Patent ID: 12238283

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings attached thereto, so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout this specification, when a part is referred to as being ‘connected’ to another part, it includes not only a case where they are directly connected but also a case where the part is electrically connected with another part in between.

In addition, when a part is referred to as ‘comprising’ an element throughout the specification, it is understood that the element may include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

The term ‘a step of doing something’ or ‘a step of something’ used throughout this specification does not mean a step for something.

Also, the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

In addition, the components shown in the embodiments of the present invention are shown independently to represent different characteristic functions, but that does not mean that each component consists of separate hardware or one software constituent unit. That is, each component is described by arranging each component for convenience of explanation, and at least two components of components may be combined to form one component or one component may be partitioned into a plurality of components to perform functions. The integrated embodiments and the separate embodiments of each of these components are also included in the scope of the present invention without departing from the essence of the present invention.

In the various embodiments of the present invention described below, the color format refers to types of color components constituting one picture, and the encoding block or encoding unit may be collectively referred to as including a single block or a unit in which encoding and decoding are performed in video coding. The color format is not limited to a YUV format, and may be collectively referred to as including all kinds of a plurality of color formats according to color components for constituting one picture.

Hereinafter, a video coding method and apparatus utilizing a combination of diverse block partitioning structures proposed according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIG.9.

FIG.9is a flowchart of a block partitioning performance unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The block partitioning information acquiring unit830according to one embodiment includes a block partitioning information parsing unit920, an additional block partitioning information determination unit930, an additional block partitioning information acquisition unit940, and a block partitioning information storage unit950.

The block partitioning information parsing unit930performs parsing on block partitioning information from the bitstream to acquire the block partitioning information.

The additional block partitioning information determination unit930determines whether additional partitioning information is required in partitioning the current block by using a color format of current picture, block depth information, block position information within a picture, block size information, and the like.

When the additional block partitioning information determination unit930determines that the additional block partitioning information is needed, the additional block partitioning information acquisition unit940acquires additional block partitioning information required for determining the block partitioning structure of the current block. The additional block partitioning information required for determining the partitioning structure of the current block may be obtained by parsing from the bitstream or obtained using the color format of current picture, the block depth information, the block position information within the picture, the size information of the block, and the like without parsing from the bitstream.

The block partitioning information storage unit950stores the block partitioning information acquired by the block partitioning information parsing unit920and the additional block partitioning information acquisition unit940.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings attached thereto, so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout this specification, when a part is referred to as being ‘connected’ to another part, it includes not only a case where they are directly connected but also a case where the part is electrically connected with another part in between.

In addition, when a part is referred to as ‘comprising’ an element throughout the specification, it is understood that the element may include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

The term ‘a step of doing something’ or ‘a step of something’ used throughout this specification does not mean a step for something.

Also, the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

In addition, the components shown in the embodiments of the present invention are shown independently to represent different characteristic functions, and that does not mean that each component consists of separate hardware or one software constituent unit. That is, each component is described by arranging each component for convenience of explanation, and at least two components of components may be combined to form one component or one component may be partitioned into a plurality of components to perform functions. The integrated embodiments and the separate embodiments of each of these components are also included in the scope of the present invention without departing from the essence of the present invention.

In the various embodiments of the present invention described below, the color format refers to types of color components constituting one picture, and the encoding block or encoding unit may be collectively referred to as including a single block or a unit in which encoding and decoding are performed in video coding. The color format is not limited to a YUV format, and may be collectively referred to as including all kinds of a plurality of color formats according to color components for constituting one picture.

Hereinafter, a video coding method and apparatus utilizing a combination of diverse block partitioning structures proposed according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIG.9.

FIG.1is a block diagram illustrating a video encoding method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The video encoding method and apparatus according to an embodiment includes an inter prediction unit120, an intra prediction unit125, a subtraction unit130, a transform unit140, a quantization unit150, an entropy encoding unit160, an inverse transform unit145, an inverse quantization unit155, an adding unit135, an in-loop filter unit180, and a reconstruction picture buffer190.

