Patent ID: 9020047
Filing Date: 2015-04-28
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image decoding apparatus that decodes encoded image data composed of a plurality of pieces of partial data, the image decoding apparatus comprising: a plurality of decoders; an attribute information acquisition unit operable to acquire attribute information pieces each (i) affecting decoding processing time of a corresponding one of the plurality of pieces of partial data, and (ii) including at least a data amount of the corresponding one of the plurality of pieces of partial data; a processing ability acquisition unit operable to acquire, from each of the decoders, an information piece indicating a processing ability of a corresponding one of the decoders, the processing ability indicating a data amount that the decoder is able to process per unit time; a determination unit operable to determine which decoder decodes which of the plurality of pieces of partial data based on the acquired attribute information pieces on the plurality of pieces of partial data and the acquired information pieces indicating the processing ability of the corresponding one of the decoders; and a decoding unit operable to cause two or more of the decoders which have been determined in the determination unit to decode two or more corresponding pieces of the partial data in parallel, wherein the encoded image data corresponds to a single video stream, the decoders are capable of being changed such that a decoder not included in the decoders before the change is included in the decoders after the change and such that a decoder included in the decoders before the change is no longer included in the decoders after the change, and the processing ability acquisition unit acquires, from each of the decoders, the information piece indicating the processing ability of the corresponding one of the decoders when a total number of the decoders increases or decreases.