Patent ID: 8279936

Claim:
A method for identifying a block of fractional pixel data in a reference frame that is a best fit pixel match with a current block of pixel data in a current frame, the method comprising steps of: comparing the current block of pixel data to a search area within a reference block of pixel data to identify a best fit integer block; for each integer pixel in a block of pixel data that includes the best fit integer block plus i) one additional row of integer pixels and ii) one additional column of integer pixels, performing a fractional pixel expansion for one quadrant corresponding to each integer pixel in the block of pixel data, such that a combination of all of the one quadrant fractional pixel expansions provides a plurality of fractional blocks for the best fit integer block; and comparing each of the plurality of fractional blocks to the current block to identify a best fit fractional block, the best fit fractional block being the best fit pixel match to the current block, wherein the comparison of each of the plurality of fractional blocks to the current block results in one or more difference values for each fractional pixel that are stored with information identifying a location of the fractional pixel within the block of pixel data and associating the one or more difference values with particular ones of the plurality of fractional blocks, wherein the steps of the method are performed by video encoder hardware.