Patent ID: 8792547

Claim:
A video decoding method based on a scanning order of hierarchical data units, the video decoding method comprising: receiving and parsing a bitstream of an encoded video; extracting, from the bitstream, information about a size of a maximum coding unit for decoding a picture of the encoded video, and encoding information about a coded depth and an encoding mode for coding units in the maximum coding unit, wherein the size of the maximum coding unit is a maximum size of the coding units which are data units for decoding the picture; determining the maximum coding unit, which is one of maximum coding units spatially split from the picture by using the extracted information about the size of the maximum coding unit, and determining a hierarchical structure of the coding units into which the maximum coding unit is divided according to depths, determining prediction units of the coding units by using partition types among the extracted encoding information and determining transformation units of the coding units by using transformation split information among the extracted encoding information; and decoding the coding units in the maximum coding unit by performing inverse transformation on the transformation units and performing prediction on the prediction units by using the extracted encoding information about the coded depth and the encoded mode, wherein a data scanning index of the coding units according to a zigzag scanning order in the maximum coding unit is determined based on absolute locations of the coding units in an entire picture, wherein the coded depth indicates a depth where a coding unit is encoded, wherein the absolute locations comprise a location of coding units with respect to the entire picture and, wherein the prediction units and the transformation units are separately determined in each of the coding units.