Slicing and tiling in video coding

A video coding mechanism is disclosed. The mechanism includes receiving at a decoder, a bitstream including a video coding layer (VCL) network abstraction layer (NAL) unit containing a slice of image data divided into a plurality of tiles. A number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit are determined. A number of entry point offsets for the tiles is also determined as one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. Each entry point offset indicates a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit. The number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The entry point offsets for the tiles are obtained based on the number of entry point offsets. The tiles are decoded at the entry point offsets to generate a reconstructed image.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to video coding, and is specifically related to partitioning images into slices, tiles, and coding tree units (CTUs) to support increased compression in video coding.

BACKGROUND

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes a method implemented in a decoder. The method comprises receiving, by a receiver of the decoder, a bitstream including a video coding layer (VCL) network abstraction layer (NAL) unit containing a slice of image data divided into a plurality of tiles. The method further comprises determining, by a processor of the decoder, a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. The method further comprises determining, by the processor, a number of entry point offsets for the tiles as one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit, wherein each entry point offset indicates a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein the number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The method further comprises obtaining, by the processor, the entry point offsets for the tiles based on the number of entry point offsets. The method further comprises decoding, by the processor, the tiles at the entry point offsets to generate a reconstructed image. In some systems, the number of entry point offsets for tiles in a slice is explicitly signaled. The disclosed system infers the number of entry point offsets to be one less than the number of tiles. By employing this inference, the number of entry point offsets can be omitted from the bitstream. Accordingly, the bitstream is further condensed. As such, the network resources used to transmit the bitstream are reduced. Further, memory resource usage at both the encoder and the decoder is reduced.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the entry point offsets for the tiles are obtained from a slice header associated with the slice.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the bitstream includes a plurality of VCL NAL units, and wherein each VCL NAL unit contains a single slice of image data divided into an integer number of tiles. In some systems, slices and tiles are separate division schemes. By requiring slices to be sub-divided into tiles, information can be inferred. For example, some tile IDs in a slice can be inferred by a first and last tile in the slice. In addition, slice boundaries can be signaled based tile ID and not relative position of the slice in a frame. This in turn supports an addressing scheme where slice headers need not be rewritten when signaling a sub-frame. Accordingly, the bitstream can be further condensed in some example, which saves memory resources and network communication resources. Further, the processing resources can be saved at the encoder and/or decoder.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the image data is coded as a plurality of coding tree units (CTUs) contained in each of the tiles, and wherein addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit are assigned based on tile identifiers (IDs) corresponding to the tiles. For example, addressing the CTUs based on tile ID allows addresses to be inferred based on tile ID, which may condense the bitstream. Further, tile based addressing for CTUs supports CTUs coding without reference to coding processes occurring outside the present slice. As such, addressing the CTUs based on tile ID supports parallel processing, and hence supports increased decoding speed at the decoder.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein decoding the tiles includes decoding the CTUs based on addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit that are explicitly signaled in the slice header.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein decoding the tiles includes: determining, by the processor, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit based on a tile ID of a first tile contained in the VCL NAL unit; and decoding, by the processor, the CTUs based on the addresses of the CTUs.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the CTUs do not contain a flag indicating a last CTU in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein the VCL NAL unit contains a padding bit immediately following a last CTU in each tile. In some systems, a flag is employed in each CTU that indicates whether or not the current CTU is the last CTU in a VCL NAL unit. In the present disclosure, the slices and CTUs are addressed based on tile ID, and a VCL NAL unit contains a single slice. Accordingly, the decoder can determine which CTU is the last CTU in a slice and hence the last CTU in the VCL NAL unit without such a flag. As a video sequence contains many frames and a frame contains many CTUs, omitting a bit of data from every CTU encoding can significantly condense a bitstream. As such, the network resources used to transmit the bitstream are reduced. Further, memory resource usage at both the encoder and the decoder is reduced.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, further comprising forwarding, by the processor, the reconstructed image toward a display as part of a reconstructed video sequence.

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes a method implemented in an encoder. The method comprises partitioning, by a processor of the encoder, an image into at least one slice and partitioning the at least one slice into a plurality of tiles. The method further comprises encoding, by the processor, the tiles into a bitstream in at least one VCL NAL unit. The method further comprises encoding, by the processor, a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit in the bitstream. The method further comprises encoding, by the processor, entry point offsets for the tiles in the bitstream, wherein the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein a number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The method further comprises transmitting, by a transmitter of the encoder, the bitstream without the number of entry point offsets to support decoding the tiles according to an inference that the number of entry point offsets for the tiles is one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. In some systems, the number of entry point offsets for tiles in a slice is explicitly signaled. The disclosed system infers the number of entry point offsets to be one less than the number of tiles. By employing this inference, the number of entry point offsets can be omitted from the bitstream. Accordingly, the bitstream is further condensed. As such, the network resources used to transmit the bitstream are reduced. Further, memory resource usage at both the encoder and the decoder is reduced.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the entry point offsets for the tiles are encoded in a slice header associated with the slice.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein bitstream includes a plurality of VCL NAL units, and wherein each VCL NAL unit contains a single slice of the image divided into an integer number of tiles. In some systems, slices and tiles are separate division schemes. By requiring slices to be sub-divided into tiles, information can be inferred. For example, some tile IDs in a slice can be inferred by a first and last tile in the slice. In addition, slice boundaries can be signaled based tile ID and not relative position of the slice in a frame. This in turn supports an addressing scheme where slice headers need not be rewritten when signaling a sub-frame. Accordingly, the bitstream can be further condensed in some example, which saves memory resources and network communication resources. Further, the processing resources can be saved at the encoder and/or decoder.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, partitioning the tiles into a plurality of CTUs; and assigning addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit based on tile identifiers (IDs) corresponding to the tiles. For example, addressing the CTUs based on tile ID allows addresses to be inferred based on tile ID, which may condense the bitstream. Further, tile based addressing for CTUs supports CTUs coding without reference to coding processes occurring outside the present slice. As such, addressing the CTUs based on tile ID supports parallel processing, and hence supports increased decoding speed at the decoder.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, further comprising explicitly signaling, in the slice header, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit are omitted from the bitstream to support a determination of the addresses of the CTUs at a decoder based on a tile ID of a first tile contained in the VCL NAL unit. In the present disclosure, the slices and CTUs are addressed based on tile ID, and a VCL NAL unit contains a single slice. Accordingly, the decoder can determine which CTU is the last CTU in a slice and hence the last CTU in the VCL NAL unit without such a flag. As a video sequence contains many frames and a frame contains many CTUs, omitting a bit of data from every CTU encoding can significantly condense a bitstream. As such, the network resources used to transmit the bitstream are reduced. Further, memory resource usage at both the encoder and the decoder is reduced.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the CTUs do not contain a flag indicating a last CTU in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein the VCL NAL unit contains a padding bit immediately following a last CTU in each tile.

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes a video coding device comprising: a processor, a receiver coupled to the processor, and a transmitter coupled to the processor, the processor, receiver, and transmitter configured to perform the method of any of the preceding aspects.

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a computer program product for use by a video coding device, the computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium such that when executed by a processor cause the video coding device to perform the method of any of the preceding aspects.

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes a decoder comprising a receiving means for receiving a bitstream including a VCL network abstraction layer (NAL) unit containing a slice of image data divided into a plurality of tiles. The decoder further comprises a determining means for determining a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit, and determining a number of entry point offsets for the tiles as one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit, wherein the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein the number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The decoder further comprises an obtaining means for obtaining the entry point offsets for the tiles based on the number of entry point offsets. The decoder further comprises a decoding means for decoding the tiles at the entry point offsets to generate a reconstructed image.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the encoder is further configured to perform the method of any of the preceding aspects.

In an embodiment, the disclosure includes an encoder comprising a partitioning means for partitioning an image into at least one slice and partitioning the at least one slice into a plurality of tiles. The encoder further comprises an encoding means for encoding the tiles into a bitstream in at least one VCL NAL unit, encoding a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit in the bitstream, and encoding entry point offsets for the tiles in the bitstream, wherein the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein a number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The encoder further comprises a transmitting means for transmitting the bitstream without the number of entry point offsets to support decoding the tiles according to an inference that the number of entry point offsets for the tiles is one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit.

Optionally, in any of the preceding aspects, another implementation of the aspect provides, wherein the encoder is further configured to perform the method of any of the preceding aspects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Many video compression techniques can be employed to reduce the size of video files with minimal loss of data. For example, video compression techniques can include performing spatial (e.g., intra-picture) prediction and/or temporal (e.g., inter-picture) prediction to reduce or remove data redundancy in video sequences. For block-based video coding, a video slice (e.g., a video picture or a portion of a video picture) may be partitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to as treeblocks, coding tree blocks (CTBs), coding tree units (CTUs), coding units (CUs), and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in an intra-coded (I) slice of a picture are coded using spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture. Video blocks in an inter-coded unidirectional prediction (P) or bidirectional prediction (B) slice of a picture may be coded by employing spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect to reference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referred to as frames and/or images, and reference pictures may be referred to as reference frames and/or reference images. Spatial or temporal prediction results in a predictive block representing an image block. Residual data represents pixel differences between the original image block and the predictive block. Accordingly, an inter-coded block is encoded according to a motion vector that points to a block of reference samples forming the predictive block and the residual data indicating the difference between the coded block and the predictive block. An intra-coded block is encoded according to an intra-coding mode and the residual data. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain. These result in residual transform coefficients, which may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients may initially be arranged in a two-dimensional array. The quantized transform coefficients may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients. Entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression. Such video compression techniques are discussed in greater detail below.

To ensure an encoded video can be accurately decoded, video is encoded and decoded according to corresponding video coding standards. Video coding standards include International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Standardization Sector (ITU-T) H.261, International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1 Part 2, ITU-T H.262 or ISO/IEC MPEG-2 Part 2, ITU-T H.263, ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Part 2, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also known as ITU-T H.264 or ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Part 10, and High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as ITU-T H.265 or MPEG-H Part 2. AVC includes extensions such as Scalable Video Coding (SVC), Multiview Video Coding (MVC) and Multiview Video Coding plus Depth (MVC+D), and three dimensional (3D) AVC (3D-AVC). HEVC includes extensions such as Scalable HEVC (SHVC), Multiview HEVC (MV-HEVC), and 3D HEVC (3D-HEVC). The joint video experts team (JVET) of ITU-T and ISO/IEC has begun developing a video coding standard referred to as Versatile Video Coding (VVC). VVC is included in a Working Draft (WD), which includes JVET-K1001-v4 and JVET-K1002-v1.

In order to code a video image, the image is first partitioned, and the partitions are coded into a bitstream. Various picture partitioning schemes are available. For example, an image can be partitioned into regular slices, dependent slices, tiles, and/or according to Wavefront Parallel Processing (WPP). For simplicity, HEVC restricts encoders so that only regular slices, dependent slices, tiles, WPP, and combinations thereof can be used when partitioning a slice into groups of CTBs for video coding. Such partitioning can be applied to support Maximum Transfer Unit (MTU) size matching, parallel processing, and reduced end-to-end delay. MTU denotes the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted in a single packet. If a packet payload is in excess of the MTU, that payload is split into two packets through a process called fragmentation.

A regular slice, also referred to simply as a slice, is a partitioned portion of an image that can be reconstructed independently from other regular slices within the same picture, notwithstanding some interdependencies due to loop filtering operations. Each regular slice is encapsulated in its own Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) unit for transmission. Further, in-picture prediction (intra sample prediction, motion information prediction, coding mode prediction) and entropy coding dependency across slice boundaries may be disabled to support independent reconstruction. Such independent reconstruction supports parallelization. For example, regular slice based parallelization employs minimal inter-processor or inter-core communication. However, as each regular slice is independent, each slice is associated with a separate slice header. The use of regular slices can incur a substantial coding overhead due to the bit cost of the slice header for each slice and due to the lack of prediction across the slice boundaries. Further, regular slices may be employed to support matching for MTU size requirements. Specifically, as a regular slice is encapsulated in a separate NAL unit and can be independently coded, each regular slice should be smaller than the MTU in MTU schemes to avoid breaking the slice into multiple packets. As such, the goal of parallelization and the goal of MTU size matching may place contradicting demands to a slice layout in a picture.

