Patent ID: 6229852
Filing Date: 2001-05-08
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
Apparatus for decoding a stream of compressed video data, wherein the stream includes a plurality of variable length encoded data representing image areas of transmitted frames, comprising:a decoder for decoding a block of the variable length encoded data to generate a corresponding block of decompressed data for reconstruction of the transmitted frames;memory coupled to said decoder;a compressor coupled to said decoder and said memory for variable length encoding the block of decompressed data generated by said decoder for direct storage in said memory as variable length encoded data;a rate control circuit coupled to said compressor for controlling a rate at which said compressor stores said variable length encoded data in said memory, wherein said rate control circuit is operable to allocate a fixed number of bits for the block of variable length encoded data, monitor the number of bits generated by the compressor during the encoding of the block of decompressed data, and terminate the encoding of the block of decompressed data so that the allocated fixed number of bits for the block of variable length encoded data is not exceeded; anda decompressor coupled to said memory and said decoder for decoding selected variable length encoded data stored in said memory to generate corresponding decompressed data, whereby said decoder is operable to reconstruct one or more of the transmitted frames from said decompressed data generated by said decoder and said decompressed data generated by said decompressor.