초록 ▼

A method, and apparatus, and logic encoded in one or more computer-readable tangible medium to carry out a method. The method is to code an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block of image data using a hybrid coding method that includes determining a breakpoint location in th

A method, and apparatus, and logic encoded in one or more computer-readable tangible medium to carry out a method. The method is to code an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block of image data using a hybrid coding method that includes determining a breakpoint location in the sequence between a low-frequency region and a high-frequency region; coding the low-frequency region using a selected low-frequency variable length coding method; coding the high-frequency region using a selected high-frequency variable length coding method; and coding the location of the breakpoint. The breakpoint location is determined as a function of properties of neighboring blocks such that little if any information needs to be sent to a decoder about the breakpoint of a block or multi-block partition, and the decoder can use the properties of neighboring blocks to determine the breakpoint used to code a to-be-decoded sequence or sequences of a block or a multi-block partition.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method comprising: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties

1. A method comprising: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties of blocks that neighbor the block or multi-block partition,wherein the quantized transform coefficients have respective amplitudes of a set of amplitudes including a most likely-to-occur amplitude,wherein the hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block includes recognizing any event that includes a cluster of one or more consecutive quantized coefficients having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, encoding a first part of the sequence using a selected low-frequency coding method, the selected low-frequency coding method including recognizing an ending event, the encoding a first part being up to and including the recognized ending event, and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the recognized ending event using a selected high-frequency coding method,wherein the breakpoint indicates the location of the ending event in the sequence;(b) encoding the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, or the ordered sequences of the multi-block partition, using the hybrid variable length coding and the recognized ending event; and(c) in the case information additional to the properties of the neighboring blocks would be needed by a decoder or decoding process to determine the breakpoint determined in (a), encoding sufficient information about the relationship such that a decoder or decoding process can, prior to decoding the coded data of the block or multi-block partition use the sufficient information and the properties of the neighboring blocks to determine the breakpoint used to encode the coded data of the block or multi-block partition,such that the breakpoint may be variable among blocks of an image,wherein the properties and the neighboring blocks are such that in the decoding, the properties of the neighboring blocks are known or determinable prior to the decoding of the coded data of the block or multi-block partition. 2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein for each ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, an optimal breakpoint exists that indicates an optimal ending event for encoding the sequence using the hybrid variable length coding, including encoding a first part of the sequence using the selected low-frequency coding method up to and including the optimal ending event and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the optimal ending event using the selected high-frequency coding method, the optimal ending event being such that the encoding results in equal or shorter codewords than when any other ending event is used, andwherein the properties related to neighboring blocks include the optimal breakpoints of the sequences of quantized transform coefficients of the neighboring blocks. 3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the optimal breakpoint for each ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block is determined by a method that includes for the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, (i) determining a set of possible breakpoints, each breakpoint respectively indicating an ending event recognized by the selected low-frequency coding method, and determining the numbers of bits of hybrid variable length coding the sequence using the respective ending events indicated by the breakpoints;(ii) comparing the numbers of bits determined in (i);(iii) selecting as a final ending event the ending event that results in the least total number of bits in the comparing of (ii); and(iv) selecting as the optimal breakpoint a coefficient position in the selected final ending event. 4. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein for a selected coding and decoding order for a particular block or multi-block partition, the neighboring blocks are the immediately adjacent blocks that are vertically and horizontally adjacent to the particular block or multi-block partition and whose properties are known or determinable at the time of coding or decoding for the coding and decoding order,wherein the breakpoint determined in (a) is the average of any of the neighboring blocks that are available assuming a coding and decoding order. 5. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the determining of (a) determines a breakpoint for a single block,for a selected coding and decoding order for a particular block, the neighboring blocks are the immediately adjacent blocks that are vertically and horizontally adjacent to the particular block and whose properties are known or determinable at the time of coding or decoding for the coding and decoding order,wherein the breakpoint determined in (a) is the optimal breakpoint of the adjacent block that would lead to the shorter bitstream if each respective adjacent block's optimal breakpoint is used to encode the respective adjacent block. 6. A method as recited in claim 5, further comprising encoding which of the adjacent block's optimal breakpoint defines the breakpoint. 7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the properties related to neighboring blocks include whether or not the sequences of quantized transform coefficients of the neighboring blocks have any non-zero valued quantized transform coefficients. 8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the determining of (a) determines a breakpoint for a multi-block partition,the method further comprising: encoding for each respective block in the multi-block whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients, andwherein the determining of (a) uses information for each respective block in the multi-block partition on whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients,such that an encoder, prior to determining the breakpoint used to encode a multi-block partition, has information for each respective block in the multi-block partition on whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients. 