Dependent slices are similar to regular slices, but have shortened slice headers and allow partitioning of the image treeblock boundaries without breaking in-picture prediction. Accordingly, dependent slices allow a regular slice to be fragmented into multiple NAL units, which provides reduced end-to-end delay by allowing a part of a regular slice to be sent out before the encoding of the entire regular slice is complete.

A tile is a partitioned portion of an image created by horizontal and vertical boundaries that create columns and rows of tiles. Tiles may be coded in raster scan order (right to left and top to bottom). The scan order of CTBs is local within a tile. Accordingly, CTBs in a first tile are coded in raster scan order, before proceeding to the CTBs in the next tile. Similar to regular slices, tiles break in-picture prediction dependencies as well as entropy decoding dependencies. However, tiles may not be included into individual NAL units, and hence tiles may not be used for MTU size matching. Each tile can be processed by one processor/core, and the inter-processor/inter-core communication employed for in-picture prediction between processing units decoding neighboring tiles may be limited to conveying a shared slice header (when adjacent tiles are in the same slice), and performing loop filtering related sharing of reconstructed samples and metadata. When more than one tile is included in a slice, the entry point byte offset for each tile other than the first entry point offset in the slice may be signaled in the slice header. For each slice and tile, at least one of the following conditions should be fulfilled: 1) all coded treeblocks in a slice belong to the same tile; and 2) all coded treeblocks in a tile belong to the same slice.

In WPP, the image is partitioned into single rows of CTBs. Entropy decoding and prediction mechanisms may use data from CTBs in other rows. Parallel processing is made possible through parallel decoding of CTB rows. For example, a current row may be decoded in parallel with a preceding row. However, decoding of the current row is delayed from the decoding process of the preceding rows by two CTBs. This delay ensures that data related to the CTB above and the CTB above and to the right of the current CTB in the current row is available before the current CTB is coded. This approach appears as a wavefront when represented graphically. This staggered start allows for parallelization with up to as many processors/cores as the image contains CTB rows. Because in-picture prediction between neighboring treeblock rows within a picture is permitted, the inter-processor/inter-core communication to enable in-picture prediction can be substantial. The WPP partitioning does consider NAL unit sizes. Hence, WPP does not support MTU size matching. However, regular slices can be used in conjunction with WPP, with certain coding overhead, to implement MTU size matching as desired.

Tiles may also include motion constrained tile sets. A motion constrained tile set (MCTS) is a tile set designed such that associated motion vectors are restricted to point to full-sample locations inside the MCTS and to fractional-sample locations that require only full-sample locations inside the MCTS for interpolation. Further, the usage of motion vector candidates for temporal motion vector prediction derived from blocks outside the MCTS is disallowed. This way, each MCTS may be independently decoded without the existence of tiles not included in the MCTS. Temporal MCTSs supplemental enhancement information (SEI) messages may be used to indicate the existence of MCTSs in the bitstream and signal the MCTSs. The MCTSs SEI message provides supplemental information that can be used in the MCTS sub-bitstream extraction (specified as part of the semantics of the SEI message) to generate a conforming bitstream for a MCTS. The information includes a number of extraction information sets, each defining a number of MCTSs and containing raw bytes sequence payload (RBSP) bytes of the replacement video parameter sets (VPSs), sequence parameter sets (SPSs), and picture parameter sets (PPSs) to be used during the MCTS sub-bitstream extraction process. When extracting a sub-bitstream according to the MCTS sub-bitstream extraction process, parameter sets (VPSs, SPSs, and PPSs) may be rewritten or replaced, and slice headers may updated because one or all of the slice address related syntax elements (including first_slice_segment_in_pic_flag and slice_segment_address) may employ different values in the extracted sub-bitstream.

The preceding tiling and slicing mechanisms provide significant flexibility to support MTU size matching and parallel processing. However, MTU size matching has become less relevant due to the ever increasing speed and reliability of telecommunication networks. For example, one of the primary uses of MTU size matching is to support displaying error-concealed pictures. An error-concealed picture is a decoded picture that is created from a transmitted coded picture when there is some data loss. Such data loss can include a loss of some slices of a coded picture or errors in reference pictures used by the coded picture (e.g., the reference picture is also an error-concealed picture). An error-concealed picture can be created by displaying the correct slices and estimating the erroneous slices, for example by copying a slice corresponding to the erroneous slice from the previous picture in the video sequence. Error-concealed pictures can be generated when each slice is contained in a single NAL unit. However, if slices are fragmented over multiple NAL units (e.g., no MTU size matching), the loss of one NAL unit can corrupt multiple slices. Generation of error-concealed pictures is less relevant in modern network environments as packet loss is a much less common occurrence and because modern network speeds allow the system to completely omit pictures with errors without causing significant video freezing as the delay between an erroneous picture and a following error-less picture is generally small. Further, the process for estimating the quality of an error-concealed picture may be complicated, and hence simply omitting the erroneous picture may be preferable. Consequently, video conversational applications, such as video conferencing and video telephony, and even broadcast applications generally forgo using error-concealed pictures.

As error-concealed pictures are less useful, MTU size matching is less useful. Further, continuing to support MTU size matching paradigms when partitioning may unnecessarily complicate coding systems and as well as use waste bits that could otherwise be omitted to increase coding efficiency. In addition, some tiling schemes (e.g., MCTS) allow sub-pictures of a picture to be displayed. In order to display a sub-picture, slices in a region of interest are displayed and other slices are omitted. The region of interest may begin at a location other than the top-left portion of the picture, and may therefore have addresses that are offset from the start of the picture by a variable value. In order to properly display the sub-image, a splicer may be used to rewrite the slice header(s) for the region of interest to account for this offset. A slicing and tiling scheme that did not require such slice header rewriting would be beneficial. In addition, tile boundaries may not be treated as picture boundaries unless they are collocated with picture boundaries. However, treating tile boundaries as picture boundaries may increase coding efficiency in some cases due to the padding of the boundaries and due to relaxing constraints related to motion vectors that point to samples outside the boundaries in the reference pictures. Also, HEVC may employ a flag named end_of_slice_flag at the end of the coded data for each CTU to indicate whether the end of the slice has been reached. AVC employs this flag at the end of the coded data for each macroblock (MB) for the same purpose. However, coding of this flag is unnecessary and a waste of bits when the last CTU/MB is known through other mechanisms. The present disclosure presents mechanisms to address these and other issues in the video coding arts.

Disclosed herein are various mechanisms to increase the coding efficiency and reduce processing overhead associated with the slicing and tiling schemes discussed above. In an example, slices are required to include an integer number of tiles and each slice is stored in a separate Video Coding Layer (VCL) NAL unit. Further, the number of tiles in a slice can be computed based on the upper left corner tile and the bottom-right corner tile of a slice. The number of tiles can then be employed to compute other values that can hence be omitted from the bitstream. As a specific example, the address of each tile in a bitstream is an entry point offset from the beginning of the slice and hence the beginning of the VCL NAL unit. The number of entry point offsets can be computed as one less than the number of tiles (as the first tile has an offset of zero and is hence omitted). The number of entry point offsets can then be used when retrieving the entry point offsets for the tiles from a slice header corresponding to the slice. In addition, the CTUs in the tiles may be addressed as a function of a tile identifier (ID) containing the corresponding CTUs. The addresses of the CTUs can then be explicitly signaled or derived, depending on the embodiment, based on the tile IDs and the computed number of tiles. Further, the knowledge of the number of tiles in the VCL NAL unit and the number of CTUs in the tiles allows a decoder to determine the last CTU in a VCL NAL unit. Accordingly, the end_of_slice_flag that was previously included in each CTU to indicate the last CTU in the slice can be omitted from the bitstream, which results in a savings of one bit for each CTU in the entire video sequence. These and other examples are described in detail below.

FIG. 1is a flowchart of an example operating method100of coding a video signal. Specifically, a video signal is encoded at an encoder. The encoding process compresses the video signal by employing various mechanisms to reduce the video file size. A smaller file size allows the compressed video file to be transmitted toward a user, while reducing associated bandwidth overhead. The decoder then decodes the compressed video file to reconstruct the original video signal for display to an end user. The decoding process generally mirrors the encoding process to allow the decoder to consistently reconstruct the video signal.

At step101, the video signal is input into the encoder. For example, the video signal may be an uncompressed video file stored in memory. As another example, the video file may be captured by a video capture device, such as a video camera, and encoded to support live streaming of the video. The video file may include both an audio component and a video component. The video component contains a series of image frames that, when viewed in a sequence, gives the visual impression of motion. The frames contain pixels that are expressed in terms of light, referred to herein as luma components (or luma samples), and color, which is referred to as chroma components (or color samples). In some examples, the frames may also contain depth values to support three dimensional viewing.

At step103, the video is partitioned into blocks. Partitioning includes subdividing the pixels in each frame into square and/or rectangular blocks for compression. For example, in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) (also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2) the frame can first be divided into coding tree units (CTUs), which are blocks of a predefined size (e.g., sixty-four pixels by sixty-four pixels). The CTUs contain both luma and chroma samples. Coding trees may be employed to divide the CTUs into blocks and then recursively subdivide the blocks until configurations are achieved that support further encoding. For example, luma components of a frame may be subdivided until the individual blocks contain relatively homogenous lighting values. Further, chroma components of a frame may be subdivided until the individual blocks contain relatively homogenous color values. Accordingly, partitioning mechanisms vary depending on the content of the video frames.

At step105, various compression mechanisms are employed to compress the image blocks partitioned at step103. For example, inter-prediction and/or intra-prediction may be employed. Inter-prediction is designed to take advantage of the fact that objects in a common scene tend to appear in successive frames. Accordingly, a block depicting an object in a reference frame need not be repeatedly described in adjacent frames. Specifically, an object, such as a table, may remain in a constant position over multiple frames. Hence the table is described once and adjacent frames can refer back to the reference frame. Pattern matching mechanisms may be employed to match objects over multiple frames. Further, moving objects may be represented across multiple frames, for example due to object movement or camera movement. As a particular example, a video may show an automobile that moves across the screen over multiple frames. Motion vectors can be employed to describe such movement. A motion vector is a two-dimensional vector that provides an offset from the coordinates of an object in a frame to the coordinates of the object in a reference frame. As such, inter-prediction can encode an image block in a current frame as a set of motion vectors indicating an offset from a corresponding block in a reference frame.

Intra-prediction encodes blocks in a common frame. Intra-prediction takes advantage of the fact that luma and chroma components tend to cluster in a frame. For example, a patch of green in a portion of a tree tends to be positioned adjacent to similar patches of green. Intra-prediction employs multiple directional prediction modes (e.g., thirty-three in HEVC), a planar mode, and a direct current (DC) mode. The directional modes indicate that a current block is similar/the same as samples of a neighbor block in a corresponding direction. Planar mode indicates that a series of blocks along a row/column (e.g., a plane) can be interpolated based on neighbor blocks at the edges of the row. Planar mode, in effect, indicates a smooth transition of light/color across a row/column by employing a relatively constant slope in changing values. DC mode is employed for boundary smoothing and indicates that a block is similar/the same as an average value associated with samples of all the neighbor blocks associated with the angular directions of the directional prediction modes. Accordingly, intra-prediction blocks can represent image blocks as various relational prediction mode values instead of the actual values. Further, inter-prediction blocks can represent image blocks as motion vector values instead of the actual values. In either case, the prediction blocks may not exactly represent the image blocks in some cases. Any differences are stored in residual blocks. Transforms may be applied to the residual blocks to further compress the file.

At step107, various filtering techniques may be applied. In HEVC, the filters are applied according to an in-loop filtering scheme. The block based prediction discussed above may result in the creation of blocky images at the decoder. Further, the block based prediction scheme may encode a block and then reconstruct the encoded block for later use as a reference block. The in-loop filtering scheme iteratively applies noise suppression filters, de-blocking filters, adaptive loop filters, and sample adaptive offset (SAO) filters to the blocks/frames. These filters mitigate such blocking artifacts so that the encoded file can be accurately reconstructed. Further, these filters mitigate artifacts in the reconstructed reference blocks so that artifacts are less likely to create additional artifacts in subsequent blocks that are encoded based on the reconstructed reference blocks.

