JP2000236538A - Object compression coder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize real time coded processing by efficiently distributing a large number of objects to unit coding sections and coding them. SOLUTION: An object input section 2 of the coder is provided with an object subdivision section 22 that subdivides a received object, a distribution section that distributes the object or the subdivided objects to unit coding section 3, and an object input control section 24 that controls the above sections, and an output section 4 of the coder is provided with a reconfiguration section 41 that reconfigures subdivided code data and an output control section 42.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitable for compression encoding of an object expressing data having different attributes such as video, audio, text, etc., and is particularly applied to digital media communication over the Internet or an intranet. The present invention relates to an object compression encoding device suitable for application to a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique for compressing and encoding video and audio media information, there is an MPEG-2 encoding technique and the like, which is applied to digital broadcasting systems and storage systems such as DVD videos. In addition to the above video and audio,
As a technology for expressing information such as text and CG notation as a certain unit of object and compressing and encoding them, M
There is a PEG-4 encoding technology and the like, and application to an application on the Internet or an intranet is considered.

<1> FIG. 4 shows a conventional object compression encoding apparatus. Reference numeral 100 in the figure denotes an apparatus main body, 1
01 is an input unit, 102 is a video encoder, 103 is an audio encoder, 104 is a text encoder, 1
Reference numeral 20 denotes a multiplexing unit.

In this compression encoding apparatus, an input unit 101 sorts an object to a corresponding compression encoding unit according to the attribute of the object data, and then compresses the encoding unit (102, 103, 104, etc.) for each attribute. ) Are compression-encoded for the allocated objects, and the multiplexing unit 120 multiplexes the result encoded by the compression-encoding unit and outputs the result as a single stream. A compression encoding apparatus that handles such objects requires flexibility in handling various types of data. Currently, several MPEG-4 software encoders have been developed, but cannot handle a large number of objects, and have limited functions and performance.
103, 104 and so on. In addition, the types of objects that can be handled are limited.

<2> The MPEG-2 one-chip video encoder LSI is capable of real-time encoding of video equivalent to NTSC. However, it is not possible at present at this time to process HDTV-equivalent video in real time with a one-chip video encoder LSI. Therefore,
In order to realize real-time encoding of HDTV-equivalent video, a multi-chip encoder using a plurality of video encoder LSIs has been considered. In this multichip encoder, an image is divided into N, and the divided images are distributed to N single encoders, and compression encoding is performed in parallel. As described above, there is a configuration in which a plurality of single encoders are operated in parallel in order to increase the processing capacity. However, this type of compression encoder can only handle specific data such as video, and cannot handle objects composed of various data.

<3> From <1> and <2>, the configuration of an encoding device in which a plurality of object encoding units are connected can be easily analogized. FIG. 5 shows an encoding device in which a plurality of conventional object encoding units are connected. The reference numerals in the figure correspond to those in FIG. 4, and reference numerals 110, 111, and 112 represent unit encoding units. For example, there is a compression encoding device composed of a plurality of compression encoding units using computer resources on the Internet or an intranet. However, since the load on a network or a computer changes every moment, a stable object compression encoding is performed. Processing cannot be performed, and high-quality stream data cannot be transmitted.

At the present stage, at the stage where only a simple mounting method with limited functions and performance has been realized, no method or device for realizing encoding of a large number of objects has been established.

[0008]

The prior art has the following problems.

<1> In the object compression encoding apparatus of parallel execution deduced from the conventional technology, since it is not considered that the size and attributes of the input objects are different, the encoding and encoding of Delays,
Unable to perform stable object compression encoding processing.

<2> Variation in the processing capability of the encoding unit causes a variation in the processing capability among the unit encoding units, and an encoding unit with a low processing capability causes a reduction in the performance of the entire encoding device. ing.

There is a problem that the real-time encoding process cannot be maintained for the above two reasons. Further, in order to realize the real-time encoding process, an object compression encoding device having a limited function or an object compression encoding device having reduced quality must be constructed.

An object of the present invention is to realize a real-time encoding process by efficiently distributing and encoding a large number of objects.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an object compression encoding apparatus, comprising: an object subdividing section for subdividing an object; a distribution section for allocating the subdivided object to a unit encoding section; An object input unit composed of an object input control unit for centrally controlling the object, an n unit encoding unit for compressively encoding the subdivided object or the object, and a subdivision that is a compression-encoded subdivision object. A reconstructing unit that converts code data into code data corresponding to an object before subdivision, a multiplexing unit that multiplexes and converts a plurality of coded objects into one stream, and inputs subdivision information from an object input control unit; An output unit consisting of a reconstruction unit and an output control unit for managing the control Characterized in that to realize the subdivision and distribution and reconstruction of objects for.

In the object compression encoding apparatus according to the present invention, an encoding time measuring section is added to each unit encoding section, and feedback control having an object input control section for inputting encoding time information is realized. It is characterized by.

