Patent ID: 8687697

Claim:
One or more tangible computer-readable storage media, wherein the one or more tangible computer-readable storage media are one or more of volatile memory, non-volatile memory, optical storage media, and magnetic storage media, storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer system programmed thereby to perform a method of reconstructing one or more video images in a video sequence, the method comprising: receiving encoded data from a bit stream, wherein the encoded data includes entropy coded data for a macroblock of a video image, the entropy coded data for the macroblock being signaled in the bit stream as part of macroblock syntax at macroblock level, and the entropy coded data for the macroblock representing: (a) a terminal symbol indicating whether transform coefficient data for the macroblock is included in the bit stream; (b) intra/inter decision information indicating whether the macroblock is intra-coded or inter-coded, wherein the macroblock is inter-coded; (c) information indicating which of multiple reference frames is to be used in motion compensation for the inter-coded macroblock; and (d) motion information for the inter-coded macroblock; and decoding the macroblock using the encoded data from the bit stream, wherein the decoding the macroblock comprises: entropy decoding the entropy coded data for the macroblock to determine the terminal symbol, the intra/inter decision information, the infoimation indicating which of the multiple references frames is to be used in motion compensation for the macroblock, and the motion information for the macroblock; determining whether transform coefficient data for the macroblock is included in the bit stream based at least in part upon the terminal symbol; reconstructing a motion vector for the macroblock using the motion information for the macroblock; and reconstructing the macroblock, including performing motion compensation for the macroblock using the motion vector and the indicated one of the multiple reference frames.