Once the video signal has been partitioned, compressed, and filtered, the resulting data is encoded in a bitstream at step109. The bitstream includes the data discussed above as well as any signaling data desired to support proper video signal reconstruction at the decoder. For example, such data may include partition data, prediction data, residual blocks, and various flags providing coding instructions to the decoder. The bitstream may be stored in memory for transmission toward a decoder upon request. The bitstream may also be broadcast and/or multicast toward a plurality of decoders. The creation of the bitstream is an iterative process. Accordingly, steps101,103,105,107, and109may occur continuously and/or simultaneously over many frames and blocks. The order shown inFIG. 1is presented for clarity and ease of discussion, and is not intended to limit the video coding process to a particular order.

The decoder receives the bitstream and begins the decoding process at step111. Specifically, the decoder employs an entropy decoding scheme to convert the bitstream into corresponding syntax and video data. The decoder employs the syntax data from the bitstream to determine the partitions for the frames at step111. The partitioning should match the results of block partitioning at step103. Entropy encoding/decoding as employed in step111is now described. The encoder makes many choices during the compression process, such as selecting block partitioning schemes from several possible choices based on the spatial positioning of values in the input image(s). Signaling the exact choices may employ a large number of bins. As used herein, a bin is a binary value that is treated as a variable (e.g., a bit value that may vary depending on context). Entropy coding allows the encoder to discard any options that are clearly not viable for a particular case, leaving a set of allowable options. Each allowable option is then assigned a code word. The length of the code words is based on the number of allowable options (e.g., one bin for two options, two bins for three to four options, etc.) The encoder then encodes the code word for the selected option. This scheme reduces the size of the code words as the code words are as big as desired to uniquely indicate a selection from a small sub-set of allowable options as opposed to uniquely indicating the selection from a potentially large set of all possible options. The decoder then decodes the selection by determining the set of allowable options in a similar manner to the encoder. By determining the set of allowable options, the decoder can read the code word and determine the selection made by the encoder.

At step113, the decoder performs block decoding. Specifically, the decoder employs reverse transforms to generate residual blocks. Then the decoder employs the residual blocks and corresponding prediction blocks to reconstruct the image blocks according to the partitioning. The prediction blocks may include both intra-prediction blocks and inter-prediction blocks as generated at the encoder at step105. The reconstructed image blocks are then positioned into frames of a reconstructed video signal according to the partitioning data determined at step111. Syntax for step113may also be signaled in the bitstream via entropy coding as discussed above.

At step115, filtering is performed on the frames of the reconstructed video signal in a manner similar to step107at the encoder. For example, noise suppression filters, de-blocking filters, adaptive loop filters, and SAO filters may be applied to the frames to remove blocking artifacts. Once the frames are filtered, the video signal can be output to a display at step117for viewing by an end user.

FIG. 2is a schematic diagram of an example coding and decoding (codec) system200for video coding. Specifically, codec system200provides functionality to support the implementation of operating method100. Codec system200is generalized to depict components employed in both an encoder and a decoder. Codec system200receives and partitions a video signal as discussed with respect to steps101and103in operating method100, which results in a partitioned video signal201. Codec system200then compresses the partitioned video signal201into a coded bitstream when acting as an encoder as discussed with respect to steps105,107, and109in method100. When acting as a decoder codec system200generates an output video signal from the bitstream as discussed with respect to steps111,113,115, and117in operating method100. The codec system200includes a general coder control component211, a transform scaling and quantization component213, an intra-picture estimation component215, an intra-picture prediction component217, a motion compensation component219, a motion estimation component221, a scaling and inverse transform component229, a filter control analysis component227, an in-loop filters component225, a decoded picture buffer component223, and a header formatting and context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) component231. Such components are coupled as shown. InFIG. 2, black lines indicate movement of data to be encoded/decoded while dashed lines indicate movement of control data that controls the operation of other components. The components of codec system200may all be present in the encoder. The decoder may include a subset of the components of codec system200. For example, the decoder may include the intra-picture prediction component217, the motion compensation component219, the scaling and inverse transform component229, the in-loop filters component225, and the decoded picture buffer component223. These components are now described.

The partitioned video signal201is a captured video sequence that has been partitioned into blocks of pixels by a coding tree. A coding tree employs various split modes to subdivide a block of pixels into smaller blocks of pixels. These blocks can then be further subdivided into smaller blocks. The blocks may be referred to as nodes on the coding tree. Larger parent nodes are split into smaller child nodes. The number of times a node is subdivided is referred to as the depth of the node/coding tree. The divided blocks can be included in coding units (CUs) in some cases. For example, a CU can be a sub-portion of a CTU that contains a luma block, red difference chroma (Cr) block(s), and a blue difference chroma (Cb) block(s) along with corresponding syntax instructions for the CU. The split modes may include a binary tree (BT), triple tree (TT), and a quad tree (QT) employed to partition a node into two, three, or four child nodes, respectively, of varying shapes depending on the split modes employed. The partitioned video signal201is forwarded to the general coder control component211, the transform scaling and quantization component213, the intra-picture estimation component215, the filter control analysis component227, and the motion estimation component221for compression.

The general coder control component211is configured to make decisions related to coding of the images of the video sequence into the bitstream according to application constraints. For example, the general coder control component211manages optimization of bitrate/bitstream size versus reconstruction quality. Such decisions may be made based on storage space/bandwidth availability and image resolution requests. The general coder control component211also manages buffer utilization in light of transmission speed to mitigate buffer underrun and overrun issues. To manage these issues, the general coder control component211manages partitioning, prediction, and filtering by the other components. For example, the general coder control component211may dynamically increase compression complexity to increase resolution and increase bandwidth usage or decrease compression complexity to decrease resolution and bandwidth usage. Hence, the general coder control component211controls the other components of codec system200to balance video signal reconstruction quality with bit rate concerns. The general coder control component211creates control data, which controls the operation of the other components. The control data is also forwarded to the header formatting and CABAC component231to be encoded in the bitstream to signal parameters for decoding at the decoder.

The partitioned video signal201is also sent to the motion estimation component221and the motion compensation component219for inter-prediction. A frame or slice of the partitioned video signal201may be divided into multiple video blocks. Motion estimation component221and the motion compensation component219perform inter-predictive coding of the received video block relative to one or more blocks in one or more reference frames to provide temporal prediction. Codec system200may perform multiple coding passes, e.g., to select an appropriate coding mode for each block of video data.

Motion estimation component221and motion compensation component219may be highly integrated, but are illustrated separately for conceptual purposes. Motion estimation, performed by motion estimation component221, is the process of generating motion vectors, which estimate motion for video blocks. A motion vector, for example, may indicate the displacement of a coded object relative to a predictive block. A predictive block is a block that is found to closely match the block to be coded, in terms of pixel difference. A predictive block may also be referred to as a reference block. Such pixel difference may be determined by sum of absolute difference (SAD), sum of square difference (SSD), or other difference metrics. HEVC employs several coded objects including a CTU, coding tree blocks (CTBs), and CUs. For example, a CTU can be divided into CTBs, which can then be divided into CBs for inclusion in CUs. A CU can be encoded as a prediction unit (PU) containing prediction data and/or a transform unit (TU) containing transformed residual data for the CU. The motion estimation component221generates motion vectors, PUs, and TUs by using a rate-distortion analysis as part of a rate distortion optimization process. For example, the motion estimation component221may determine multiple reference blocks, multiple motion vectors, etc. for a current block/frame, and may select the reference blocks, motion vectors, etc. having the best rate-distortion characteristics. The best rate-distortion characteristics balance both quality of video reconstruction (e.g., amount of data loss by compression) with coding efficiency (e.g., size of the final encoding).

In some examples, codec system200may calculate values for sub-integer pixel positions of reference pictures stored in decoded picture buffer component223. For example, video codec system200may interpolate values of one-quarter pixel positions, one-eighth pixel positions, or other fractional pixel positions of the reference picture. Therefore, motion estimation component221may perform a motion search relative to the full pixel positions and fractional pixel positions and output a motion vector with fractional pixel precision. The motion estimation component221calculates a motion vector for a PU of a video block in an inter-coded slice by comparing the position of the PU to the position of a predictive block of a reference picture. Motion estimation component221outputs the calculated motion vector as motion data to header formatting and CABAC component231for encoding and motion to the motion compensation component219.

Motion compensation, performed by motion compensation component219, may involve fetching or generating the predictive block based on the motion vector determined by motion estimation component221. Again, motion estimation component221and motion compensation component219may be functionally integrated, in some examples. Upon receiving the motion vector for the PU of the current video block, motion compensation component219may locate the predictive block to which the motion vector points. A residual video block is then formed by subtracting pixel values of the predictive block from the pixel values of the current video block being coded, forming pixel difference values. In general, motion estimation component221performs motion estimation relative to luma components, and motion compensation component219uses motion vectors calculated based on the luma components for both chroma components and luma components. The predictive block and residual block are forwarded to transform scaling and quantization component213.

The partitioned video signal201is also sent to intra-picture estimation component215and intra-picture prediction component217. As with motion estimation component221and motion compensation component219, intra-picture estimation component215and intra-picture prediction component217may be highly integrated, but are illustrated separately for conceptual purposes. The intra-picture estimation component215and intra-picture prediction component217intra-predict a current block relative to blocks in a current frame, as an alternative to the inter-prediction performed by motion estimation component221and motion compensation component219between frames, as described above. In particular, the intra-picture estimation component215determines an intra-prediction mode to use to encode a current block. In some examples, intra-picture estimation component215selects an appropriate intra-prediction mode to encode a current block from multiple tested intra-prediction modes. The selected intra-prediction modes are then forwarded to the header formatting and CABAC component231for encoding.

For example, the intra-picture estimation component215calculates rate-distortion values using a rate-distortion analysis for the various tested intra-prediction modes, and selects the intra-prediction mode having the best rate-distortion characteristics among the tested modes. Rate-distortion analysis generally determines an amount of distortion (or error) between an encoded block and an original unencoded block that was encoded to produce the encoded block, as well as a bitrate (e.g., a number of bits) used to produce the encoded block. The intra-picture estimation component215calculates ratios from the distortions and rates for the various encoded blocks to determine which intra-prediction mode exhibits the best rate-distortion value for the block. In addition, intra-picture estimation component215may be configured to code depth blocks of a depth map using a depth modeling mode (DMM) based on rate-distortion optimization (RDO).

The intra-picture prediction component217may generate a residual block from the predictive block based on the selected intra-prediction modes determined by intra-picture estimation component215when implemented on an encoder or read the residual block from the bitstream when implemented on a decoder. The residual block includes the difference in values between the predictive block and the original block, represented as a matrix. The residual block is then forwarded to the transform scaling and quantization component213. The intra-picture estimation component215and the intra-picture prediction component217may operate on both luma and chroma components.

The transform scaling and quantization component213is configured to further compress the residual block. The transform scaling and quantization component213applies a transform, such as a discrete cosine transform (DCT), a discrete sine transform (DST), or a conceptually similar transform, to the residual block, producing a video block comprising residual transform coefficient values. Wavelet transforms, integer transforms, sub-band transforms or other types of transforms could also be used. The transform may convert the residual information from a pixel value domain to a transform domain, such as a frequency domain. The transform scaling and quantization component213is also configured to scale the transformed residual information, for example based on frequency. Such scaling involves applying a scale factor to the residual information so that different frequency information is quantized at different granularities, which may affect final visual quality of the reconstructed video. The transform scaling and quantization component213is also configured to quantize the transform coefficients to further reduce bit rate. The quantization process may reduce the bit depth associated with some or all of the coefficients. The degree of quantization may be modified by adjusting a quantization parameter. In some examples, the transform scaling and quantization component213may then perform a scan of the matrix including the quantized transform coefficients. The quantized transform coefficients are forwarded to the header formatting and CABAC component231to be encoded in the bitstream.

The scaling and inverse transform component229applies a reverse operation of the transform scaling and quantization component213to support motion estimation. The scaling and inverse transform component229applies inverse scaling, transformation, and/or quantization to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as a reference block which may become a predictive block for another current block. The motion estimation component221and/or motion compensation component219may calculate a reference block by adding the residual block back to a corresponding predictive block for use in motion estimation of a later block/frame. Filters are applied to the reconstructed reference blocks to mitigate artifacts created during scaling, quantization, and transform. Such artifacts could otherwise cause inaccurate prediction (and create additional artifacts) when subsequent blocks are predicted.

