High Performance Multi-Standard Architecture for DCT Computation in H.264/AVC High Profile and HEVC Codecs

A new high performance architecture for the computation of all the DCT operations adopted in the H.264/AVC and HEVC standards is proposed in this paper. Contrasting to other dedicated transform cores, the presented multi-standard transform architecture is supported on a completely configurable, scalable and unified structure, that is able to compute not only the forward and the inverse 8×8 and 4×4 integer DCTs and the 4×4 and 2×2 Hadamard transforms defined in the H.264/AVC standard, but also the 4×4, 8×8, 16×16 and 32×32 integer transforms adopted in HEVC. Experimental results obtained using a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA demonstrated the superior performance and hardware efficiency levels provided by the proposed structure, which outperforms its more prominent related designs by at least 1.8 times. When integrated in a multi-core embedded system, this architecture allows the computation, in real-time, of all the transforms mentioned above for resolutions as high as the 8k Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) (7680×4320 @ 30fps)

Fast Algorithm Designs of Multiple-Mode Discrete Integer Transforms with Cost-Effective and Hardware-Sharing Architectures for Multistandard Video Coding Applications

In this chapter, first we give a brief view of transform-based video coding. Second, the basic matrix decomposition scheme for fast algorithm and hardware-sharing-based integer transform design are described. Finally, two case studies for fast algorithm and hardware-sharing-based architecture designs of discrete integer transforms are presented, where one is for the single-standard multiple-mode video transform-coding application, and the other is for the multiple-standard multiple-mode video transform-coding application

Efficient Architecture of Variable Size HEVC 2D-DCT for FPGA Platforms

This study presents a design of two-dimensional (2D) discrete cosine transform (DCT) hardware architecture dedicated for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) in field programmable gate array (FPGA) platforms. The proposed methodology efficiently proceeds 2D-DCT computation to fit internal components and characteristics of FPGA resources. A four-stage circuit architecture is developed to implement the proposed methodology. This architecture supports variable size of DCT computation, including 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, and 32×32. The proposed architecture has been implemented in System Verilog and synthesized in various FPGA platforms. Compared with existing related works in literature, this proposed architecture demonstrates significant advantages in hardware cost and performance improvement. The proposed architecture is able to sustain 4K@30fps ultra high definition (UHD) TV real-time encoding applications with a reduction of 31-64% in hardware cost

Performance engineering for HEVC transform and quantization kernel on GPUs

Continuous growth of video traffic and video services, especially in the field of high resolution and high-quality video content, places heavy demands on video coding and its implementations. High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard doubles the compression efficiency of its predecessor H.264/AVC at the cost of high computational complexity. To address those computing issues high-performance video processing takes advantage of heterogeneous multiprocessor platforms. In this paper, we present a highly performance-optimized HEVC transform and quantization kernel with all-zero-block (AZB) identification designed for execution on a Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). Performance optimization strategy involved all three aspects of parallel design, exposing as much of the application’s intrinsic parallelism as possible, exploitation of high throughput memory and efficient instruction usage. It combines efficient mapping of transform blocks to thread-blocks and efficient vectorized access patterns to shared memory for all transform sizes supported in the standard. Two different GPUs of the same architecture were used to evaluate proposed implementation. Achieved processing times are 6.03 and 23.94 ms for DCI 4K and 8K Full Format, respectively. Speedup factors compared to CPU, cuBLAS and AVX2 implementations are up to 80, 19 and 4 times respectively. Proposed implementation outperforms previous work 1.22 times

A Cost Shared Quantization Algorithm and its Implementation for Multi-Standard Video CODECS

The current trend of digital convergence creates the need for the video encoder and decoder system, known as codec in short, that should support multiple video standards on a single platform. In a modern video codec, quantization is a key unit used for video compression. In this thesis, a generalized quantization algorithm and hardware implementation is presented to compute quantized coefficient for six different video codecs including the new developing codec High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). HEVC, successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, aims to substantially improve coding efficiency compared to AVC High Profile. The thesis presents a high performance circuit shared architecture that can perform the quantization operation for HEVC, H.264/AVC, AVS, VC-1, MPEG- 2/4 and Motion JPEG (MJPEG). Since HEVC is still in drafting stage, the architecture was designed in such a way that any final changes can be accommodated into the design. The proposed quantizer architecture is completely division free as the division operation is replaced by multiplication, shift and addition operations. The design was implemented on FPGA and later synthesized in CMOS 0.18 μm technology. The results show that the proposed design satisfies the requirement of all codecs with a maximum decoding capability of 60 fps at 187.3 MHz for Xilinx Virtex4 LX60 FPGA of a 1080p HD video. The scheme is also suitable for low-cost implementation in modern multi-codec systems

Register transfer level design of transpose memory for the two-dimension inverse discrete cosine transform for high efficiency video coding

The rapid revolution in consumer devices have caused in a variety of emerging video coding applications which contribute the aggressive demands on video compression requirement. The requirement of video compression efficiency getting higher. Today, Advance Video Coding (AVC) standard was replaced by the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) video compression standard due to major advance in compression compare to former. However, optimizing coding efficiency in HEVC is the root of increased computational complexity. Thus, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (IDCT) are absolute necessary accelerator in HEVC hardware implementation. However, the hardware design of these accelerator complexity become more complicated due to flexibility given by the new video compression standard. This project aimed to design Two-Dimension Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (2D IDCT) hardware transpose memory using hardware description language. The first objective in this project was implemented transpose memory that support different transform block dimension (4x4, 8x8, 16x16 and 32x32 transform unit). Both register-based design and RAM-based design were implemented. Secondly, a test bench was designed to validate the functionality of RTL design. Third, the integration was done between 1D IDCT building block with designed transpose memory and overall system functionality was validated. Finally, analysis was done to find out trade-off in performance, resource and power between register-based and dedicate RAM based transpose memory. The results show that register-based 2D IDCT have 2.24 times better throughput and 35.6% less energy consumption compare to RAM-based 2D IDCT. However, register-based 2D IDCT have 30 times more resource utilization compare to RAM-based 2-D IDCT. Thus, RAM-based 2D IDCT is more suitable for small electronic device. If area expenses is negligible and performance is needed, register-based 2D IDCT can be considered