Methods and Systems for Parallel Video Encoding and Decoding

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention are related to systems and methods for parallel video encoding and decoding.

1 . A method for encoding a video frame of a video sequence, said method comprising:
 a) in an encoder, partitioning a frame of a video sequence into at least one reconstruction slice, thereby producing a first reconstruction slice; and   b) in said encoder, partitioning said first reconstruction slice into a plurality of entropy slices, wherein the number of bins associated with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is less than a predefined number of bins.   
   
   
       2 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein the number of macroblocks associated with said first reconstruction slice is less than a predefined number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       3 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein the number of macroblocks associated with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is less than a predefined number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       4 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein the number of bits associated with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is less than a predefined number of bits. 
   
   
       5 . The method as described in  claim 4 , wherein the number of macroblocks associated with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is less than a predefined number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       6 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein said predefined number of bins is associated with a profile associated with said encoder. 
   
   
       7 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein said predefined number of bins is associated with a level conformance point associated with said encoder. 
   
   
       8 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein said predefined number of bins depends on at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of bit rate, image size and number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       9 . The method as described in  claim 1  further comprising associating an entropy-slice header with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices. 
   
   
       10 . The method as described in  claim 1  further comprising associating an entropy-slice flag with a bitstream generated using said plurality of entropy slices. 
   
   
       11 . A method for encoding a video frame of a video sequence, said method comprising:
 a) in an encoder, partitioning a frame of a video sequence into at least one reconstruction slice, thereby producing a first reconstruction slice; and   b) in said encoder, partitioning said first reconstruction slice into a plurality of entropy slices, wherein the size of each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is smaller than a predefined size, wherein said predefined size is related to at least one size measure selected from the group consisting of number of bits, number of bins and number of macroblocks.   
   
   
       12 . The method as described in  claim 11 , wherein the number of macroblocks associated with said first reconstruction slice is less than a predefined number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       13 . The method as described in  claim 11 , wherein said predefined size is associated with a profile associated with said encoder. 
   
   
       14 . The method as described in  claim 11 , wherein said predefined size is associated with a level conformance point associated with said encoder. 
   
   
       15 . The method as described in  claim 11 , wherein said predefined size depends on at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of bit rate, image size and total number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       16 . The method as described in  claim 11  further comprising associating an entropy-slice header with each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices. 
   
   
       17 . The method as described in  claim 11  further comprising associating an entropy-slice flag with a bitstream generated using said plurality of entropy slices 
   
   
       18 . A method for generating a video bitstream for parallel decoding, said method comprising:
 a) receiving, at a decoder, a first video bitstream;   b) identifying a reconstruction slice in said video bitstream;   c) entropy decoding a plurality of symbols from said reconstruction slice, thereby producing entropy-decoded data associated with said reconstruction slice;   d) partitioning said entropy-decoded data associated with said reconstruction slice into a plurality of entropy slices associated with said reconstruction slice, wherein the size of each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is smaller than a predefined size, wherein said predefined size is related to at least one size measure selected from the group consisting of number of bits, number of bins and number of macroblocks;   e) independently entropy encoding the entropy-decoded data of each entropy slice of said plurality of entropy slices, thereby producing a plurality of entropy-encoded entropy slices; and   f) generating a second video bitstream comprising said plurality of entropy-encoded entropy slices.   
   
   
       19 . A method for decoding a video bitstream, said method comprising decoding a plurality of entropy slices associated with a reconstruction slice, wherein the size of each entropy slice in said plurality of entropy slices is smaller than a predefined size, wherein said predefined size is related to at least one size measure selected from the group consisting of number of bits, number of bins and number of macroblocks. 
   
   
       20 . The method as described in  claim 19 , wherein said predefined size is associated with a profile associated with said encoder.