The filter control analysis component227and the in-loop filters component225apply the filters to the residual blocks and/or to reconstructed image blocks. For example, the transformed residual block from the scaling and inverse transform component229may be combined with a corresponding prediction block from intra-picture prediction component217and/or motion compensation component219to reconstruct the original image block. The filters may then be applied to the reconstructed image block. In some examples, the filters may instead be applied to the residual blocks. As with other components inFIG. 2, the filter control analysis component227and the in-loop filters component225are highly integrated and may be implemented together, but are depicted separately for conceptual purposes. Filters applied to the reconstructed reference blocks are applied to particular spatial regions and include multiple parameters to adjust how such filters are applied. The filter control analysis component227analyzes the reconstructed reference blocks to determine where such filters should be applied and sets corresponding parameters. Such data is forwarded to the header formatting and CABAC component231as filter control data for encoding. The in-loop filters component225applies such filters based on the filter control data. The filters may include a deblocking filter, a noise suppression filter, a SAO filter, and an adaptive loop filter. Such filters may be applied in the spatial/pixel domain (e.g., on a reconstructed pixel block) or in the frequency domain, depending on the example.

When operating as an encoder, the filtered reconstructed image block, residual block, and/or prediction block are stored in the decoded picture buffer component223for later use in motion estimation as discussed above. When operating as a decoder, the decoded picture buffer component223stores and forwards the reconstructed and filtered blocks toward a display as part of an output video signal. The decoded picture buffer component223may be any memory device capable of storing prediction blocks, residual blocks, and/or reconstructed image blocks.

The header formatting and CABAC component231receives the data from the various components of codec system200and encodes such data into a coded bitstream for transmission toward a decoder. Specifically, the header formatting and CABAC component231generates various headers to encode control data, such as general control data and filter control data. Further, prediction data, including intra-prediction and motion data, as well as residual data in the form of quantized transform coefficient data are all encoded in the bitstream. The final bitstream includes all information desired by the decoder to reconstruct the original partitioned video signal201. Such information may also include intra-prediction mode index tables (also referred to as codeword mapping tables), definitions of encoding contexts for various blocks, indications of most probable intra-prediction modes, an indication of partition information, etc. Such data may be encoded by employing entropy coding. For example, the information may be encoded by employing context adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), CABAC, syntax-based context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (SBAC), probability interval partitioning entropy (PIPE) coding, or another entropy coding technique. Following the entropy coding, the coded bitstream may be transmitted to another device (e.g., a video decoder) or archived for later transmission or retrieval.

FIG. 3is a block diagram illustrating an example video encoder300. Video encoder300may be employed to implement the encoding functions of codec system200and/or implement steps101,103,105,107, and/or109of operating method100. Encoder300partitions an input video signal, resulting in a partitioned video signal301, which is substantially similar to the partitioned video signal201. The partitioned video signal301is then compressed and encoded into a bitstream by components of encoder300.

Specifically, the partitioned video signal301is forwarded to an intra-picture prediction component317for intra-prediction. The intra-picture prediction component317may be substantially similar to intra-picture estimation component215and intra-picture prediction component217. The partitioned video signal301is also forwarded to a motion compensation component321for inter-prediction based on reference blocks in a decoded picture buffer component323. The motion compensation component321may be substantially similar to motion estimation component221and motion compensation component219. The prediction blocks and residual blocks from the intra-picture prediction component317and the motion compensation component321are forwarded to a transform and quantization component313for transform and quantization of the residual blocks. The transform and quantization component313may be substantially similar to the transform scaling and quantization component213. The transformed and quantized residual blocks and the corresponding prediction blocks (along with associated control data) are forwarded to an entropy coding component331for coding into a bitstream. The entropy coding component331may be substantially similar to the header formatting and CABAC component231.

The transformed and quantized residual blocks and/or the corresponding prediction blocks are also forwarded from the transform and quantization component313to an inverse transform and quantization component329for reconstruction into reference blocks for use by the motion compensation component321. The inverse transform and quantization component329may be substantially similar to the scaling and inverse transform component229. In-loop filters in an in-loop filters component325are also applied to the residual blocks and/or reconstructed reference blocks, depending on the example. The in-loop filters component325may be substantially similar to the filter control analysis component227and the in-loop filters component225. The in-loop filters component325may include multiple filters as discussed with respect to in-loop filters component225. The filtered blocks are then stored in a decoded picture buffer component323for use as reference blocks by the motion compensation component321. The decoded picture buffer component323may be substantially similar to the decoded picture buffer component223.

FIG. 4is a block diagram illustrating an example video decoder400. Video decoder400may be employed to implement the decoding functions of codec system200and/or implement steps111,113,115, and/or117of operating method100. Decoder400receives a bitstream, for example from an encoder300, and generates a reconstructed output video signal based on the bitstream for display to an end user.

The bitstream is received by an entropy decoding component433. The entropy decoding component433is configured to implement an entropy decoding scheme, such as CAVLC, CABAC, SBAC, PIPE coding, or other entropy coding techniques. For example, the entropy decoding component433may employ header information to provide a context to interpret additional data encoded as codewords in the bitstream. The decoded information includes any desired information to decode the video signal, such as general control data, filter control data, partition information, motion data, prediction data, and quantized transform coefficients from residual blocks. The quantized transform coefficients are forwarded to an inverse transform and quantization component429for reconstruction into residual blocks. The inverse transform and quantization component429may be similar to inverse transform and quantization component329.

The reconstructed residual blocks and/or prediction blocks are forwarded to intra-picture prediction component417for reconstruction into image blocks based on intra-prediction operations. The intra-picture prediction component417may be similar to intra-picture estimation component215and an intra-picture prediction component217. Specifically, the intra-picture prediction component417employs prediction modes to locate a reference block in the frame and applies a residual block to the result to reconstruct intra-predicted image blocks. The reconstructed intra-predicted image blocks and/or the residual blocks and corresponding inter-prediction data are forwarded to a decoded picture buffer component423via an in-loop filters component425, which may be substantially similar to decoded picture buffer component223and in-loop filters component225, respectively. The in-loop filters component425filters the reconstructed image blocks, residual blocks and/or prediction blocks, and such information is stored in the decoded picture buffer component423. Reconstructed image blocks from decoded picture buffer component423are forwarded to a motion compensation component421for inter-prediction. The motion compensation component421may be substantially similar to motion estimation component221and/or motion compensation component219. Specifically, the motion compensation component421employs motion vectors from a reference block to generate a prediction block and applies a residual block to the result to reconstruct an image block. The resulting reconstructed blocks may also be forwarded via the in-loop filters component425to the decoded picture buffer component423. The decoded picture buffer component423continues to store additional reconstructed image blocks, which can be reconstructed into frames via the partition information. Such frames may also be placed in a sequence. The sequence is output toward a display as a reconstructed output video signal.

FIG. 5is a schematic diagram illustrating an example bitstream500containing an encoded video sequence. For example, the bitstream500can be generated by a codec system200and/or an encoder300for decoding by a codec system200and/or a decoder400. As another example, the bitstream500may be generated by an encoder at step109of method100for use by a decoder at step111.

The bitstream500includes a sequence parameter set (SPS)510, a plurality of picture parameter sets (PPSs)512, a plurality of slice headers514, and image data520. An SPS510contains sequence data common to all the pictures in the video sequence contained in the bitstream500. Such data can include picture sizing, bit depth, coding tool parameters, bit rate restrictions, etc. The PPS512contains parameters that are specific to each picture. Hence, there may be one PPS512per picture in the video sequence. The PPS512can indicate coding tools available for slices in corresponding pictures, quantization parameters, offsets, picture specific coding tool parameters (e.g., filter controls), etc. The slice header514contains parameters that are specific to each slice in a picture. Hence, there may be one slice header514per slice in the video sequence. The slice header514may contain slice type information, picture order counts (POCs), reference picture lists, prediction weights, tile entry points, deblocking parameters, etc.

The image data520contains video data encoded according to inter-prediction and/or intra-prediction as well as corresponding transformed and quantized residual data. Such image data520is sorted according to the partitioning used to partition the image prior to encoding. For example, the image in the image data520is divided into slices521. Each slice521is further divided into tiles523. The tiles523are further divided into CTUs527. The CTUs527are further divided into coding blocks based on coding trees. The coding blocks can then be encoded/decoded according to prediction mechanisms. An image/picture can contain one or more slices521. One slice header514is employed per slice521. Each slice521can contain one or more tiles523, which can then contain a plurality of CTUs527.

Each slice521may be a rectangle defined by a tile523at an upper-left corner and a tile523at a bottom-right corner. Unlike in other coding systems, a slice521may not traverse the entire width of a picture. A slice521is the smallest unit that can be separately displayed by a decoder. Hence, splitting slices521into smaller units allows for sub-pictures to be generated in a manner that is granular enough to display desired areas of a picture. For example, in a virtual reality (VR) context, a picture may contain an entire viewable sphere of data, but a user may only view a sub-picture on a head mounted display. Smaller slices521allows for such sub-pictures to be separately signaled. A slice521is also generally signaled in a separate VCL NAL unit533. Also, a slice521may not allow prediction based on other slices521, which allows each slice521to be coded independently of other slices521.

The slices521are partitioned into an integer number of tiles523. A tile523is a partitioned portion of a slice521created by horizontal and vertical boundaries. Tiles523may be coded in raster scan order, and may or may not allow prediction based on other tiles523, depending on the example. Each tile523may have a unique tile ID524in the picture. A tile ID524is a numerical identifier that can be used to distinguish one tile523from another. A tile ID524may take the value of a tile index that increases numerically in raster scan order. Raster scan order is left to right and top to bottom. The tile IDs524may also employ other numerical values. However, the tile ID524should always increase in raster scan order to support the computations discussed herein. For example, the boundaries of the slice521can be determined according to the tile ID524of the tile523at the upper-left corner of the slice521and the tile ID524of the tile523at the bottom-right corner of the slice521. When the tile ID524is a different value from a tile index, a conversion mechanism can be signaled in the bitstream500, for example in the PPS512. Further, each tile523may be associated with an entry point offset525. The entry point offset525indicates the location of the first bit of coded data associated with the tile523. The first tile523may have an entry point offset525of zero and further tiles523may each have an entry point offset525equal to the number of bits of coded data in preceding tiles523. As such, the number of entry point offsets525can be inferred to be one less than the number of tiles523.

Tiles523are further divided into CTUs527. A CTU527is a sub-portion of a tile523that can be further subdivided by a coding tree structure into coding blocks that can be encoded by an encoder and decoded by a decoder. The CTUs527are each associated with a CTU address529. A CTU address529denotes the location of a corresponding CTU527in the bitstream500. Specifically, a CTU address529may denote the location of a corresponding CTU527in a VCL NAL unit533. In some examples, the CTU addresses529for the CTUs527may be explicitly signaled, for example in the PPS512. In other examples, CTU addresses529can be derived by the decoder. For example, the CTU addresses529can be assigned based on the tile ID524of the tile523that contains the corresponding CTUs527. In such a case, the decoder can determine the tiles523in a slice521based on the tile IDs524of the upper-left and bottom-right tiles523. The decoder can then use the determined tiles523in the slice521to determine the number of CTUs527in the slice521. Further, the decoder can use the known tile IDs524and the number of CTUs527to determine the CTU addresses529. In addition, as the decoder is aware of the number of CTUs527, a flag that indicates whether each CTU527is the last CTU527in a VCL NAL unit533can be omitted. This is because the decoder can determine which CTU527is the last CTU527in a VCL NAL unit533by being aware of the number of CTUs527in the slice521, which is contained in the VCL NAL unit533. However, a padding bit may be placed after the last CTU527in a tile523in order to assist in distinguishing between tiles523in some examples. As can be seen, signaling slice521boundaries based on tile IDs524can allow the decoder to infer a significant amount of data, which can then be omitted from the bitstream500in order to increase coding efficiency.