9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein for a selected coding and decoding order for a multi-block partition, the neighboring blocks are the immediately adjacent blocks that are vertically and horizontally adjacent to the particular multi-block partition and whose properties are known or determinable at the time of coding or decoding for the coding and decoding order, andwherein the breakpoint determining in (a) uses a function of whether or not the blocks in the multi-block partition have any non-zero-valued coefficients and properties of blocks that are adjacent to the blocks in the multi-block partition. 10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the properties related to neighboring blocks include whether or not the sequences of quantized transform coefficients of the neighboring blocks have an optimal breakpoint that has a non-zero value. 11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein information about the relationship need not be sent to the encoder for the encoder to determine the breakpoint for a coded block or multi-block partition. 12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein for a selected coding and decoding order for a particular block or multi-block partition, the neighboring blocks are the immediately adjacent blocks that are vertically and horizontally adjacent to the particular block or multi-block partition and whose properties are known or determinable at the time of coding or decoding for the coding and decoding order. 13. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are such that 0 is the most likely to occur amplitude, and 1 is the next to most likely to occur amplitude. 14. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected low-frequency coding method includes one-dimensional position and one-dimensional amplitude coding. 15. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected low-frequency coding method includes two-dimensional position and one-dimensional amplitude coding. 16. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected low-frequency coding method includes integrated position and amplitude coding. 17. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected low-frequency coding method includes two-dimensional position and multi-dimensional amplitude coding. 18. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected low-frequency coding method includes integrated position and amplitude coding with low valued amplitude and low number of clusters coding. 19. An apparatus comprising a programmable processing system including one or more processors coupled to a memory, programmed to carry out a method comprising: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties of blocks that neighbor the block or multi-block partition,wherein the quantized transform coefficients have respective amplitudes of a set of amplitudes including a most likely-to-occur amplitude,wherein the hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block includes recognizing any event that includes a cluster of one or more quantized coefficients having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, encoding a first part of the sequence using a selected low-frequency coding method up to and including an ending event recognized by the selected low-frequency coding method, and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the ending event using a selected high-frequency coding method,wherein the breakpoint indicates the location of the ending event in the sequence;(b) encoding the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, or the ordered sequences of the multi-block partition, using the hybrid variable length coding and the ending event indicated by the breakpoint determined in (a); and(c) in the case information additional to the properties of the neighboring blocks would be needed by a decoder or decoding process to determine the breakpoint determined in (a), encoding sufficient information about the relationship such that a decoder or decoding process can, prior to decoding the coded data of the block or multi-block partition use the sufficient information and the properties of the neighboring blocks to determine the breakpoint used to encode the coded data of the block or multi-block partition,such that the breakpoint may be variable among blocks of an image,wherein the properties and the neighboring blocks are such that in the decoding, the properties of the neighboring blocks are known or determinable prior to the decoding of the coded data of the block or multi-block partition. 20. An apparatus as recited in claim 19, wherein for each ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, an optimal breakpoint exists that indicates an optimal ending event for encoding the sequence using the hybrid variable length coding, including encoding a first part of the sequence using the selected low-frequency coding method up to and including the optimal ending event and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the optimal ending event using the selected high-frequency coding method, the optimal ending event being such that the encoding results in equal or shorter codewords than when any other ending event is used, andwherein the properties related to neighboring blocks include the optimal breakpoints of the sequences of quantized transform coefficients of the neighboring blocks. 21. An apparatus as recited in claim 19, wherein the properties related to neighboring blocks include whether or not the sequences of quantized transform coefficients of the neighboring blocks have any non-zero valued quantized transform coefficients. 22. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the determining of (a) determines a breakpoint for a multi-block partition,wherein the method further comprises encoding for each respective block in the multi-block whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients, andwherein the determining of (a) uses information for each respective block in the multi-block partition on whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients on whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients,such that an encoder, prior to determining the breakpoint used to encode a multi-block partition, has information for each respective block in the multi-block partition on whether or not the block has any non-zero coefficients. 