Patent ID: 7536487

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an internal memory disposed on a chip and containing at least one first buffer for storing a subset of at least one reference frame (i) suitable for motion compensation and (ii) stored in an external memory off said chip, wherein a size of said at least one first buffer exceeds one row of blocks in said reference frame; and an external transfer circuit disposed on said chip and configured to (i) transfer said subset from said external memory to said internal memory and (ii) transfer a new set of said blocks from said external memory to said first buffer as processing of an old set of said blocks in said first buffer completes, wherein (1) a size of said new set (a) matches said old set and (b) occupies a portion of said first buffer and (2) each of said blocks in said reference frame are transferred from said external memory to said first buffer only once per target frame to facilitate a plurality of motion estimations between said target frame and said reference frame.