Patent ID: 7676527

Claim:
A decoding unit for decoding coded image data, said decoding unit comprising: a bitstream receiving unit for receiving coded image data from an encoding unit, and outputting output data; a variable length decoding unit for performing variable length decoding on the output data; and an output unit coupled to said variable length decoding unit for outputting decoded image data, wherein said bitstream receiving unit includes: a first register for storing a first data comprising a lower part and a higher part; and a second register for storing a second data comprising a lower part and a higher part, and wherein said bitstream receiving unit outputs the higher part of the first data as a lower part of the output data and outputs the lower part of the second data as a higher part of the output data in one cycle, without the lower part of the first data and the higher part of the second data being output as part of the output data in one cycle.