Validation of bitstream syntax and synthesis of parsers in the MPEG Reconfigurable Video Coding framework

International audienceVideo coding technology has evolved in the past years into a variety of different and complex algorithms. So far the specification of such standard algorithms has been done case by case providing monolithic textual and reference SW specifications, but without any attention on commonalities and the possibility of incremental improvements or modifications of such monolithic standards. The MPEG Reconfigurable Video Coding (RVC) framework is a new ISO standard, currently under development aiming at providing video codec specifications at the level of library functions instead of monolithic algorithms. The possibility to select a subset of standard coding algorithms to specify a decoder that satisfies application specific constraints is very attractive. However, such possibility to reconfigure codecs requires systematic procedures and tools capable of describing the new bitstream syntaxes of such new codecs. Moreover, it is also necessary to generate the associated parsers which are capable to parse the new bitstreams because they are not available "a priori" in the RVC library. This paper further explains the problem and describes the technologies used to describe new bitstream syntaxes within RVC. In addition, the paper describes the methodology and the tools for the validation of bitstream syntaxes descriptions as well as an example of systematic procedures for the direct synthesis of parsers in the same data flow formalism in which the RVC library component are implemented

Reconfigurable Video Coding : Objectives and Technologies

The main objective of the MPEG Reconfigurable Video Coding (RVC) standard is to establish a framework for a more flexible usage of standard video coding technology. The framework not only supports multiple standards and new coding configurations, but also provides an incremental and modular approach to innovation in video compression development and design. This paper provides an overview of the main objectives of RVC, standard accompanied with a presentation of the components of the framework for both normative parts and supporting tools useful for the final implementation of RVC codecs. These elements include: the Video Tool Library (VTL), the new standard RVC–CAL language used for the specification of the library, the Bitstream Syntax Description (BSD) used for the specification of the compressed bitstreams, as well as the Functional unit Network Description (FND) that constitutes the specification of a modular library. Technologies and tools that support the RVC standard are also briefly introduced

Towards a Multi-Granular RVC VTL: A Case Study of CAL Transformations on the ISO/IEC MPEG Fixed Point IDCT

Recent advances in digital video hardware, software and coding standards have led to a wide variety of digital video products. However, such continuous evolution leads to the necessity of regular replacements of the available multimedia devices. To avoid this, a new initiative within the MPEG community, namely Reconfigurable Video Coding, has risen to provide the flexible framework that allows for the “simple” realization of highly-reconfigurable video coding solutions, without the need to wait for decades to replace the existing infrastructure. This paper illustrates the different design schemes to build various platform-specific proprietary libraries, at various granularity levels, together with a case study to prove the concept

Reconfigurable Video Coding on multicore : an overview of its main objectives

International audienceThe current monolithic and lengthy scheme behind the standardization and the design of new video coding standards is becoming inappropriate to satisfy the dynamism and changing needs of the video coding community. Such scheme and specification formalism does not allow the clear commonalities between the different codecs to be shown, at the level of the specification nor at the level of the implementation. Such a problem is one of the main reasons for the typically long interval elapsing between the time a new idea is validated until it is implemented in consumer products as part of a worldwide standard. The analysis of this problem originated a new standard initiative within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/ International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) committee, namely Reconfigurable Video Coding (RVC). The main idea is to develop a video coding standard that overcomes many shortcomings of the current standardization and specification process by updating and progressively incrementing a modular library of components. As the name implies, flexibility and reconfigurability are new attractive features of the RVC standard. Besides allowing for the definition of new codec algorithms, such features, as well as the dataflow-based specification formalism, open the way to define video coding standards that expressly target implementations on platforms with multiple cores. This article provides an overview of the main objectives of the new RVC standard, with an emphasis on the features that enable efficient implementation on platforms with multiple cores. A brief introduction to the methodologies that efficiently map RVC codec specifications to multicore platforms is accompanied with an example of the possible breakthroughs that are expected to occur in the design and deployment of multimedia services on multicore platforms