when executed by a processor encode the original block of data points into an intermediate block;

said applying applied to data points of the intermediate block.

33. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 32, wherein the encoding of the original block into the intermediate block comprises adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) encoding.

34. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 31, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transforms the intermediate set of bits into possible block length representations within the encoded set of bits; and

the selecting of the transformation comprises selecting one that transforms values of the intermediate set of bits into values representative of the block length.

35. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 31, further comprising instructions which when executed by a processor perform the steps of:

modifying a seed value based on based on a current value of the intermediate set of bits; and

generating the selected transformation based on the seed value.

36. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 31, wherein the applying of the selected transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit-wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the selected transformation.

37. The method as set forth in claim 31, wherein the selected transformation corresponds to a pseudo random sequence.

38. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processor of decode variable length correlated data, comprising the steps of:

determining a block length based on an encoded set of bits within an encoded bit stream;

extracting an encoded block from the encoded bit stream based on the determined block length;

applying each of a set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks; and

selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure.

39. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 38, wherein:

the set of transformations comprises transformations that transform an intermediate set of bits into a possible block length representation within the encoded set of bits; and

the selecting of the candidate block comprises selecting the candidate block having a highest correlation measure within itself.

40. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 38, further comprising decoding candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

41. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 38, wherein the applying of the transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the transformation.

42. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 38, wherein the set of transformations correspond to a set of pseudo random sequences.

43. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processor decode variable length correlated data, comprising the steps of:

selecting a plurality of block lengths based on a plurality of encoded sets of bits within a bit stream;

extracting a plurality of encoded blocks from the encoded bit stream based on the plurality of block lengths;

for each of the plurality of blocks, modifying a seed value into a set of potential seed values based on possible values of an intermediate set of bits of the block, generating a set of transformations based on the set of potential seed values, applying the set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks, selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure over the plurality of blocks, and selecting one of the potential seed values as a subsequent seed value for subsequent blocks based on the correlation measure.

44. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 43, further comprising instructions which when executed decode candidate blocks using adaptive dynamic range coding (ADRC) decoding.

45. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 43, wherein the applying of the transformation to the intermediate block comprises a bit wise exclusive OR of the intermediate block with a sequence of bits corresponding to the transformation.

46. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 43, wherein the set of transformations corresponds to a set of pseudo random sequences.

47. An apparatus for variable length encoding of correlated data, comprising:

means for selecting a block length based on data points within an original block;

means for selecting one of a set of transformations; and

means for applying the selected transformation to data points of the block to generate a transformed block;

wherein the selecting of the transformation occurs such that an intermediate set of bits within the block are transformed to a value representing the block length.

48. The apparatus as set forth in claim 47, wherein the means for applying the selected transformation comprises means for applying a bit-wise exclusive OR using a sequence of bits corresponding to the selected transformation.

49. An apparatus for decoding variable length correlated data, comprising:

means for determining a block length based on an encoded set of bits within an encoded bit stream;

means for extracting an encoded block from the encoded bit stream based on the determined block length;

means for applying each of a set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks; and

means for selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure.

50. An apparatus for decoding variable length correlated data, comprising:

means for selecting a plurality of block lengths based on a plurality of encoded sets of bits within a bit stream;

means for extracting a plurality of encoded blocks from the encoded bit stream based on the plurality of block lengths;

for each of the plurality of blocks, means for modifying a seed value into a set of potential seed values based on possible values of an intermediate set of bits of the block, means for generating a set of transformations based on the set of potential seed values, means for applying the set of transformations to the encoded block to generate a set of candidate blocks, means for selecting one of the candidate blocks as a decoded block based on a correlation measure over the plurality of blocks, and means for selecting one of the potential seed values as a subsequent seed value for subsequent blocks based on the correlation measure.