Video processing system and method with dynamic tag architecture

• US 9,357,162 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2010
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Inventors: Ruggiero, Carl J.
• Primary Examiner(s): TUCKER, WESLEY J
• Application Number:
  US12/970,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20110085079A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,993 Days
• Field of Search: 382298-308
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/144 Movement detection for video coding H04N19/503; analysis of motion in general G06T7/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/145 Movement estimation for video coding H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/46 for receiving on more than one standard at will deflecting circuits of multi-standard receivers H04N3/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/012 Conversion between an interlaced and a progressive signal for graphics images G09G2310/0229
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0135 involving interpolation processes interpolation-based image scaling G06T3/4007; interpolation for video coding H04N19/587, H04N19/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0145 the interpolation being class adaptive, i.e. it uses the information of class which is determined for a pixel based upon certain characteristics of the neighbouring pixels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/64 Circuits for processing colour signals H04N9/77 takes precedence; camera processing pipelines for processing colour signals H04N23/84

Abstract

A method of processing digital video signals, comprising: receiving input pixels to be processed; performing multiple processing operations on the input pixels, where the multiple processing operations are performed during a time interval determined in part by a desired video output rate; and performing a classification analysis at an intermediate time during the time interval, the classification analysis yielding tag data that is used to dynamically vary one or more of the multiple processing operations, and where the tag data is generated on a per-pixel basis to enable pixel by pixel variation of the multiple processing operations.

Claims

1. A method of processing digital video signals, comprising:

receiving input pixels of a current frame of a digital video signal to be processed;

performing multiple processing operations on the input pixels, where the multiple processing operations are performed during a time interval determined in part by a desired video output rate; and

performing a classification analysis at an intermediate time during the time interval, the classification analysis yielding tag data that is used to dynamically vary one or more of the multiple processing operations, and where the tag data is generated on a per-pixel basis to enable pixel by pixel variation of the multiple processing operations, and where the tag data comprises information associated with pixels of prior and subsequent frames of the digital video signal.

2. The method of claim 1, where the multiple processing operations include a deinterlacing operation.

3. The method of claim 1, where the multiple processing operations include an interpolation operation.

4. The method of claim 1, where the multiple processing operations include a color processing operation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to performance of the multiple processing operations, analyzing the input pixels to obtain source identification information associated with the input pixels, and further comprising dynamically tuning one or more of the multiple processing operations based on the source identification information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for one of the multiple processing operations:

providing a plurality of implementations of such processing operation;

using selected ones of the plurality of implementations to perform the processing operation; and

modifying the plurality of implementations and continuing to perform the processing operation after modification of the plurality of implementations.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically allocating processing time for performing pixel processing operations, where such allocation is based upon tag data associated with pixels being processed by the method.

8. The method of claim 7, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one frame of video data to another frame of video data.

9. The method of claim 7, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one portion of a frame of video data to another portion of the frame of video data.

10. The method of claim 7, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one of the multiple processing operations to another of the multiple processing operations.

11. A method of processing video data, comprising:

receiving input pixels of a current frame of a digital video signal to be processed;

performing multiple processing operations on the input pixels, where the multiple processing operations are performed during a time interval determined in part by a desired video output rate; and

repeatedly performing a classification analysis during the time interval as the input pixels are changed by the multiple processing operations, where results of the repeated analyses are used to dynamically vary one or more of the multiple processing operations, and where the results of the repeated analyses comprises information associated with pixels of prior and subsequent frames of the digital video signal.

12. The method of claim 11, where repeatedly performing a classification analysis includes repeatedly updating tag data associated with the input pixels.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising, for one of the multiple processing operations:

providing a plurality of implementations of such processing operation;

using selected ones of the plurality of implementations to perform the processing operation; and

modifying the plurality of implementations and continuing to perform the processing operation after modification of the plurality of implementations.

14. The method of claim 13, where modifying the plurality of implementations is performed based on observed usage of the plurality of implementations.

15. The method of claim 13, where modifying the plurality of implementations is performed based on observed characteristics of pixels being processed using the method.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising dynamically allocating processing time for the multiple processing operations, where such allocation is based upon tag data associated with pixels being processed by the method.

17. The method of claim 16, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one frame of video data to another frame of video data.

18. The method of claim 16, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one portion of a frame of video data to another portion of the frame of video data.

19. The method of claim 16, where dynamically allocating processing time includes performing an unequal allocation, in which processing time is allocated from one of the multiple processing operations to another of the multiple processing operations.

20. An integrated circuit, comprising:

logic circuitry instantiated in silicon, the logic circuitry being configured to;

receive input pixels from a current frame of a digital video signal to be processed;

perform multiple processing operations on the input pixels, where the multiple processing operations are performed during a time interval determined in part by a desired video output rate; and

repeatedly perform a classification analysis during the time interval as pixels are changed by the multiple processing operations, where results of the repeated analyses are used to dynamically vary one or more of the multiple processing operations, and where the results of the repeated analyses comprises information associated with pixels of prior and subsequent frames of the digital video signal.