793 research outputs found
Intra-WZ quantization mismatch in distributed video coding
During the past decade, Distributed Video Coding (DVC) has emerged as a new video coding paradigm, shifting the complexity from the encoder-to the decoder-side. This paper addresses a problem of current DVC architectures that has not been studied in the literature so far, that is, the mismatch between the intra and Wyner-Ziv (WZ) quantization processes. Due to this mismatch, WZ rate is spent even for spatial regions that are accurately approximated by the side-information. As a solution, this paper proposes side-information generation using selective unidirectional motion compensation from temporally adjacent WZ frames. Experimental results show that the proposed approach yields promising WZ rate gains of up to 7% relative to the conventional method
REGION-BASED ADAPTIVE DISTRIBUTED VIDEO CODING CODEC
The recently developed Distributed Video Coding (DVC) is typically suitable for the
applications where the conventional video coding is not feasible because of its
inherent high-complexity encoding. Examples include video surveillance usmg
wireless/wired video sensor network and applications using mobile cameras etc. With
DVC, the complexity is shifted from the encoder to the decoder.
The practical application of DVC is referred to as Wyner-Ziv video coding (WZ)
where an estimate of the original frame called "side information" is generated using
motion compensation at the decoder. The compression is achieved by sending only
that extra information that is needed to correct this estimation. An error-correcting
code is used with the assumption that the estimate is a noisy version of the original
frame and the rate needed is certain amount of the parity bits. The side information is
assumed to have become available at the decoder through a virtual channel. Due to
the limitation of compensation method, the predicted frame, or the side information, is
expected to have varying degrees of success. These limitations stem from locationspecific
non-stationary estimation noise. In order to avoid these, the conventional
video coders, like MPEG, make use of frame partitioning to allocate optimum coder
for each partition and hence achieve better rate-distortion performance. The same,
however, has not been used in DVC as it increases the encoder complexity.
This work proposes partitioning the considered frame into many coding units
(region) where each unit is encoded differently. This partitioning is, however, done at
the decoder while generating the side-information and the region map is sent over to
encoder at very little rate penalty. The partitioning allows allocation of appropriate
DVC coding parameters (virtual channel, rate, and quantizer) to each region. The
resulting regions map is compressed by employing quadtree algorithm and
communicated to the encoder via the feedback channel. The rate control in DVC is
performed by channel coding techniques (turbo codes, LDPC, etc.). The performance
of the channel code depends heavily on the accuracy of virtual channel model that models estimation error for each region. In this work, a turbo code has been used and
an adaptive WZ DVC is designed both in transform domain and in pixel domain. The
transform domain WZ video coding (TDWZ) has distinct superior performance as
compared to the normal Pixel Domain Wyner-Ziv (PDWZ), since it exploits the
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spatial redundancy during the encoding. The performance evaluations show that the
proposed system is superior to the existing distributed video coding solutions.
Although the, proposed system requires extra bits representing the "regions map" to be
transmitted, fuut still the rate gain is noticeable and it outperforms the state-of-the-art
frame based DVC by 0.6-1.9 dB.
The feedback channel (FC) has the role to adapt the bit rate to the changing
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statistics between the side infonmation and the frame to be encoded. In the
unidirectional scenario, the encoder must perform the rate control. To correctly
estimate the rate, the encoder must calculate typical side information. However, the
rate cannot be exactly calculated at the encoder, instead it can only be estimated. This
work also prbposes a feedback-free region-based adaptive DVC solution in pixel
domain based on machine learning approach to estimate the side information.
