Apparatus for assisting video compression in a computer system

• US 7,280,162 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2006
• Issued: 10/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Klein, Dean A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Trang U.
• Application Number:
  US11/333,786
• Publication Number:
  US 20060176950A1
• Time in Patent Office: 630 Days
• Field of Search: 348/718, 348716-717, 348/567, 348/568, 348/412.1, 348/415.1, 348/430.1, 348/552, 375/240.12, 709/203
• US Class Current: 348/718
• 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 19/50 using predictive coding H04N19/61 takes precedence

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus that facilitates compression of video data in a computer system by performing the time-consuming task of computing the difference between successive frames of video data. Thus, one embodiment of the present invention can be characterized as an apparatus for compressing video data. This apparatus includes a video input port, for receiving video data for a current video frame, and a video input buffer, for storing video data from the video input port. The apparatus additionally includes a previous frame buffer, for storing at least a portion of a previous video frame, as well as an operation unit, for performing an operation between video data from the video input buffer and video data from the previous frame buffer. The embodiment also includes a result buffer coupled to the operation unit, for storing the result of an operation from the operation unit.

Claims

1. An apparatus for assisting in compressing video data in

a computer system including a central processing unit and a system memory, comprising:

a video input port configured to electrically couple to a video unit for receiving video data for a current video frame from streaming video data;

a video input buffer coupled to the video input port for storing the video data from the video input port;

a previous frame buffer for storing at least a portion of a previous video frame;

an operation unit coupled to the video input buffer and the previous frame buffer for computing a difference frame from data from the video input buffer and data from the previous frame buffer; and

a result buffer coupled to the operation unit, the result buffer further including a memory interface configured to couple with the system memory via a first bus independent of a second bus configured for coupling with the central processing unit via a north bridge chip, the result buffer for temporarily buffering the difference frame prior to storing the difference frame in the system memory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a memory port coupled to the previous frame buffer and the result buffer.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the system memory couples to the memory port, the system memory partitioned into a current frame area and a difference frame area.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the memory stores a current video frame and a previous video frame in the same location in the system memory, allowing the current video frame to be written over the previous video frame.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the system memory also stores instructions and data for the central processing unit of the computer system.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operation unit performs an exclusive-OR operation between data from the video input buffer and data from the previous frame buffer.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operation unit is configured to perform an operation between a block of data from the video input port and a block of data from the previous frame buffer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, including additional resources within the apparatus for compressing the video data from the video input port.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further configured to operate within the north bridge chip of the computer system to enable the central processing unit to retrieve the difference frame exclusive of the second bus and directly from the system memory via the north bridge chip for further compression of the video data by the central processing unit.