Method and apparatus for estimating and compensating spatiotemporal motion image

Abstract

A method of estimating and compensating for motion in image decoding are provided. The method involves determining a reference block of a reference frame indicated by a motion vector of a current block of a current frame being decoded, and generating a spatiotemporal estimation block of the current block by using the current frame and the reference frame, when some pixels of the reference block are outside the reference frame.

1 . A method of estimating and compensating for motion in image decoding, the method comprising:
 determining a reference block of a reference frame indicated by a motion vector of a current block of a current frame being decoded; and   generating a spatiotemporal estimation block of the current block by using the current frame and the reference frame, when some pixels of the reference block are outside the reference frame.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the generating of the spatiotemporal estimation block comprises:
 determining the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block; and   generating an estimation region of the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block by using at least one of pixel values of neighboring blocks of the current block, and pixel values of an estimation region of the first block region.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the generating of the spatiotemporal estimation block comprises:
 determining pixels of neighboring blocks of the current block and pixels surrounding the second block region to be a search pattern region, wherein the neighboring blocks are from among regions reconstructed prior to the current block, and the pixels surrounding the second block region are part of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block, when the spatiotemporal estimation block is allocated to the current block;   searching for an outside estimation region surrounded by a similar pattern region having a minimum difference compared with the search pattern region in the regions reconstructed prior to the current block; and   determining the outside estimation region to be an estimation region of the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the searching for the outside estimation region comprises searching for the similar pattern region having a same form as the search pattern region in the regions reconstructed prior to the current block, and having a minimum SAD (Sum of Absolute Differences) between pixel values of the search pattern region and pixel values of the similar pattern region. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining of the estimation region of the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block comprises:
 selecting at least one of a pixel line of the neighboring blocks of the current block and a pixel line surrounding the second block region, wherein the pixel line surrounding the second block region is a part of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block, when the spatiotemporal estimation block is allocated to the current block; and   determining pixels of the selected pixel line to be estimation pixels related to pixels of the second block region located either vertically or diagonally to the selected pixel line.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining of the estimation region of the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block comprises determining an average value between pixel values of the neighboring blocks of the current block and pixel values surrounding the second block region to be an estimation pixel value of the second block region, wherein the pixel values surrounding the second block region are a part of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block, when the spatiotemporal estimation block is allocated to the current block. 
     
     
         7 . A method of estimating and compensating for motion in image encoding, the method comprising:
 searching for a reference block having a minimum difference compared with a current block in a reference frame, calculating a motion vector, and thereby performing motion estimation;   generating an estimation block for the current block by using a current frame and the reference frame, when some pixels of the reference block are outside the reference frame; and   encoding an image by using the estimation block and the motion vector.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the generating of the estimation block comprises:
 determining the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the estimation block; and   generating an estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block by using at least one of pixels of neighboring blocks of the current block and pixels of an estimation region of the first block region.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the generating of the estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block comprises:
 determining the pixels of the neighboring blocks of the current block and pixels surrounding the second block region to be a search pattern region, wherein the neighboring blocks are from among regions reconstructed prior to the current block, and the pixels surrounding the second block region are part of the first block region of the estimation block, when the estimation block is allocated to the current block;   searching for an outside estimation region surrounded by a similar pattern region having a minimum difference compared with the search pattern region in the regions reconstructed prior to the current block; and   determining the outside estimation region to be an estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the searching for the outside estimation region comprises:
 searching for the similar pattern region having a same form as the search pattern region in the regions reconstructed prior to the current block, and   having a minimum SAD between pixel values of the search pattern region and pixel values of the similar pattern region.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the generating of the estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block comprises:
 selecting at least one of a pixel line of the neighboring blocks of the current block and a pixel line surrounding the second block region, wherein the pixel line surrounding the second block region is a part of the first block region of the estimation block, when the estimation block is allocated to the current block; and   determining pixels of the selected pixel line to be estimation pixels related to pixels of the second block region located either vertically or diagonally to the selected pixel line.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the generating of the estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block comprises determining an average value between pixel values of the neighboring blocks of the current block and pixel values surrounding the second block region to be an estimation pixel value of the second block region, wherein the pixel values surrounding the second block region are a part of the first block region of the estimation block, when the estimation block is allocated to the current block. 
     
     
         13 . A motion estimation and compensation apparatus in image decoding, the motion estimation and compensation apparatus comprising:
 a reference block determining unit which determines a reference block of a reference frame for a current block of a current frame being decoded; and   a spatiotemporal estimation block generation unit which generates a spatiotemporal estimation block of the current block by using the current frame and the reference frame, when some pixels of the reference block are outside the reference frame.   
     
     
         14 . The motion estimation and compensation apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the spatiotemporal estimation block generation unit comprises:
 a first block region determination unit which determines the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block; and   a second block region determination unit which determines pixels of neighboring blocks of the current block and pixels surrounding the second block region to be a search pattern region, wherein the pixels surrounding the second block region are part of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block, and determines a region corresponding to the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block in the current frame by using the determined search pattern region, when the spatiotemporal estimation block is allocated to the current block.   
     
     
         15 . The motion estimation and compensation apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the spatiotemporal estimation block generation unit comprises:
 a first block region determination unit which determines the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block; and   a second block region determination unit which selects at least one of a pixel line of neighboring blocks of the current block and a pixel line surrounding the second block region, wherein the pixel line surrounding the second block region is a part of the first block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block, and determines an estimation region of the second block region of the spatiotemporal estimation block in the current frame by using the selected pixel line, when the spatiotemporal estimation block is allocated to the current block.   
     
     
         16 . A motion estimation and compensation apparatus in image encoding, the motion estimation and compensation apparatus comprising:
 a motion estimation performing unit which searches for a reference block having a minimum difference compared with a current block in a reference frame, calculates a motion vector, and thereby performs motion estimation;   an estimation block generation unit which generates an estimation block for the current block by using a current frame and the reference frame, when some pixels of the reference block are outside the reference frame; and   an encoding unit which encodes an image by using the estimation block and the motion vector.   
     
     
         17 . The motion estimation and compensation apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the estimation block generation unit comprises:
 a first block region determination unit which determines the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the estimation block; and   a second block region determination unit which determines pixels of neighboring blocks of the current block and pixels surrounding the second block region to be a search pattern region, wherein the pixels surrounding the second block region are part of the first block region of the estimation block, and determines a region corresponding to the second block region of the estimation block in the current frame by using the determined search pattern region, when the estimation block is allocated to the current block.   
     
     
         18 . The motion estimation and compensation apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein, when a block region in a same position as a region included in the reference frame is defined to be a first block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, and a block region in a same position as a region excluded from the reference frame is defined to be a second block region, wherein the block region is a part of the reference block, the estimation block generation unit comprises:
 a first block region determination unit which determines the first block region of the reference block to be an estimation region of the first block region of the estimation block; and   a second block region determination unit which selects at least one of a pixel line of the neighboring blocks of the current block and a pixel line surrounding the second block region, wherein the pixel line surrounding the second block region is a part of the first block region of the estimation block, and determines an estimation region of the second block region of the estimation block in the current frame by using the selected pixel line, when the estimation block is allocated to the current block.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of  claim 7 .