The bitstream500is positioned into VCL NAL units533and Non-VCL NAL units531. A NAL unit is a coded data unit sized to be placed as a payload for a single packet for transmission over a network. A VCL NAL unit533is a NAL unit that contains coded video data. For example, each VCL NAL unit533may contain one slice521of data including corresponding tiles523, CTUs527, and coding blocks. A Non-VCL NAL unit531is a NAL unit that contains supporting syntax, but does not contain coded video data. For example, a Non-VCL NAL unit531may contain the SPS510, a PPS512, a slice header514, etc. As such, the decoder receives the bitstream500in discrete VCL NAL units533and Non-VCL NAL units531. In streaming applications, the decoder may decode present video data without waiting for the entire bitstream500to be received. As such, tile IDs524, entry point offsets525, and CTU addresses529allow the decoder to correctly locate the video data in the VCL NAL unit533for fast decoding, parallel processing, and other video display mechanisms. Accordingly, computing tile IDs524, entry point offsets525, and/or CTU addresses529allows for the implementation of efficient decoding and display mechanisms while reducing the size of the bitstream500and hence increasing coding efficiency.

FIG. 6is a schematic diagram illustrating an example image600partitioned for coding. For example, an image600can be encoded in and decoded from a bitstream500, for example by a codec system200, an encoder300, and/or a decoder400. Further, the image600can be partitioned to support encoding and decoding according to method100.

The image600can be partitioned into slices621, tiles623, and CTUs627, which may be substantially similar to slices521, tiles523, and CTUs527, respectively. InFIG. 6, the slices621are depicted by bold lines with alternative white backgrounds and hashing to graphically differentiate between slices621. The tiles623are shown by dashed lines. Tile623boundaries positioned on slice621boundaries are depicted as dashed bold lines and tile623boundaries that are not positioned on slice621boundaries are depicted as non-bold dashed lines. The CTU627boundaries are depicted as solid non-bold lines except for locations where the CTU627boundaries are covered by tile623or slice621boundaries. In this example, image600includes nine slices621, twenty four tiles623, and two hundred sixteen CTUs627.

As shown, a slice621is a rectangle with boundaries that may be defined by the included tiles623. The slice621may not extend across the entire width of the image600. Tiles623can be generated in the slices621according to rows and columns. CTUs627can then be partitioned from the tiles623to create image600partitions suitable to be subdivided into coding blocks for coding according to inter-prediction and/or intra-prediction.

By employing the forgoing, video coding systems can be improved. For example, slices are designed such that CTUs contained in a slice may not be simply a set of CTUs of a picture following a CTU raster scan order of the picture. But rather a slice is defined as a set of CTUs that cover a rectangular region of a picture. Further, each slice is in its own NAL unit. Also, the addresses of the CTUs contained in a slice can be signaled by signaling, in the slice header, the CTU addresses in raster scan order of the top-left and bottom-right CTUs in the slice. Further, slices are designed to contain and only contain a set of complete tiles covering a rectangular region of a picture. Each slice is in its own NAL unit. This way, the purpose of having more than one slice may be to put a set of tiles covering a rectangular region of a picture into a NAL unit. In some cases, there are one or more slices in a picture, and each of these slices can contain a set of complete tiles covering a rectangular region. There may also be one other slice in the picture covering the rest of the tiles of the picture. The region covered by this slice may be a rectangular region with a hole that is covered by other slices. For example, for region of interest purposes, a picture may contain two slices in which one slice contains a set of complete tiles covering the region of interest and the other slice contains the remaining tiles of the picture.

The addresses of the CTUs contained in a slice may be explicitly or implicitly signaled by the tile IDs of the tiles contained in the slice. For efficient signaling, only the tile IDs of the top-left and the bottom-right tiles may be signaled in some examples. For further improved signaling efficiency, a flag indicating whether the slice contains a single tile can signaled, and if yes, only one tile ID may be signaled. In other cases, all tile IDs contained in a slice are signaled. In some examples, tile ID values are assigned to be the same as the tile index within the picture. The length, in bits, for explicitly signaling tile IDs in a slice header for derivation of the addresses of the CTUs contained in a slice, can be derived according to the number of tiles in the picture (e.g., cell of log two of number of tiles in a picture). The number of tiles in the picture can be either explicitly signaled in a parameter set or derived per the tile configuration signaled in a parameter set. In some examples, the length, in bits, for explicitly signaling tile IDs in a slice header for derivation of the addresses of the CTUs contained in a slice can be signaled in a parameter set. In some examples, the number of entry points, which is equal to the number of tiles in the slice minus 1, is derived and is not signaled in the slice header. In another example, signaling of a flag for each CTU indicating whether the CTU is the end of a slice is avoided.

In some examples, slices and tiles are designed such that rewriting of the slice headers is not needed when extracting a set of tiles, such as motion constrained tile sets (MCTSs), from a bitstream to create a conforming sub-bitstream. For example, the tile ID may be explicitly signaled for each tile in the parameter set in which the tile configuration is signaled. The tile IDs are each unique within a picture. Tile IDs may not be continuous within a picture. However, tile IDs should be organized in increasing order (e.g., monotonously increasing) in the direction of the tile raster scan of a picture. With this, the decoding order of slices in a picture can be restricted to be in increasing value of the tile ID of the top-left tile. When the tile ID is not explicitly signaled and inferred to be the same as tile index, the following can be used for signaling tile ID values in slice headers. A flag indicating whether the slice is the first slice of the picture can be signaled. When the flag indicating that the slice is the first slice of the picture, the signaling of the tile ID of the top-left tile of the slice can be omitted as it can be inferred to be the tile with lowest tile index (e.g., tile index zero—assuming tile index starts from zero).

In another example, a picture may contain zero, or one or more MCTSs. An MCTS may contain one or more tiles. When a tile in a slice is part of an MCTS, the MCTS is constrained so that all tiles in the slice are part of the same MCTS. The slice may be further constrained so that the tile configuration for all pictures containing tiles of an MCTS is the same regarding the positions and sizes of the tiles within the MCTS. In some examples, the slice is constrained such that an MCTS is exclusively contained in a slice. This has two consequences. In this case, each MCTS is in a separate NAL unit. Further, each MCTS is in rectangular shape.

The signaling of MCTSs may be as follows. A flag can be signaled in a slice header to indicate whether the slice contains NAL units with an MCTS in the access unit containing the corresponding slice. Other supporting information for MCTS (e.g., profile, tier and level information of sub-bitstream resulting from extracting the MCTS) is signaled in an SEI message. Alternatively, both the flag indication and supporting information of MCTS can be signaled in an SEI message. To enable signaling of treatment of MCTS boundaries as picture boundaries a syntax element indicating whether all tile boundaries are treated the same as picture boundaries is signaled, for example in the parameter set wherein tile configuration is signaled. In addition, a syntax element indicating whether all slice boundaries of a slice are treated the same as picture boundaries may be signaled in the slice header, for example when other syntax elements do not indicate that all tile boundaries are treated the same as picture boundaries.

A syntax element indicating whether the in-loop filtering operations may be applied across each tile boundary may be signaled only when syntax does not otherwise indicate that all tile boundaries are treated the same as picture boundaries. In this case, treating a tile boundary as picture boundary indicates that, among other aspects, no in-loop filtering operations may be applied across each tile boundary. In other examples, a syntax element indicating whether the in-loop filtering operations may be applied across each tile boundary is signaled independently of indications of whether all tile boundaries are treated the same as picture boundaries. In this case, treating a tile boundary as picture boundary indicates that in-loop filtering operations may still be applied across each tile boundary.

In some examples, an MCTS boundary is treated as a picture boundary. Further, the syntax element in the slice header that indicates whether the slice boundary is treated the same as the picture boundary can also be made conditional to the flag that indicates whether the slice contains MCTS. In some cases, the value of a flag indicating that the MCTS boundary is to be treated as a picture boundary can be inferred when the flag in the slice header indicates the slice contains MCTS.

When the boundaries of a tile or slice are indicated to be treated as picture boundaries, the following applies. In the derivation process for temporal luma motion vector prediction, the right and bottom picture boundary positions used in the process, indicated by pic_height_in_luma_samples−1 and pic_width_in_luma_samples−1, respectively, are replaced with the right and the bottom boundary positions, respectively, of the tile or slice, in units of luma samples. In the luma sample interpolation process, the left, right, top, and bottom picture boundary positions used in the process, indicated by 0, pic_height_in_luma_samples−1, 0, pic_width_in_luma_samples−1, respectively, are replaced with the left, right, top, and bottom boundary positions, respectively, of the tile or slice, in units of luma samples, respectively. In the chroma sample interpolation process, the left, right, top, and bottom picture boundary positions used in the process, indicated by 0, pic_height_in_luma_samples/SubWidthC−1, 0, pic_width_in_luma_samples/SubWidthC−1, respectively, are replaced with the left, right, top, and bottom boundary positions, respectively, of the tile or slice, in units of chroma samples, respectively.

The preceding mechanisms can be implemented as follows. A slice is defined as an integer number of tiles that cover a rectangular region of a picture and that are exclusively contained in a single NAL unit. A slice header is defined as a part of a coded slice containing the data elements pertaining to all tiles represented in the slice. A tile is defined as a rectangular region of CTUs within a particular tile column and a particular tile row in a picture. A tile column is defined as a rectangular region of CTUs having a height equal to the height of the picture and a width specified by syntax elements in the picture parameter set. A tile row is defined as a rectangular region of CTUs having a height specified by syntax elements in the picture parameter set and a width equal to the width of the picture. A tile scan is defined as a specific sequential ordering of CTUs partitioning a picture in which the CTUs are ordered consecutively in CTU raster scan in a tile whereas tiles in a picture are ordered consecutively in a raster scan of the tiles of the picture.

This section specifies how a picture is partitioned into slices and tiles. Pictures are divided into slices and tiles. A slice is a sequence of tiles that cover a rectangular region of a picture. A tile is a sequence of CTUs that cover a rectangular region of a picture.

When a picture is coded using three separate color planes (separate_colour_plane_flag is equal to 1), a slice contains only CTUs of one color component being identified by the corresponding value of colour_plane_id, and each color component array of a picture includes slices having the same colour_plane_id value. Coded slices with different values of colour_plane_id within a picture may be interleaved with each other under the constraint that for each value of colour_plane_id, the coded slice NAL units with that value of colour_plane_id shall be in the order of increasing CTU address in tile scan order for the first CTU of each coded slice NAL unit. It should be noted that when separate_colour_plane_flag is equal to 0, each CTU of a picture is contained in exactly one slice. When separate_colour_plane_flag is equal to 1, each CTU of a color component is contained in exactly one slice (e.g., information for each CTU of a picture is present in exactly three slices and these three slices have different values of colour_plane_id).

The following divisions of processing elements of this specification form spatial or component-wise partitioning: the division of each picture into components; the division of each component into CTBs; the division of each picture into tile columns; the division of each picture into tile rows; the division of each tile column into tiles; the division of each tile row into tiles; the division of each tile into CTUs; the division of each picture into slices; the division of each slice into tiles; the division of each slice into CTUs; the division of each CTU into CTBs; the division of each CTB into coding blocks, except that the CTBs are incomplete at the right component boundary when the component width is not an integer multiple of the CTB size and the CTBs are incomplete at the bottom component boundary when the component height is not an integer multiple of the CTB size; the division of each CTU into coding units, except that the CTUs are incomplete at the right picture boundary when the picture width in luma samples is not an integer multiple of the luma CTB size and the CTUs are incomplete at the bottom picture boundary when the picture height in luma samples is not an integer multiple of the luma CTB size; the division of each coding unit into transform units; the division of each coding unit into coding blocks; the division of each coding block into transform blocks; and the division of each transform unit into transform blocks.

Inputs into the derivation process for neighboring block availability are the luma location (xCurr, yCurr) of the top-left sample of the current block relative to the top-left luma sample of the current picture, and the luma location (xNbY, yNbY) covered by a neighboring block relative to the top-left luma sample of the current picture. The outputs of this process are the availability of the neighboring block covering the location (xNbY, yNbY), denoted as availableN. The neighboring block availability availableN is derived as follows. If one or more of the following conditions are true, availableN is set equal to false. The top_left_tile_id of the slice containing the neighboring block differs in value from the top_left_tile_id of the slice containing the current block or the neighboring block is contained in a different tile than the current block.

The CTB raster and tile scanning process is as follows. The list ColWidth[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of CTBs, is derived as follows.