23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured with instructions that when executed by one and more processors of a processing system, cause carrying out a method, the method comprising: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties of blocks that neighbor the block or multi-block partition,wherein the quantized transform coefficients have respective amplitudes of a set of amplitudes including a most likely-to-occur amplitude,wherein the hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block includes recognizing any event that includes a cluster of one or more consecutive quantized coefficients having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, encoding a first part of the sequence using a selected low-frequency coding method, the selected low-frequency coding method including recognizing an ending event, the encoding a first part being up to and including the recognized ending event, and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the recognized ending event using a selected high-frequency coding method,wherein the breakpoint indicates the location of the ending event in the sequence;(b) encoding the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, or the ordered sequences of the multi-block partition, using the hybrid variable length coding and the recognized ending event; and(c) in the case information additional to the properties of the neighboring blocks would be needed by a decoder or decoding process to determine the breakpoint determined in (a), encoding sufficient information about the relationship such that a decoder or decoding process can, prior to decoding the coded data of the block or multi-block partition use the sufficient information and the properties of the neighboring blocks to determine the breakpoint used to encode the coded data of the block or multi-block partition,such that the breakpoint may be variable among blocks of an image,wherein the properties and the neighboring blocks are such that in the decoding, the properties of the neighboring blocks are known or determinable prior to the decoding of the coded data of the block or multi-block partition. 24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are such that 0 is the most likely-to-occur amplitude, and 1 is the next to most likely-to-occur amplitude. 25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the method further comprises encoding the location of the final ending event. 26. A method of decoding comprising: accepting a bitstream that includes codewords of a to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition of image data encoded by a coding method, the coding method including: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties of blocks that neighbor the block or multi-block partition,wherein the quantized transform coefficients have respective amplitudes of a set of amplitudes including a most likely-to-occur amplitude,wherein the hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block includes recognizing any event that includes a cluster of one or more consecutive quantized coefficients having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, encoding a first part of the sequence using a selected low-frequency coding method, the selected low-frequency coding method including recognizing an ending event, the encoding a first part being up to and including the recognized ending event, and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the recognized ending event using a selected high-frequency coding method,wherein the breakpoint indicates the location of the ending event in the sequence;(b) encoding the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, or the ordered sequences of the multi-block partition, using the hybrid variable length coding and the recognized ending event; and(c) encoding any additional information about the relationship that together with the properties of the neighboring blocks is sufficient to determine the breakpoint used to encode the coded data of the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition,such that the breakpoint may be variable among blocks of an image,decoding any such additional information for the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;determining the properties of blocks neighboring the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;determining the breakpoint used to encode the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition using the determined properties of blocks neighboring the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;recognizing codewords in the bitstream; anddecoding the recognized codewords to determine the sequence or sequences of the block or multi-block partition. 27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured with instructions that when executed by one or more processors of a processing system cause carrying out a method, the method comprising: accepting a bitstream that includes codewords of a to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition of image data encoded by a coding method, the coding method including: (a) determining a breakpoint for hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block, or for hybrid variable length coding ordered sequences of a multi-block partition, the breakpoint determining using a relationship to properties of blocks that neighbor the block or multi-block partition,wherein the quantized transform coefficients have respective amplitudes of a set of amplitudes including a most likely-to-occur amplitude,wherein the hybrid variable length coding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block includes recognizing any event that includes a cluster of one or more consecutive quantized coefficients having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, encoding a first part of the sequence using a selected low-frequency coding method, the selected low-frequency coding method including recognizing an ending event, the encoding a first part being up to and including the recognized ending event, and encoding a second part of the sequence starting from immediately after the recognized ending event using a selected high-frequency coding method,wherein the breakpoint indicates the location of the ending event in the sequence;(b) encoding the ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of the block, or the ordered sequences of the multi-block partition, using the hybrid variable length coding and the recognized ending event; and(c) encoding any additional information about the relationship that together with the properties of the neighboring blocks is sufficient to determine the breakpoint used to encode the coded data of the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition,such that the breakpoint may be variable among blocks of an image,decoding any such additional information for the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;determining the properties of blocks neighboring the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;determining the breakpoint used to encode the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition using the determined properties of blocks neighboring the to-be-decoded block or multi-block partition;recognizing codewords in the bitstream; anddecoding the recognized codewords to determine the sequence or sequences of the block or multi-block partition.