Patent ID: 7995655

Claim:
A coefficient variable length coding method that includes four-stage pipeline operations in parallel, comprising: performing a run length coding upon coefficient data to obtain a first 3-dimension value including run data, level data and last data, during a first clock cycle; transferring the first 3-dimension value during a second clock cycle; obtaining a variable bit vector based on the transferred first 3-dimension value during a third clock cycle; storing the variable bit vector during a fourth clock cycle; wherein the transferring the first 3-dimension value comprises: transferring an index corresponding to the first 3-dimension value; and storing the first 3-dimension value and the index for given clock cycles, and wherein the obtaining a variable bit vector comprises: reusing the stored first 3-dimension value with the corresponding index to obtain the variable bit vector instead of performing the run length coding upon second 3-dimension values when an escape occurs, the second 3-dimension values being obtained while an escape operation is processed, and the escape operation being processed when the transferred first 3-dimension value is not found in a general reference table.