The list RowHeight[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of CTBs, is derived as follows.

The list ColBd[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the i-th tile column boundary in units of CTBs, is derived as follows: for (ColBd[0]=0, i=0; i<=num_tile_columns_minus1; i++)
ColBd[i+1]=ColBd[i]+ColWidth[i]  (6-3)
The list RowBd[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the j-th tile row boundary in units of CTBs, is derived as follows: for (RowBd[0]=0, j=0; j<=num_tile_rows_minus1; j++)
RowBd[j+1]=RowBd[j]+RowHeight[j]  (6-4)
The list CtbAddrRsToTs[ctbAddrRs] for ctbAddrRs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in CTB raster scan of a picture to a CTB address in tile scan, is derived as follows:

The list CtbAddrTsToRs[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in tile scan to a CTB address in CTB raster scan of a picture, is derived as follows:
for(ctbAddrRs=0;ctbAddrRs<PicSizeInCtbsY;ctbAddrRs++)  (6-6)
CtbAddrTsToRs[CtbAddrRsToTs[ctbAddrRs]]=ctbAddrRs
The list TileId[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in tile scan to a tile ID, is derived as follows:

The set TileIdToIdx[tileId] for a set of NumTilesInPic tileId values specifying the conversion from a tile ID to a tile index and the list FirstCtbAddrTs[tileIdx] for tileIdx ranging from 0 to NumTilesInPic−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a tile ID to the CTB address in tile scan of the first CTB in the tile are derived as follows:

The values of ColumnWidthInLumaSamples[i], specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of luma samples, are set equal to ColWidth[i]<<Ctb Log 2SizeY for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive. The values of RowHeightInLumaSamples[j], specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of luma samples, are set equal to RowHeight[j]<<Ctb Log 2SizeY for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive.

The picture parameter set RBSP syntax is as follows:

The slice header syntax is changed as follows.

The slice_data( ) syntax is as follows:

The Picture parameter set RBSP semantics are as follows. The single_tile_in_pic_flag is set equal to one to specify that there is only one tile in each picture referring to the PPS. The single_tile_in_pic_flag is set equal to zero to specify that there is more than one tile in each picture referring to the PPS. Bitstream conformance may require that the value of single_tile_in_pic_flag shall be the same for all PPSs that are activated within a coded video sequence (CVS). The num_tile_columns_minus1 plus 1 specifies the number of tile columns partitioning the picture. The num_tile_columns_minus1 shall be in the range of zero to PicWidthInCtbsY−1, inclusive. When not present, the value of num_tile_columns_minus1 is inferred to be equal to zero. The num_tile_rows_minus1 plus 1 specifies the number of tile rows partitioning the picture. The num_tile_rows_minus1 shall be in the range of zero to PicHeightInCtbsY−1, inclusive. When not present, the value of num_tile_rows_minus1 is inferred to be equal to zero. The variable NumTilesInPic is set equal to (num_tile_columns_minus1+1)*(num_tile_rows_minus1+1).

When single_tile_in_pic_flag is equal to zero, NumTilesInPic shall be greater than zero. The tile_id_len_minus1 plus 1 specifies the number of bits used to represent the syntax element tile_id_val[i][j], when present, in the PPS and the syntax elements top_left_tile_id and bottom_right_tile_id, when present, in slice headers referring to the PPS. The value of tile_id_len_minus1 shall be in the range of Ceil(Log 2(NumTilesInPic) to 15, inclusive. The explicit_tile_id_flag is set equal to one to specify that the tile ID for each tile is explicitly signaled. The explicit_tile_id_flag is set equal to zero to specify that tile IDs are not explicitly signaled. The tile_id_val[i][j] specifies the tile ID of the tile of the i-th tile column and the j-th tile row. The length of tile_id_val[i][j] is tile_id_len_minus1+1 bits.

For any integer m in the range of zero to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, and any integer n in the range of zero to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, tile_id_val[i][j] shall not be equal to tile_id_val[m][n] when i is not equal to m or j is not equal to n, and tile_id_val[i][j] shall be less than tile_id_val[m][n] when j*(num_tile_columns_minus1+1)+i is less than n*(num_tile_columns_minus1+1)+m. The uniform_tile_spacing_flag is set equal to one to specify that tile column boundaries and likewise tile row boundaries are distributed uniformly across the picture. The uniform_tile_spacing_flag is set equal to zero to specify that tile column boundaries and likewise tile row boundaries are not distributed uniformly across the picture but signaled explicitly using the syntax elements tile_column_width_minus1[i] and tile_row_height_minus1[i]. When not present, the value of uniform_tile_spacing_flag is inferred to be equal to 1. The tile_column_width_minus1[i] plus 1 specifies the width of the i-th tile column in units of CTBs. The tile_row_height_minus1[i] plus 1 specifies the height of the i-th tile row in units of CTBs.

The following variables are derived by invoking the CTB raster and tile scanning conversion process: the list ColWidth[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of CTBs; the list RowHeight[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of CTBs; the list ColBd[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the i-th tile column boundary in units of CTBs; the list RowBd[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the j-th tile row boundary in units of CTBs; the list CtbAddrRsToTs[ctbAddrRs] for ctbAddrRs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in the CTB raster scan of a picture to a CTB address in the tile scan; the list CtbAddrTsToRs[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in the tile scan to a CTB address in the CTB raster scan of a picture; the list TileId[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in tile scan to a tile ID; the list NumCtusInTile[tileIdx] for tileIdx ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a tile index to the number of CTUs in the tile; the set TileIdToIdx[tileId] for a set of NumTilesInPic tileId values specifying the conversion from a tile ID to a tile index and the list FirstCtbAddrTs[tileIdx] for tileIdx ranging from 0 to NumTilesInPic−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a tile ID to the CTB address in tile scan of the first CTB in the tile; the lists ColumnWidthInLumaSamples[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of luma samples; and the list RowHeightInLumaSamples[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of luma samples.

The values of ColumnWidthInLumaSamples[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, and RowHeightInLumaSamples[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, shall all be greater than 0. The tile_boundary_treated_as_picture_boundary_flag is set equal to one to specify that each tile boundary is treated the same as the picture boundary in the decoding process for pictures referring to the PPS. The tile_boundary_treated_as_picture_boundary_flag is set equal to zero to specify that each tile boundary may or may not be treated the same as the picture boundary in the decoding process for pictures referring to the PPS. When not present, the value of tile_boundary_treated_as_picture_boundary_flag is inferred to be equal to one. The loop_filter_across_tiles_enabled_flag is set equal to one to specify that in-loop filtering operations may be performed across tile boundaries in pictures referring to the PPS. The loop_filter_across_tiles_enabled_flag is set equal to zero to specify that in-loop filtering operations are not performed across tile boundaries in pictures referring to the PPS. The in-loop filtering operations include the deblocking filter, sample adaptive offset filter, and adaptive loop filter operations. When not present, the value of loop_filter_across_tiles_enabled_flag is inferred to be equal to zero.

The slice header semantics are as follows. When present, the value of the slice header syntax element slice_pic_parameter_set_id shall be the same in all slice headers of a coded picture. The slice_pic_parameterset_id specifies the value of pps_pic_parameter_set_id for the PPS in use. The value of slice_pic_parameterset_id shall be in the range of 0 to 63, inclusive. The single_tile_in_slice_flag is set equal to one to specify that there is only one tile in the slice. The single_picture_in_pic_flag is set equal to zero to specify that there is more than one tile in the slice. The top_left_tile_id specifies the tile ID of the tile located at the top-left corner of the slice. The length of top_left_tile_id is tile_id_len_minus1+1 bits. The value of top_left_tile_id shall not be equal to the value of top_left_tile_id of any other coded slice NAL unit of the same coded picture. When there is more than one slice in a picture, the decoding order of the slices in the picture shall be in increasing value of top_left_tile_id. The bottom_right_tile_id specifies the tile ID of the tile located at the bottom-right corner of the slice. The length of bottom_right_tile_id is tile_id_len_minus1+1 bits. When not present, the value of bottom_right_tile_id is inferred to be equal to top_left_tile_id.

The slice type specifies the coding type of the slice according to table 4.

TABLE 4slice_typeName of slice_type0B (B slice)1P (P slice)2I (I slice)
When nal_unit_type has a value in the range of TBD, inclusive, e.g., the picture is an Intra Random Access Picture (TRAP) picture, slice_type shall be equal to two. The log 2_diff_ctu_max_bt_size specifies the difference between the luma CTB size and the maximum luma size (width or height) of a coding block that can be split using a binary split. The value of log 2_diff_ctu_max_bt_size shall be in the range of zero to Ctb Log 2SizeY−MinCbLog 2SizeY, inclusive. When log 2_diff_ctu_max_bt_size is not present, the value of log 2_diff_ctu_max_bt_size is inferred to be equal to two.

The variables MinQtLog 2SizeY, MaxBtLog 2SizeY, MinBtLog 2SizeY, MaxTtLog 2SizeY, MinTtLog 2SizeY, MaxBtSizeY, MinBtSizeY, MaxTtSizeY, MinTtSizeY and MaxMttDepth are derived as follows:
MinQtLog 2SizeY=(slice_type==I)?MinQtLog 2SizeIntraY: MinQtLog 2SizeInterY(7-26)
MaxBtLog 2SizeY=Ctb Log 2SizeY−log 2_diff_ctu_max_bt_size  (7-27)
MinBtLog 2SizeY=MinCbLog 2SizeY(7-28)
MaxTtLog 2SizeY=(slice_type==I)?5:6  (7-29)
MinTtLog 2SizeY=MinCbLog 2SizeY(7-30)
MinQtSizeY=1<<MinQtLog 2SizeY(7-31)
MaxBtSizeY=1<<MaxBtLog 2SizeY(7-32)
MinBtSizeY=1<<MinBtLog 2SizeY(7-33)
MaxTtSizeY=1<<MaxTtLog 2SizeY(7-34)
MinTtSizeY=1<<MinTtLog 2SizeY(7-35)
MaxMttDepth=(slice_type==I)?max_mtt_hierarchy_depth_intra_slices: max_mtt_hierarchy_depth_inter_slices  (7-36)
The dep_quant_enabled_flag is set equal to zero to specify that dependent quantization is disabled. The dep_quant_enabled_flag is set equal to one to specify that dependent quantization is enabled. The sign_data_hiding_enabled_flag is set equal to zero to specify that sign bit hiding is disabled. The sign_data_hiding_enabled_flag is set equal to one to specify that sign bit hiding is enabled. When sign_data_hiding_enabled_flag is not present, it is inferred to be equal to zero. The slice_boundary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag is set equal to one to specify that each slice boundary of the slice is treated the same as picture boundary in the decoding process. The slice_boundary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag equal to zero specifies that each tile boundary may or may not be treated the same as picture boundary in the decoding process. When not present, the value of slice_boundary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag is inferred to be equal to one. The offset_len_minus1 plus 1 specifies the length, in bits, of the entry_point_offset_minus1[i] syntax elements. The value of offset_len_minus1 shall be in the range of 0 to 31, inclusive. The entry_point_offset_minus1[i] plus 1 specifies the i-th entry point offset in bytes, and is represented by offset_len_minus1 plus 1 bits. The slice data that follow the slice header consists of NumTilesInSlice subsets, with subset index values ranging from 0 to NumTilesInSlice−1, inclusive. The first byte of the slice data is considered byte zero. When present, emulation prevention bytes that appear in the slice data portion of the coded slice NAL unit are counted as part of the slice data for purposes of subset identification.

Subset zero include bytes zero to entry_point_offset_minus1[0], inclusive, of the coded slice segment data, subset k, with k in the range of 1 to NumTilesInSlice−2, inclusive, includes bytes firstByte[k] to lastByte[k], inclusive, of the coded slice data with firstByte[k] and lastByte[k] defined as:

The last subset (with subset index equal to NumTilesInSlice−1) includes the remaining bytes of the coded slice data. Each subset shall include all coded bits of all CTUs in the slice that are within the same tile.