Although the performance evaluations show rate-penalty but it is acceptable
considering the simplicity of the proposed algorithm.
vii
Towards practical distributed video coding
Multimedia is increasingly becoming a utility rather than mere entertainment. The range of video applications has increased, some of which are becoming indispensable in modem lifestyle. Video surveillance is one area that has attracted significant amount of focus and also benefited from considerable research effort for development. However, it is noted that there is still a notable technological gap between an ideal video surveillance platform and the available solutions, mainly in the form of the encoder and decoder complexity balance and the associated design costs. In this thesis, we tocus on an emerging technology, Distributed Video Coding (DVC), which is ideally suited for the video surveillance scenario, and fits many other potential applications too.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Advanced distributed video coding techniques
EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Flexible distribution of complexity by hybrid predictive-distributed video coding
There is currently limited flexibility for distributing complexity in a video coding system. While rate-distortion-complexity (RDC) optimization techniques have been proposed for conventional predictive video coding with encoder-side motion estimation, they fail to offer true flexible distribution of complexity between encoder and decoder since the encoder is assumed to have always more computational resources available than the decoder. On the other hand, distributed video coding solutions with decoder-side motion estimation have been proposed, but hardly any RDC optimized systems have been developed.
To offer more flexibility for video applications involving multi-tasking or battery-constrained devices, in this paper, we propose a codec combining predictive video coding concepts and techniques from distributed video coding and show the flexibility of this method in distributing complexity. We propose several modes to code frames, and provide complexity analysis illustrating encoder and decoder computational complexity for each mode. Rate distortion results for each mode indicate that the coding efficiency is similar. We describe a method to choose which mode to use for coding each inter frame, taking into account encoder and decoder complexity constraints, and illustrate how complexity is distributed more flexibly
Distributed video coding with feedback channel constraints
Many of the distributed video coding (DVC) systems described in the literature make use of a feedback channel from the decoder to the encoder to determine the rate. However, the number of requests through the feedback channel is often high, and as a result the overall delay of the system could be unacceptable in practical applications. As a solution, feedback-free DVC systems have been proposed, but the problem with these solutions is that they incorporate a difficult trade-off between encoder complexity and compression performance. Recognizing that a limited form of feedback may be supported in many video-streaming scenarios, in this paper we propose a method for constraining the number of feedback requests to a fixed maximum number of N requests for an entire Wyner-Ziv (WZ) frame. The proposed technique estimates the WZ rate at the decoder using information obtained from previously decoded WZ frames and defines the N requests by minimizing the expected rate overhead. Tests on eight sequences show that the rate penalty is less than 5% when only five requests are allowed per WZ frame (for a group of pictures of size four). Furthermore, due to improvements from previous work, the system is able to perform better than or similar to DISCOVER even when up to two requests per WZ frame are allowed. The practical usefulness of the proposed approach is studied by estimating end-to-end delay and encoder buffer requirements, indicating that DVC with constrained feedback can be an important solution in the context of video-streaming scenarios
Motion Scalability for Video Coding with Flexible Spatio-Temporal Decompositions
PhDThe research presented in this thesis aims to extend the scalability range of the
wavelet-based video coding systems in order to achieve fully scalable coding with a
wide range of available decoding points. Since the temporal redundancy regularly
comprises the main portion of the global video sequence redundancy, the techniques
that can be generally termed motion decorrelation techniques have a central role in
the overall compression performance. For this reason the scalable motion modelling
and coding are of utmost importance, and specifically, in this thesis possible
solutions are identified and analysed.
The main contributions of the presented research are grouped into two
interrelated and complementary topics. Firstly a flexible motion model with rateoptimised
estimation technique is introduced. The proposed motion model is based
on tree structures and allows high adaptability needed for layered motion coding. The
flexible structure for motion compensation allows for optimisation at different stages
of the adaptive spatio-temporal decomposition, which is crucial for scalable coding
that targets decoding on different resolutions. By utilising an adaptive choice of
wavelet filterbank, the model enables high compression based on efficient mode
selection. Secondly, solutions for scalable motion modelling and coding are
developed. These solutions are based on precision limiting of motion vectors and
creation of a layered motion structure that describes hierarchically coded motion.
The solution based on precision limiting relies on layered bit-plane coding of motion
vector values. The second solution builds on recently established techniques that
impose scalability on a motion structure. The new approach is based on two major
improvements: the evaluation of distortion in temporal Subbands and motion search
in temporal subbands that finds the optimal motion vectors for layered motion
structure.
Exhaustive tests on the rate-distortion performance in demanding scalable video
coding scenarios show benefits of application of both developed flexible motion
model and various solutions for scalable motion coding
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