Patent ID: 7664182

Claim:
A decoding device that decodes a moving picture on a block basis, said decoding device comprising: a demultiplexer configured to receive a picture coded signal and to demultiplex the picture coded signal into a header stream and a frame stream; a header information decoding unit configured to receive the header stream and to perform non-arithmetic decoding on the header stream selectively with either a fixed length code or a variable length code according to a syntax structure signal so as to generate a header code value signal; a header information generating unit configured to receive the header code value signal and to generate a header parameter corresponding to the header code value signal, the header parameter and the header code value signal being common to a plurality of blocks of moving picture signals; an arithmetic decoding unit configured to perform only arithmetic decoding on the frame stream so as to construct a frame code value signal; and a frame decoding unit configured to decode, on the block basis, the frame code value signal with reference to the header parameter so as to output a decoded moving picture signal, wherein the header information decoding unit includes: a fixed length decoding unit for fixed length decoding a plurality of header code value signals according to at least one of a plurality of fixed length decoding methods; a variable length decoding unit for variable length decoding the plurality of header code value signals according to at least one of a plurality of variable length decoding methods; and a decoding selecting unit configured to select one of the fixed length decoding unit or the variable length decoding unit according to the syntax structure signal, and wherein the header information decoding unit is configured to decode the header code value signal corresponding to the fixed length code, using one of the plurality of fixed length decoding methods according to the syntax structure signal, when the fixed length decoding unit is selected by the decoding selecting unit, and the header information decoding unit is configured to decode the header code value signal corresponding to the variable length code, using one of the plurality of variable length decoding methods according to the syntax structure signal, when the variable length decoding unit is selected by the decoding selecting unit.