The inter prediction unit120performs motion prediction by using the input image110and the reconstructed image stored in and the reconstruction picture buffer190, thereby generating a prediction signal.

The intra prediction unit125performs spatial prediction by using pixel values of pre-reconstructed neighboring blocks that are adjacent to the current block to be encoded, thereby generating a prediction signal.

The subtraction unit130uses the input image and the prediction signal generated through the inter prediction unit120or the intra prediction unit125, thereby generating a residual signal.

The transform unit140and the quantization unit150perform transform and quantization on the residual signal generated through the subtraction unit130, thereby generating a quantized coefficient.

The entropy encoding unit160performs entropy encoding on the encoding information such as syntax elements and quantized coefficients defined in the video encoder, thereby outputting the bitstream.

The inverse transform unit145and the inverse quantization unit155receive the quantized coefficients and perform inverse quantization and inverse transform in order, thereby generating a reconstructed residual signal.

The adding unit135generates a reconstructed signal using the prediction signal generated through the inter prediction unit120or the intra prediction unit125and the reconstructed residual signal.

The reconstructed signal is transmitted to the in-loop filter unit180. The reconstructed picture to which the filtering is applied is stored in the reconstruction picture buffer190, and may be used as a reference picture in the inter prediction unit120.

FIG.2is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video decoding apparatus and method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The video decoding apparatus and method according to one embodiment includes an entropy decoding unit210, an inverse quantization unit220, an inverse transform unit230, an intra prediction unit240, an inter prediction unit250, adding unit260, an in-loop filter unit270, and a reconstruction picture buffer280.

The entropy decoding unit210decodes the input bitstream200and outputs decoding information such as syntax elements and quantized coefficients.

The inverse quantization unit220and the inverse transform unit230receive a quantizated coefficient and perform inverse quantization and inverse transform in order, thereby outputting a residual signal.

The intra prediction unit240performs spatial prediction by using pixel values of the pre-reconstructed neighboring blocks adjacent to the current block to be decoded, thereby generating a prediction signal.

The inter prediction unit250performs motion compensation using a motion vector extracted from the bitstream and a reconstructed picture stored in the reconstruction picture buffer280, thereby generating a prediction signal.

The prediction signals output from the intra prediction unit240and the inter prediction unit250are summed with the residual signal through the adding unit260and the reconstructed signal generated on a per-block basis includes the reconstructed image.

The reconstructed image is transferred to the in-loop filter unit270. The reconstructed picture to which the filtering is applied is stored in the reconstruction picture buffer280and may be used as a reference picture in the inter prediction unit250.

FIG.3is a conceptual diagram illustrating types of various block partitioning and blocks with various block partitioning according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A video coding method and apparatus utilizing diverse block partitioning according to an embodiment includes block partitioning forms including a non-partitioned block310, a horizontally partitioned block320, a vertically partitioned block330, four-partitioned block340, and a block structure350having diverse block partitioning.

According to an embodiment, the non-partitioned block310includes a form in which one encoding block is not partitioned, and the horizontally partitioned block320according to an embodiment includes a form in which one encoding block is horizontally partitioned. In addition, the vertically partitioned block330according to an embodiment includes a form in which one encoding block is vertically partitioned, and the four-partitioned block340includes a form in which one encoding block is vertically and horizontally partitioned. The one encoding block includes both a square block and a non-square block.

The block structure350having diverse block partitioning according to an embodiment includes a block structure of a form in which blocks310,320,330, and340of diverse block partitioning forms are combined. In the block partitioning structure according to the embodiment, the most upper block350may be partitioned into four sub-blocks, i. e., a first sub-block351, a second sub-block352, a third sub-block353, and a fourth sub-block354. The first sub-block351according to an embodiment is a block represented by the block partitioning form of the block310of a non-partitioned form, and the second sub-block352is a block represented by block partitioning of the block340of a four-partitioned form. The one encoding block may be partitioned into one or more sub-blocks, and the partitioned sub-blocks may be repeatedly partitioned. The second sub-block352is partitioned into four sub-sub-blocks, and each sub-sub-block indicates a block represented by block partitioning of the non-partitioned block310. The third sub-block353is a block represented by the block partitioning of the horizontally partitioned block320and the lower end rectangular block356of the sub-sub-blocks is a block represented by block partitioning of the vertically partitioned block330. The fourth sub-block354is a block represented by block partitioning of the four-partitioned block340, and the first sub-sub-block and the third sub-sub-block of the fourth sub-block are blocks represented by block partitioning of the vertically partitioned block330. Herein, the third sub-sub-block represents an embodiment in which additional vertical partitioning is performed.

