Patent · US Expired

Frame-level rate control for plug-in video codecs

US6526097B1 · kind B1 · utility

29Cited by
9References
27Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 2, 1999
Grant dateFeb 25, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 2, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N19/61
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A variety of different types of video frame encoders can be configured with, e.g., a multimedia processing subsystem, as long as the video frame encoder conforms to the interface protocol of the subsystem. A video controller in the subsystem performs the higher-level functions of coordinating the encoding of the video stream, thereby allowing the video frame encoder to limit its processing to the lower, frame level. In particular, the video controller provides information needed by the video frame encoder to encode the current frame in the video sequence. In addition to the raw image data, this information includes the type of frame to be encoded (e.g., an I or P frame), the currently available bandwidth for encoding the current frame, the time since the previous encoded frame, the desired frame rate, and a quality measure that may be used to trade off spatial and temporal qualities. The video frame encoder either encodes the frame as requested or indicates to the video controller that the frame should be skipped or otherwise not encoded as requested. The video controller can then respond appropriately, e.g., by requesting the video frame encoder to encode the next frame in the vid…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.