Patent ID: 8325819

Claim:
A method comprising: encoding coefficients of a plurality of scalable video coding (SVC) layers of an SVC scheme, wherein the encoding of the coefficients associated with video blocks is based on different variable length coding tables for each of the respective SVC layers; for each respective SVC layer of the plurality of SVC layers, generating information identifying a first variable length coding table to be used by a decoding device to decode a first type of the video blocks of coding units included in the respective SVC layer and a second variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode a second type of the video blocks of coding units included in the respective SVC layer, wherein generating information identifying the first variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the first type of the video blocks and the second variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the second type of the video blocks includes performing statistical analysis of information gathered for previously coded units or currently coded units; outputting information representing the encoded coefficients to a decoding device for each of the coded units; and for each of the coded units of each SVC layer of the respective SVC layers, outputting the information identifying the first variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the first type of the video blocks and the second variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the second type of the video blocks, wherein the information identifying the first variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the first type of the video blocks and the second variable length coding table to be used by the decoding device to decode the second type of the video blocks is transmitted once for each of the coded units.