Video decoder dynamic memory allocation system and method allowing variable decoded image size
US6072548A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 28, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jun 6, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 28, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N19/61
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A video decoder which uses a dynamic memory allocation scheme having end-of-frame (EOF) tokens for decoder-display synchronization. The EOF tokens advantageously allow for decoding and display of variable-sized images with a fixed dynamic memory allocation architecture. In one embodiment, the video decoder includes an MPEG bitstream decoder, FIFO buffer logic, a free segment register, and a display processor. The video decoder decodes an encoded bitstream to obtain image data for storage in an external memory, and the display processor retrieves the image data for display on a fixed-size monitor. To conserve memory, the bitstream decoder only stores anchor frames as complete images in the external memory, and bi-directional images are stored in dynamically allocated memory segments. Free memory segments are determined by examination of a free segment register, and pointers to the memory segments having image data are passed to the display processor via the FIFO buffers. The display processor is unable to compensate for differences between the decoded image size and the displayed image size for image data passed using the dynamic memory allocation scheme unless some method for marki…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.