Multiple format video compression

• US 7,085,320 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2001
• Issued: 08/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Micronas Gmbh (TDK Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WIS Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Ouyang, He, Sha, Li, Xiang, Shuhua, Luo, Yaojun, Zeng, Weimin, Ding, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): PHILIPPE, GIMS S
• Application Number:
  US09/953,053
• Publication Number:
  US 20050226324A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,782 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240.12, 375/240.2, 375/240.24, 375/240.18, 375/240.01, 375/240.02, 341 50- 52, 341/56, 341/62, 341/65, 341/67, 341/66, 707/200, 707/203, 348/441, 348/445
• US Class Current: 375/240.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/12 Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01

Abstract

A video compression scheme enables the user to select one of many video compression formats, including the widely-used standard video formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and H.263. In one embodiment, the scheme is implemented as a hardware-software combination, with the hardware portion, preferably implemented as an ASIC chip, performing the core compression and the software portion dealing with the detailed formatting. In another embodiment, a 32-bit aligned transitional data format is used.

Claims

1. A method for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the method comprising:

receiving video data;

performing core compression on the video data received, the core compression including a core compression substep required by multiple formats of video compression; and

encoding the video data that is core-compressed to produce a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data received is a CCIR 601 bit stream.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data received is a CCIR 656 bit stream.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data received is in a YUV 4:

2;

2 interlace bit stream.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-1 format.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-2 format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-4 format.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple video formats includes the H.263 format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein performing core compression on the video data received comprises:

performing motion estimation and compensation processing on the video data received;

performing discrete cosine transformation on the video data compensated; and

quantizing the video data transformed.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein performing core compression on the video data received further comprises:

preserving in the video data that is core-compressed said information included in the transitional data stream.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the transitional data stream comprises:

a plurality of 32-bit aligned macro block packets.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the transitional data stream to a host device; and

in the host device, transcoding the transitional data stream into the output video stream.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the host device is a personal computer.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the host device is a mobile phone.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the host device is a IP based remote video surveillance system.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the host device is a video capture box for time shifting purposes.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the transitional data stream to the host device further comprises:

responsive to a data bus becoming available, transmitting the transitional data stream to a driver interface along the data bus, the data bus being communicatively coupled to the host device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

the driver interface receiving the transmitted transitional data stream;

storing the transitional data stream received by the driver interface in a buffer; and

responsive to the transitional data stream forming a complete frame pack in the buffer, transmitting the frame pack to a transcoder.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein transcoding the transitional data stream into the output video stream comprises:

decoding the transitional data stream into the video data that is core-compressed; and

encoding the video data that is decoded into the output video stream.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the transitional data stream.

21. A system for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the system comprising:

a core compression processor for receiving input video data and performing core compression on the input video data received, the core compression including a core compression substep required by multiple formats of video compression; and

an encoder, communicatively coupled to the core compression processor, for encoding the video data that is core-compressed to produce a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a streaming controller, communicatively coupled to the encoder, for transmitting the transitional data stream to a host device; and

a transcoder, communicatively coupled to the streaming controller and adapted to transcode the transitional data stream into the output video stream.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the core compression processor, the encoder and the streaming controller are integrated in an ASIC.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the transcoder comprises a general purpose computing platform running a transcoding computer program product.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the streaming controller further comprises:

a driver interface, communicatively coupled to the encoder and to the transcoder, for transmitting the transitional data stream from the encoder to the transcoder.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the streaming controller further comprises:

a memory device, communicatively coupled to the driver interface, for buffering the transitional data stream received by the driver interface.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the driver interface transmits the transitional data stream from the memory device to the transcoder in response to the transitional data stream buffered in the memory device representing a complete frame pack.

28. A system for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the system comprising:

means for receiving input video data;

coupled to the means for receiving, means for performing core compression on the video data received, the core compression including a core compression substep required by multiple formats of video compression; and

means for encoding the video data that is core-compressed to produce a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

means for transmitting the transitional data stream to a host device; and

means for transcoding the transitional data stream into a video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats.

30. A method for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the method comprising:

receiving a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats;

decoding the transitional data stream received to produce compressed video data; and

encoding the compressed video data to generate the output video stream.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-1 format.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-2 format.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the multiple video formats includes the MPEG-4 format.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the multiple video formats includes the H.263 format.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein the transitional data stream comprises:

a plurality of 32-bit aligned macro block packets.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein decoding the transitional data stream received to produce compressed video data further comprises:

preserving in the compressed video data the information in the transitional data stream.

37. A system for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the system comprising:

a driver interface for receiving a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats;

a decoder, communicatively coupled to the driver interface, for decoding the transitional data stream received to produce compressed video data; and

a multiple-format encoder, communicatively coupled with the decoder, for encoding the compressed video data to generate the output video stream.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

a memory device, communicatively coupled to the driver interface, for buffering the transitional data stream received by the driver interface.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the driver interface transmits the transitional data stream from the memory device to a transcoder in response to the transitional data stream buffered in the memory device representing a complete frame pack.

40. A system for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the method comprising:

means for receiving a transitional data stream, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of a plurality of video formats;

means for decoding the transitional data stream received to produce compressed video data; and

means for encoding the compressed video data to generate the output video streams.

41. A computer program product for performing compression of video data according to multiple video formats, the program product comprising:

a computer usable medium;

program codes for decoding a transitional data stream received at a driver interface to produce compressed video data, the transitional data stream preserving substantial raw information associated with the video data and ready to be transcoded into an output video stream compatible with any one of the multiple video formats;

program codes for utilizing the information included in the compressed video data to encode the compressed video data into one or more video streams compatible with the multiple video formats.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, further comprising:

program codes for buffering the transitional data stream received by the driver interface in a memory device communicatively coupled to the driver interface; and

program codes for transmitting the transitional data stream from the memory device to the transcoder in response to the transitional data stream buffered in the memory device representing a complete frame pack.

43. A video processing system, comprising:

a core compressor, the core compressor capable of performing a core compression substep required by multiple formats of video compression;

coupled to the core compressor, a streaming controller; and

coupled to the streaming controller, a video stream transcoder.

44. The video processing system of claim 43, wherein the core compressor comprises:

a core compression processor; and

coupled to the core compression processor, an encoder.

45. The video processing system of claim 43, wherein the video stream transcoder comprises:

a decoder; and

coupled to the decoder, a multiple-format encoder.