Dynamic search-range control algorithm for fast interframe coding in scalable video coding

Scalable video coding is the current standard as an extension of H.264/AVC to provide stable multimedia services for different service environments and end systems. Block motion estimation has been used to determine the best coding mode for each block type. This achieves a high coding efficiency but also creates a computationally complex encoding system. To reduce this complexity, we propose a novel algorithm for interframe coding based on a dynamic search-range control mechanism to provide a coarse-grain signal-to-noise ratio and spatial scalability. An efficient adaptation method is applied to control the search ranges of the motion estimation process according to block modes from the base layer, where the full motion vector search is used. We use an adaptive scheme based on the adaptive adjustment with mode information from the base layer. This scheme is also extended to the adaptive search range in the base layer. We verify that the overall encoding time can be reduced similar to 84% based on a comparative analysis of experimental results using JSVM 9.12 reference software. (C) 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3212684]