Three dimensional motion compensated video coding

Claim 3

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said computing step includes (a) computing estimates of motion of objects in said frames, and (b) predicting the values of said pels based upon said motion estimates and the values of corresponding pels in at least one of said reference frames.

Claim 4

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said computing step includes (a) computing estimates of motion of objects in said frames, and (b) interpolating the values of said pels based upon said motion estimates and the values of corresponding pels in at least two of said reference frames.

Claim 5

The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said computing step includes computing estimates for P intermediate frames, each of said P frames including an M×N block of pels, and wherein said grouping step includes forming up to S=M+N+P-2 groups of coefficients.

Claim 8

The invention defined in claim 5, wherein said intensity estimates calculation is formed using motion compensated prediction.

Claim 9

The invention defined in claim 5, wherein said intensity estimates calculation is formed using conditional motion compensated interpolation.

Claim 10

The invention defined in claims 1 or 5, wherein said combining step includes forming discrete cosine transform coefficient c(j,k,l) for each of said blocks of pels s(m,n,p).

Claim 11

The invention defined in claim 8 wherein said block of pels is of size M×N×P, and wherein: ##EQU8##

Claim 14

The method of claim 10, wherein said computing step includes forming said error values using conditional motion compensated interpolation (CMCI).

Claim 15

The method of claim 10, wherein said computing step includes forming said error values using motion compensated prediction (MCP).

Claim 16

The invention defined in claims 11 or 12 wherein said transformation coefficients c(j,k,l) are given by: ##EQU9##

Claim 17

The invention defined in claim 13 wherein M=N=8, P=4, and wherein S=18 groups C 0 through C 17 , said groups having coefficients as follows: ______________________________________ Group Number of Coefficients ______________________________________ C.sub.0 1 C.sub.1 3 C.sub.2 6 C.sub.3 10 C.sub.4 14 C.sub.5 18 C.sub.6 22 C.sub.7 26 C.sub.8 28 C.sub.9 28 .sup. C.sub.10 26 .sup. C.sub.11 22 .sup. C.sub.12 18 .sup. C.sub.13 14 .sup. C.sub.14 10 .sup. C.sub.15 6 .sup. C.sub.16 3 .sup. C.sub.17 1 ______________________________________

Claim 18

Apparatus for encoding a signal representing the actual intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising (i) means for computing estimates of the values of pels in at least two intermediate frames which lie between reference frames, based on the values of pels in at least one of said reference frames; (ii) means for combining error values for corresponding blocks of pels in each of said intermediate frames to form a series of transform coefficients representing said error values, each of said error values representing the difference between said estimated value and said actual value of said pel, and (iii) means for selecting one of said coefficients for further processing based upon the significance of information represented by said coefficients, wherein said selection means includes means for grouping said coefficients into a plurality of groups each containing coefficients having approximately the same significance and for selecting all coefficients from only selected ones of said groups.

Claim 19

Apparatus for encoding a signal representing the actual intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising (i) means for computing estimates of the values of pels in at least two intermediate frames which lie between reference frames, based on the values of pels in at least one of said reference frames; (ii) means for combining error values for corresponding blocks of pels in each of said intermediate frames to form a series of transform coefficients representing said error values, each of said error values representing the difference between said estimated value and said actual value of said pel, and (iii) means for selecting one of said coefficients for further processing based upon the significance of information represented by said coefficients, wherein said selection means includes means for grouping said coefficients into a plurality of groups each containing coefficients having approximately the same significance and for selecting all coefficients from only selected ones of said groups.

Claim 20

The invention defined in claim 15, wherein said computing means includes (a) means for computing estimates of motion of objects in said frames, and (b) means for predicting the values of said pels based upon said motion estimates and the values of corresponding pels in at least one of said reference frames.

Claim 21

The invention defined in claim 15, wherein said computing means includes (a) means for computing estimates of motion of objects in said frames, and (b) means for interpolating the values of said pels based upon said motion estimates and the values of corresponding pels in at least two of said reference frames.

Claim 22

Apparatus (FIG. 2) for encoding a video signal representing the actual intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising (i) means (210-228) for computing estimates of the intensity values of pels in at least two intermediate frames which lie between reference frames, based on the intensity values of pels in at least of said reference frames; (ii) means (205) for combining error values for corresponding blocks of pels in each of said intermediate frames to form a series of transform coefficients representing said error values, each of said error values representing the difference between said estimated intensity value and said actual intensity value of said pel, (iii) means (207) for selecting ones of said coefficients for further processing based upon selected characteristics of said coefficients, and (iv) means (208) for encoding said selected coefficients to produce a representation of said video signal, wherein said intensity estimate computing means includes (a) means (228) for forming estimates of the motion of objects in said frames, and (b) means (215 and 217) for calculating said intensity estimates as a function of said motion estimates.

Claim 23

Apparatus (FIG. 2) for encoding a video signal representing the actual intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising (i) means (210-228) for computing estimates of the intensity values of pels in at least two intermediate frames which lie between reference frames, based on the intensity values of pels in at least of said reference frames; (ii) means (205) for combining error values for corresponding blocks of pels in each of said intermediate frames to form a series of transform coefficients representing said error values, each of said error values representing the difference between said estimated intensity value and said actual intensity value of said pel, (iii) means (207) for selecting ones of said coefficients for further processing based upon selected characteristics of said coefficients, and (iv) means (208) for encoding said selected coefficients to produce a representation of said video signal, wherein said intensity estimate computing means includes (a) means (228) for forming estimates of the motion of objects in said frames, and (b) means (215 and 217) for calculating said intensity estimates as a function of said motion estimates.

Claim 24

Apparatus for encoding a signal representing the intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising means for computing error values s(m,n,p) for three dimensional blocks of pels, said 3D blocks including M×N pels in each of P of said frames; means for forming M×N×P discrete cosine transformation coefficients c(j,k,l) for each of said 3D blocks of error values; and means for grouping said coefficients into S groups, each of said groups containing coefficients having approximately the same energy and selecting coefficients only from ones of said groups to represent said signal.

Claim 25

Apparatus for encoding a signal representing the intensity values of picture elements (pels) in a series of frames, comprising means for computing error values s(m,n,p) for three dimensional blocks of pels, said 3D blocks including M×N pels in each of P of said frames; means for forming M×N×P discrete cosine transformation coefficients c(j,k,l) for each of said 3D blocks of error values; and means for grouping said coefficients into S groups, each of said groups containing coefficients having approximately the same energy and selecting coefficients only from ones of said groups to represent said signal.

Claim 28

The invention defined in claim 20 further including the step of adaptively switching between said last mentioned calculating steps.