The derivation process for temporal luma motion vector prediction is as follows. If yCb>>Ctb Log 2SizeY is equal to yColBr>>Ctb Log 2SizeY, yColBr is less than pic_height_in_luma_samples, and xColBr is less than pic_width_in_luma_samples, the following applies:

The variable colCb specifies the luma coding block covering the modified location given by ((xColBr>>3)<<3, (yColBr>>3)<<3) inside the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The luma location (xColCb, yColCb) is set equal to the top-left sample of the collocated luma coding block specified by colCb relative to the top-left luma sample of the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The derivation process for collocated motion vectors is invoked with currCb, colCb, (xColCb, yColCb), refIdxLX, and control parameter controlParaFlag set equal to 0 as inputs, and the output is assigned to mvLXCol and availableFlagLXCol. If yCb>>Ctb Log 2SizeY is equal to yColBr>>Ctb Log 2SizeY, yColBr is less than or equal to BotBoundaryPos and xColBr is less than or equal to RightBoundaryPos, the following applies. The variable colCb specifies the luma coding block covering the modified location given by ((xColBr>>3)<<3, (yColBr>>3)<<3) inside the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The luma location (xColCb, yColCb) is set equal to the top-left sample of the collocated luma coding block specified by colCb relative to the top-left luma sample of the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The derivation process for collocated motion vectors is invoked with currCb, colCb, (xColCb, yColCb), refIdxLX, and control parameter controlParaFlag set equal to 0 as inputs, and the output is assigned to mvLXCol and availableFlagLXCol.

In some examples, the derivation process for temporal luma motion vector prediction is as follows. If yCb>>Ctb Log 2SizeY is equal to yColBr>>Ctb Log 2SizeY, yColBr is less than pic_height_in_luma_samples and xColBr is less than pic_width_in_luma_samples, the following applies. The variable colCb specifies the luma coding block covering the modified location given by ((xColBr>>3)<<3, (yColBr>>3)<<3) inside the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The luma location (xColCb, yColCb) is set equal to the top-left sample of the collocated luma coding block specified by colCb relative to the top-left luma sample of the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The derivation process for collocated motion vectors is invoked with currCb, colCb, (xColCb, yColCb), refIdxLX, and control parameter controlParaFlag set equal to 0 as inputs, and the output is assigned to mvLXCol and availableFlagLXCol. If yCb>>Ctb Log 2SizeY is equal to yColBr>>Ctb Log 2SizeY, the following applies. xColCtr=Min(xColCtr, RightBoundaryPos) and yColCtr=Min(yColCtr, BotBoundaryPos). The variable colCb specifies the luma coding block covering the modified location given by ((xColBr>>3)<<3, (yColBr>>3)<<3) inside the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The luma location (xColCb, yColCb) is set equal to the top-left sample of the collocated luma coding block specified by colCb relative to the top-left luma sample of the collocated picture specified by ColPic. The derivation process for collocated motion vectors is invoked with currCb, colCb, (xColCb, yColCb), refIdxLX, and control parameter controlParaFlag set equal to 0 as inputs, and the output is assigned to mvLXCol and availableFlagLXCol.

The luma sample interpolation process is as follows. The inputs to this process are: a luma location in full-sample units (xIntL,yIntL); a luma location in fractional-sample units (xFracL, yFracL); and the luma reference sample array refPicLXL. The output of this process is a predicted luma sample value predSampleLXL. The variables shift1, shift2, shift3 are derived as follows. The variable shift1 is set equal to Min(4, BitDepthY−8) and the variable shift2 is set equal to 6 and the variable shift3 is set equal to Max(2, 14−BitDepthY). The predicted luma sample value predSampleLXL is derived as follows. If both xFracLand yFracL are equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXL is derived as follows:
predSampleLXL=refPicLXL[xIntL][yIntL]<<shift3  (8-228)
Otherwise if xFracL is not equal to 0 and yFracL is equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXL is derived as follows:
predSampleLXL=(fL[xFracL,0]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL−3)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][1]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL−2)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][2]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL−1)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][3]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL)][yIntL]fL[xFracL][4]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+1)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][5]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+2)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][6]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+3)][yIntL]+fL[xFracL][7]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+4)][yIntL])>>shift1  (8-228)

Otherwise if xFracL is equal to 0 and yFracL is not equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXL is derived as follows:
predSampleLXL=(fL[yFracL,0]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL−3)]+fL[yFracL][1]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL−2)]+fL[yFracL][2]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL−1)]+fL[yFracL][3]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL)]+fL[yFracL][4]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL+1)]+fL[yFracL][5]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL+2)]+fL[yFracL][6]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL+3)]+fL[yFracL][7]*refPicLXL[xIntL][Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL+4)])>>shift1  (8-228)

Otherwise if xFracL is not equal to 0 and yFracL is not equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXL is derived as follows. The sample array temp[n] with n=0 . . . 7, is derived as follows:
yPosL=Clip3(TopBoundaryPos,BotBoundaryPos,yIntL+n−3)  (8-228)
temp[n]=(fL[xFracL,0]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL−3)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][1]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL2)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][2]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL1)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][3]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][4]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+1)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][5]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+2)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][6]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+3)][yPosL]+fL[xFracL][7]*refPicLXL[Clip3(LeftBoundaryPos,RightBoundaryPos,xIntL+4)][yPosL])>>shift1  (8-228)

The predicted luma sample value predSampleLXL is derived as follows:
predSampleLXL=(fL[yFracL][0]*temp[0]+fL[yFracL][1]*temp[1]+fL[yFracL][2]*temp[2]+fL[yFracL][3]*temp[3]+fL[yFracL][4]*temp[4]+fL[yFracL][5]*temp[5]+fL[yFracL][6]*temp[6]+fL[yFracL][7]*temp[7])>>shift2  (8-228)

The chroma sample interpolation process is as follows. Inputs to this process are: a chroma location in full-sample units (xIntC, yIntC); a chroma location in eighth fractional-sample units (xFracC, yFracC); and the chroma reference sample array refPicLXC. Output of this process is a predicted chroma sample value predSampleLXC. The variables shift1, shift2, shift3, picWC, and picHC are derived as follows. The variable shift1 is set equal to Min(4, BitDepthC−8), the variable shift2 is set equal to 6, and the variable shift3 is set equal to Max(2, 14−BitDepthC). The variable lPos, rPos, tPos and bPos are set as follows:
lPos=LeftBoundaryPos/SubWidthC(8-228)
rPos=(RightBoundaryPos+1)/SubWidthC(8-228)
tPos=TopBoundaryPos/SubHeightC(8-228)
bPos=(BotBoundaryPos+1)/SubHeightC(8-228)
The predicted chorma sample value predSampleLXC is derived as follows. If both xFracC and yFracC are equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXC is derived as follows:
predSampleLXC=refPicLXC[xIntC][yIntC]<<shift3  (8-228)
Otherwise if xFracC is not equal to 0 and yFracC is equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXC is derived as follows:
predSampleLXC=(fC[xFracC][0]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC−1)][yIntC]+fC[xFracC][1]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC)][yIntC]+fC[xFracC][2]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC+1)][yIntC]+fC[xFracC][3]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC+2)][yIntC])>>shift1  (8-228)

Otherwise if xFracC is equal to 0 and yFracC is not equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXC is derived as follows:
redSampleLXC=(fC[yFracC][0]*refPicLXC[xIntC][Clip3(tPos,bPos,yIntC−1)]+fC[yFracC][1]*refPicLXC[xIntC][Clip3(tPos,bPos,yIntC)]+fC[yFracC][2]*refPicLXC[xIntC][Clip3(tPos,bPos,yIntC+1)]+fC[yFracC][3]*refPicLXC[xIntC][Clip3(tPos,bPos,yIntC+2)])>>shift1  (8-228)
Otherwise if xFracC is not equal to 0 and yFracC is not equal to 0, the value of predSampleLXC is derived as follows. The sample array temp[n] with n=0 . . . 3, is derived as follows:
yPosC=Clip3(tPos,bPos,yIntC+n−1)  (8-228)
temp[n]=(fC[xFracC][0]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC−1)][yPosC]+fC[xFracC][1]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC)][yPosC]+fC[xFracC][2]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC+1)][yPosC]+fC[xFracC][3]*refPicLXC[Clip3(lPos,rPos,xIntC+2)][yPosC])>>shift1  (8-228)

The predicted chroma sample value predSampleLXC is derived as follows:
predSampleLXC=(fC[yFracC][0]*temp[0]+fC[yFracC][1]*temp[1]+fC[yFracC][2]*temp[2]+fC[yFracC][3]*temp[3])>>shift2  (8-228)

The Context-Based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) parsing process for slice data is as follows. The initialization process is invoked when starting the parsing of the CTU syntax and the CTU is the first CTU in a tile. Note that the start of the slice data is also covered by this sentence as each start of the slice data is the start of a tile.

In another example, the CTB raster and tile scanning process is as follows. The list ColWidth[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive, specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of CTBs, is derived as follows:

The list RowHeight[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive, specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of CTBs, is derived as follows:

The list ColBd[i] for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the i-th tile column boundary in units of CTBs, is derived as follows: for (ColBd[0]=0, i=0; i<=num_tile_columns_minus1; i++)
ColBd[i+1]=ColBd[i]+ColWidth[i]  (6-3)

The list RowBd[j] for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1+1, inclusive, specifying the location of the j-th tile row boundary in units of CTBs, is derived as follows: for (RowBd[0]=0, j=0; j<=num_tile_rows_minus1; j++)
RowBd[j+1]=RowBd[j]+RowHeight[j]  (6-4)

The list CtbAddrRsToTs[ctbAddrRs] for ctbAddrRs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in CTB raster scan of a picture to a CTB address in tile scan, is derived as follows:

The list CtbAddrTsToRs[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in tile scan to a CTB address in CTB raster scan of a picture, is derived as follows:
for(ctbAddrRs=0;ctbAddrRs<PicSizeInCtbsY;ctbAddrRs++)  (6-6)
CtbAddrTsToRs[CtbAddrRsToTs[ctbAddrRs]]=ctbAddrRs

The list TileId[ctbAddrTs] for ctbAddrTs ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a CTB address in tile scan to a tile ID, is derived as follows:

The list NumCtusInTile[tileIdx] for tileIdx ranging from 0 to PicSizeInCtbsY−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a tile index to the number of CTUs in the tile, is derived as follows:
for(j=0,tileIdx=0;j<=num_tile_rows_minus1;j++)
for(i=0;i<=num_tile_columns_minus1;i++,tileIdx++)
NumCtusInTile[tileIdx]=ColWidth[i]*RowHeight[j]  (6-8)

The set TileIdToIdx[tileId] for a set of NumTilesInPic tileId values specifying the conversion from a tile ID to a tile index and the list FirstCtbAddrTs[tileIdx] for tileIdx ranging from 0 to NumTilesInPic−1, inclusive, specifying the conversion from a tile ID to the CTB address in tile scan of the first CTB in the tile are derived as follows:

The values of ColumnWidthInLumaSamples[i], specifying the width of the i-th tile column in units of luma samples, are set equal to ColWidth[i]<<Ctb Log 2SizeY for i ranging from 0 to num_tile_columns_minus1, inclusive. The values of RowHeightInLumaSamples[j], specifying the height of the j-th tile row in units of luma samples, are set equal to RowHeight[j]<<Ctb Log 2SizeY for j ranging from 0 to num_tile_rows_minus1, inclusive.

The Picture parameter set RBSP syntax is as follows.

