Patent ID: 9749650
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: H04N

Claim:
1. A method for performing motion estimation in a video encoder, comprising: at a motion estimator of the video encoder: setting a target complexity for a macroblock of a source frame, wherein the target complexity represents a maximum number of motion estimation searches that are allowed for the macroblock; and performing, by at least one processor or circuit, motion estimation for at least a subset of a plurality of partitions of the macroblock containing more than one type of partition, including at least one rectangular or square-shaped partition and at least one partition of a different size wherein after finishing motion estimation for a partition in the plurality of partitions of the macroblock, motion estimation for another partition in the plurality of partitions of the macroblock is performed until the target complexity is met, wherein the motion estimation is performed using at least one reference picture for each of the at least one of the plurality of partitions of the macroblock, and wherein the at least one reference picture comprises one or more reference pictures for a predictive picture or two or more reference pictures for a bi-predictive picture.