FIG.4is a table showing a syntax for supporting a block structure with various block partitioning according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The video coding method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes partitioning information410regarding whether or not to partition a block into four sub-blocks, partitioning information420regarding whether or not to partition a block into two when the block is not partitioned into four sub-blocks, and direction information430regarding two-partitioning direction, in order to use a block structure of diverse block partition forms. The partitioning information420regarding whether or not to partition a block into two sub-blocks and the direction information430regarding two-partitioning direction include information necessary for partitioning one encoding block into two sub-blocks, and may be transmitted in a form of two flags or in a form of information combined into one.

FIG.5illustrates an example of a color element according to a color format for one block according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As an example of color element according to color format according to an embodiment of the present invention, among color formats, this specification shows a YUV420format510in which a size of a luminance component is different from a size of a chrominance component, and a YUV444format520in which a size of a luminance component is the same as a size of a chrominance component. In case of the color format in which the luminance component and the chrominance component are different from each other in size, a size of the luminance component block511and the chrominance component blocks512and513is different from each other in constructing one encoding block. In case of the color format in which the luminance component and the chrominance component is the same in the size, the size of the luminance component block521and the chrominance component blocks522and523is the same in constructing one encoding block. However, in the present specification, the color format in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is different from or the same as each other is not limited to the color format constituted with the luminance component and the chrominance component, and includes classification according to component rate of each color element, such as various color formats such as RGB, XYZ, and the like.

FIG.6shows an example in which a block partitioning structure is used in the same manner for each color element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A video encoding method and apparatus according to an embodiment uses the same block partitioning structure in the luminance component block and the chrominance component block regardless of a color format. The video encoding method and apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment may determine block partitioning structures by using the same block partitioning information in the luminance component block611and the chrominance component blocks612and613of a color format610in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is different from each other. The video encoding method and apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment may determine block partitioning structures by using the same block partitioning information in the luminance component block621and the chrominance component blocks622and623of a color format620in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is the same.

FIG.7shows an example in which a block partitioning structure is used differently for each color element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The video coding method and apparatus according to an embodiment selectively uses the same or different block partitioning structure in the luminance component block and the chrominance component block according to the color format. The video encoding method and apparatus according to an embodiment may determine block partitioning structures by using different block partitioning information in the luminance component block711and the chrominance component blocks712and713of a color format710in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is different from each other. Herein, the luminance component block711and the chrominance component blocks712and713may be partitioned using different block partitioning structures, based on the block size and the encoding block partitioning depth information. In addition, the video encoding method and apparatus according to an embodiment may determine block partitioning structures by using the same block partitioning information in the luminance component block721and the chrominance component blocks722and723of a color format720in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is the same.

The video coding method and apparatus according to an embodiment may selectively use the block partitioning structure of the luminance component blocks711and712and the chrominance component blocks712,713,722, and723, in accordance with the color format710in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is different from each other and the color format720in which the size of the luminance component and the chrominance component is the same.

FIG.8is a flowchart illustrating the performing of partitioning and decoding on blocks in a video decoder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The video coding method and apparatus according to an embodiment may include a block partitioning information acquisition unit820, a block partitioning performance unit830, and a block decoding unit840.

The block partitioning information acquisition unit820acquires and outputs encoding information on block partitioning from the bitstream.

The block partitioning performance unit830performs block partitioning using the encoding information on the block partitioning extracted by the block partitioning information acquisition unit820.

The block decoding unit840performs decoding on each decoding unit partitioned through the block partitioning performance.

The present invention can be used for manufacturing such as broadcasting equipment manufacturing, terminal manufacturing, and the like, and industries related to source technology.