The slice header syntax is as follows:

The slice header semantics are as follows. When present, the value of the slice header syntax element slice_pic_parameter_set_id shall be the same in all slice headers of a coded picture. The slice_pic_parameter_set_id specifies the value of pps_pic_parameter_set_id for the PPS in use. The value of slice_pic_parameterset_id shall be in the range of 0 to 63, inclusive. The first_slice_in_pic_flag is set equal to one to specify that the slice is the first slice of the picture in decoding order. The first_slice_in_pic_flag is set equal to zero to specify that the slice is not the first slice of the picture in decoding order. The single_tile_in_slice_flag is set equal to one to specify that there is only one tile in the slice. single_picture_in_pic_flag equal to 0 specifies that there is more than one tile in the slice. The top_left_tile_id specifies the tile ID of the tile located at the top-left corner of the slice. The length of top_left_tile_id is Ceil(Log 2((num_tile_rows_minus1+1)*(num_tile_columns_minus1+1))) bits. The value of top_left_tile_id shall not be equal to the value of top_left_tile_id of any other coded slice NAL unit of the same coded picture. When not present, the value of top_left_tile_id is inferred to be equal to zero. When there is more than one slice in a picture, the decoding order of the slices in the picture shall be in increasing value of top_left_tile_id. The bottom_right_tile_id specifies the tile ID of the tile located at the bottom-right corner of the slice. The length of bottom_right_tile_id is Ceil(Log 2((num_tile_rows_minus1+1)*(num_tile_columns_minus1+1))) bits. When not present, the value of bottom_right_tile_id is inferred to be equal to top_left_tile_id. The variables NumTileRowsInSlice, NumTileColunmsInSlice, and NumTilesInSlice are derived as follows:
deltaTileIdx=TileIdToIdx[bottom_right_tile_id]−TileIdToIdx[top_left_tile_id]
NumTileRowsInSlice=(deltaTileIdx/(num_tile_columns_minus1+1))+1  (7-25)
NumTileColumnsInSlice=(deltaTileIdx % (num_tile_columns_minus1+1))+1
NumTilesInSlice=NumTileRowsInSlice*NumTileColumnsInSlice

The all_tiles_mcts_flag is set equal to one to specify that all tiles in the slice are part of an MCTS, which only contains the tiles in the slice for the current access unit, and the MCTS boundaries (which collocate with the slice boundaries of the slice) are treated the same as picture boundaries. The all_tiles_mcts_flag is set equal to zero to specify that the above as specified by all_tiles_mcts_flag equal to 1 may or may not apply. The slice_boundary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag is set equal to one to specify that each slice boundary of the slice is treated the same as the picture boundary in the decoding process. The slice_boudnary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag is set equal to zero to specify that each tile boundary may or may not be treated the same as the picture boundary in the decoding process. When not present, the value of slice_boundary_treated_as_pic_boundary_flag is inferred to be equal to one. Each subset shall include all coded bits of all CTUs in the slice that are within the same tile.

FIG. 7is a schematic diagram of an example video coding device700. The video coding device700is suitable for implementing the disclosed examples/embodiments as described herein. The video coding device700comprises downstream ports720, upstream ports750, and/or transceiver units (Tx/Rx)710, including transmitters and/or receivers for communicating data upstream and/or downstream over a network. The video coding device700also includes a processor730including a logic unit and/or central processing unit (CPU) to process the data and a memory732for storing the data. The video coding device700may also comprise electrical, optical-to-electrical (OE) components, electrical-to-optical (EO) components, and/or wireless communication components coupled to the upstream ports750and/or downstream ports720for communication of data via electrical, optical, or wireless communication networks. The video coding device700may also include input and/or output (I/O) devices760for communicating data to and from a user. The I/O devices760may include output devices such as a display for displaying video data, speakers for outputting audio data, etc. The I/O devices760may also include input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, trackball, etc., and/or corresponding interfaces for interacting with such output devices.

The processor730is implemented by hardware and software. The processor730may be implemented as one or more CPU chips, cores (e.g., as a multi-core processor), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and digital signal processors (DSPs). The processor730is in communication with the downstream ports720, Tx/Rx710, upstream ports750, and memory732. The processor730comprises a coding module714. The coding module714implements the disclosed embodiments described above, such as methods100,800, and900, which may employ a bitstream500and/or an image600. The coding module714may also implement any other method/mechanism described herein. Further, the coding module714may implement a codec system200, an encoder300, and/or a decoder400. For example, the coding module714can partition an image into slices, slices into tiles, tile into CTUs, CTUs into blocks, and encode the blocks when acting as an encoder. Further, the coding module714can implicitly signal the number of tiles in a slice, the number of entry point offsets for tiles in the slice, the CTU addresses of the tiles, the last CTU in a slice and/or other data by signaling the boundaries of the slice based on the tile IDs of the first and last tiles in the slice. When acting as a decoder, the coding module714can reconstruct such data based on the first and last tiles in a slice, and hence increase coding efficiency. Hence, coding module714causes the video coding device700to provide additional functionality and/or coding efficiency when partitioning and coding video data. As such, the coding module714improves the functionality of the video coding device700as well as addresses problems that are specific to the video coding arts. Further, the coding module714effects a transformation of the video coding device700to a different state. Alternatively, the coding module714can be implemented as instructions stored in the memory732and executed by the processor730(e.g., as a computer program product stored on a non-transitory medium).

The memory732comprises one or more memory types such as disks, tape drives, solid-state drives, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), etc. The memory732may be used as an over-flow data storage device, to store programs when such programs are selected for execution, and to store instructions and data that are read during program execution.

FIG. 8is a flowchart of an example method800of encoding an image, such as image600, into a bitstream, such as bitstream500. Method800may be employed by an encoder, such as a codec system200, an encoder300, and/or a video coding device700when performing method100.

Method800may begin when an encoder receives a video sequence including a plurality of images and determines to encode that video sequence into a bitstream, for example based on user input. The video sequence is partitioned into pictures/images/frames for further partitioning prior to encoding. At step801, an image is partitioned into a plurality of slices. The slices are partitioned into a plurality of tiles. The tiles are partitioned into a plurality of CTUs. The CTUs are further partitioned into coding blocks.

At step803, each slice is encoded in a separate VCL NAL unit in a bitstream. The slices contain tile(s), CTUs, and coding blocks. As such, the tiles, CTUs, and coding blocks of each slice are also encoded into a corresponding VCL NAL unit. The bitstream includes a plurality of VCL NAL units that include the slices from the various images in the video sequence. As discussed above, a slice includes an integer number of tiles. As such, each VCL NAL unit in the plurality of VCL NAL units contains a single slice of image data divided into an integer number of tiles.

It should be noted that steps805and807may occur prior to, after, and/or during step803. Steps805and807are treated separately for clarity of discussion. At step805, tile IDs are assigned to the tiles for each slice. Further, addresses are assigned to the CTUs. For example, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit may be assigned based on tile IDs corresponding to the tiles that contain the CTUs.

At step807, a value indicating a number of the tiles in a corresponding slice, and hence in each VCL NAL unit, is encoded in the bitstream. For example, the number of the tiles in a VCL NAL unit may be included in a non-VCL NAL unit containing a PPS or a slice header that corresponds to the slice. In another example, the number of tiles may be omitted from the bitstream as the decoder may be capable of determining the number of tiles in a VCL NAL unit based on the top-left and bottom-right tiles in the corresponding slice (which may be signaled in the non-VCL NAL unit containing the slice header). Entry point offsets for the tiles are also encoded in the bitstream. For example, the entry point offsets for the tiles may be encoded in a slice header associated with the slice. The entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit. A number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream because the number of entry point offsets can be determined as a value of one less than the number of tiles. In some examples, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit may also be explicitly signaled in the slice header. In other examples, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit are omitted from the bitstream to support determination of the addresses of the CTUs at the decoder based on a tile ID of a first tile contained in the VCL NAL unit. As described above, the CTUs encoded in step803may not contain a flag indicating a last CTU in the VCL NAL unit. This is because the decoder can determine the number of CTUs in the VCL NAL unit based on the knowledge of the number of tiles in the slice. However, the VCL NAL unit may be encoded to contain a padding bit immediately following a last CTU in each tile to support maintaining separation between the image data associated with each tile.

At step809, the bitstream is transmitted without the number of entry point offsets to support decoding the tiles according to an inference that the number of entry point offsets for the tiles is one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit.

FIG. 9is a flowchart of an example method900of decoding an image, such as image600, from a bitstream, such as bitstream500. Method900may be employed by a decoder, such as a codec system200, a decoder400, and/or a video coding device700when performing method100.

Method900may begin when a decoder begins receiving a bitstream of coded data representing a video sequence, for example as a result of method800. At step901, a bitstream is received at a decoder. The bitstream includes a plurality of VCL NAL units each containing image data divided into a plurality of tiles. As noted above, each slice of an image includes an integer number of tiles. Further, each slice is included in a separate VCL NAL unit. Accordingly, each VCL NAL unit includes an integer number of tiles. Further, the tiles are each divided into a plurality of CTUs, which are further divided into a plurality of coding blocks.

At step903, the decoder determines a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. For example, the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit can be obtained from a non-VCL NAL unit containing a corresponding slice header. In another example, the slice header may contain data indicating the upper-left and bottom-right tile in the slice. This data can be used to determine the number of the tiles in the slice and hence in the VCL NAL unit. The decoder can then use the number of the tiles in the slice to determine a number of entry point offsets for the tiles. For example, the number of entry point offsets for the tiles is one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. As described above, the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit. The number of entry point offsets may not be explicitly signaled in the bitstream to increase compression and hence coding efficiency.

At step905, the decoder obtains the entry point offsets for the tiles from the bitstream based on the number of entry point offsets. For example, the entry point offsets for the tiles may be obtained from a slice header associated with the slice.

As noted above, the image data is coded as a plurality of CTUs contained in each of the tiles. Further, the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit may be assigned based on tile IDs corresponding to the tiles. Accordingly, at step907, the decoder can determine tile IDs for the tiles and addresses for the CTUs based on the tile IDs. In some examples, the tile IDs are explicitly signaled, for example in the PPS and/or slice header. In other examples, the decoder can determine the tile IDs based on the tile IDs of the upper-left tile and the bottom-right tile of the slice. Further, in some cases the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit are explicitly signaled in the slice header. In other examples, the decoder may determine the addresses of the CTUs in the VCL NAL unit based on a tile ID of a first tile contained in the VCL NAL unit (e.g., the top-left tile).

At step909, the decoder decodes the tiles at the entry point offsets to generate a reconstructed image. For example the decoder can use the entry point offsets of the tiles and the CTU addresses, to decode the CTUs, where CTU addresses are either explicitly signaled in the slice header or inferred based on tile ID. The decoder can then forward the reconstructed image toward a display as part of a reconstructed video sequence. In some examples, the decoder may not search for a flag indicating a last CTU in the VCL NAL unit as such a flag may be omitted from the VCL NAL unit. In such a case, the decoder can determine the number of CTUs in the VCL NAL unit based on the knowledge of the number of tiles in the slice. In some examples, the decoder can separate tiles in a VCL NAL unit based on a padding bit immediately following a last CTU in each tile.

FIG. 10is a schematic diagram of an example system1000for coding a video sequence of images, such as image600, in a bitstream, such as bitstream500. System1000may be implemented by an encoder and a decoder such as a codec system200, an encoder300, a decoder400, and/or a video coding device700. Further, system1000may be employed when implementing method100,800, and/or900.

The system1000includes a video encoder1002. The video encoder1002comprises a partitioning module1001for partitioning an image into a plurality of tiles. The video encoder1002further comprises an encoding module1003for encoding the tiles into a bitstream in at least one VCL NAL unit, encoding a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit in the bitstream, and encoding entry point offsets for the tiles in the bitstream, wherein the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein a number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The video encoder1002further comprises a transmitting module1005for transmitting the bitstream without the number of entry point offsets to support decoding the tiles according to an inference that the number of entry point offsets for the tiles is one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit. The video encoder1002may be further configured to perform any of the steps of method800.

The system1000also includes a video decoder1010. The video decoder1010comprises a receiving module1011for receiving a bitstream including a VCL NAL unit containing image data divided into a plurality of tiles. The video decoder1010further comprises a determining module1013for determining a number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit, and determining a number of entry point offsets for the tiles as one less than the number of the tiles in the VCL NAL unit, wherein the entry point offsets each indicate a starting location of a corresponding tile in the VCL NAL unit, and wherein the number of entry point offsets is not explicitly signaled in the bitstream. The video decoder1010further comprises an obtaining module1015for obtaining the entry point offsets for the tiles based on the number of entry point offsets. The video decoder1010further comprises a decoding module1017for decoding the tiles at the entry point offsets to generate a reconstructed image. The video decoder1010may be further configured to perform any of the steps of method900.

A first component is directly coupled to a second component when there are no intervening components, except for a line, a trace, or another medium between the first component and the second component. The first component is indirectly coupled to the second component when there are intervening components other than a line, a trace, or another medium between the first component and the second component. The term “coupled” and its variants include both directly coupled and indirectly coupled. The use of the term “about” means a range including ±10% of the subsequent number unless otherwise stated.