[0015] The object compression / encoding apparatus includes an object input unit having a function of distributing and allocating objects according to the processing capability of the encoding unit for encoding a plurality of objects, and an output unit for reconfiguring. It is possible to suppress the loss of the operating rate of the encoding unit, which is difficult to be realized by the parallel processing used in the encoding technology, suppress the encoding delay, and increase the encoding efficiency.

In consideration of the fact that the processing performance of the encoding unit varies with time, each encoding unit is provided with an encoding time measuring unit for measuring the time required for encoding the object.
By feeding back the encoding time to the object input control unit, the object input unit realizes optimal distribution of the object based on the encoding time and the size of the object.

[0017]

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an object compression encoding apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes an input port, 2 denotes an object input unit, 21 denotes a buffer, 22
Is an object subdivision unit, 23 is a distribution unit, 24 is an object input control unit, 3 is a unit encoding unit, 4 is an output unit, 41
Denotes a reconfiguration unit, 42 denotes an output control unit, 5 denotes a multiplexing unit, and 6 denotes an output port.

This object compression encoding apparatus comprises an object input unit 2 comprising an object subdivision unit 22, a distribution unit 23 and an object input control unit 24, a plurality of unit encoding units 3, a reconstructing unit 41 and an output control unit 42. And a multiplexing unit 5 comprising:

The overall operation of the encoding apparatus will be described below.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an input port of the object compression encoding apparatus. The object input to the input port 11 is input to the object input unit 2.

The object a1 input to the object input unit 2 is accumulated in the buffer 21, and the object input control unit 24 controls the subdivision and distribution of the object based on a certain rule. At this time, the object input control unit 24 determines whether to subdivide the object for each object. When subdividing objects,
The object subdivision unit 22 is an object input control unit 24
, The distribution unit 23 distributes the subdivided objects, which are the subdivided objects from the object subdivision unit 22, to the unit encoding units 3 under the control of the object input control unit 24. When the object is not subdivided, the distribution unit 23 controls the objects in the buffer 21 by the object input control unit 2 under the control of the object input control unit 24.
4 and distributed to each unit encoding unit 3.

The unit encoding unit 3 performs compression encoding on the input subdivided object b1, and outputs the subdivided code data c1 as a result. In the unit encoding unit 3, the encoding method differs depending on the attribute of the object.

The output unit 4 reconstructs the input n pieces of subdivided code data c1 into code data corresponding to the object before subdivision as an input of the reconstructing unit 41, and outputs the result. When performing the reconstruction, the output control unit 42 exchanges the subdivision information e1 with the object input control unit 24, and performs the reconstruction based on the information at the time of the subdivision. The multiplexing unit 5 multiplexes the reconstructed encoded object, and outputs the multiplexed object to the output port 6 of the object compression encoding device as a predetermined stream d1.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the division described above. FIG.
, The three "object 1", "object 2", and "object 3" stored in the buffer are connected to two "output 1", "output 1" This is an example in which the data is divided and output. The three objects are divided into fixed lengths or (10), respectively, and distributed to “output 1” and “output 2”.

As in this embodiment, by allocating and encoding a plurality of input objects to a unit encoder efficiently, the dispersion of the encoding delay is suppressed, and as a result, the encoding quality is improved. . Further, in this embodiment, as a rule of the subdivision, a fixed length division or the like is taken as an example.
The division length can be changed using an index obtained from the input attribute of the object, the predicted processing amount, and the header information (time stamp or the like) of the object.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 3 shows an object compression encoding apparatus. Reference numerals in the figure correspond to those in FIG. 1, and reference numeral 7 denotes an encoding time measuring unit.

The object compression / encoding apparatus comprises an object input section 2 comprising an object subdivision section 22, a distribution section 23, and an object input control section 24, and a reconstruction section 4.
1 and an output control unit 42, a plurality of unit encoding units 3, an encoding time measuring unit 7 added thereto, and a multiplexing unit 5.

The overall operation of the encoding device / system will be described below.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an input port of the object compression encoding apparatus. The object a1 input to the input port 11 is input to the object input unit 2.

The object a1 input to the object input unit 2 is accumulated in the buffer 21, and the object input control unit 24 schedules the subdivision / distribution of the object. At this time, the object input control unit 24
Determines whether to subdivide objects for each object. When subdividing an object, the object subdivision unit 22 subdivides the object in the buffer 21 under the control of the object input control unit 24, and the distribution unit 23 inputs the subdivided object, which is the subdivided object from the object subdivision unit 22, into the object input section. It is distributed to each unit encoding unit 3 under the control of the control unit 24. Also,
When the object is not subdivided, the distribution unit 23 distributes the objects in the buffer 21 to the unit encoding units 3 under the control of the object input control unit 24 under the control of the object input control unit 24.

The object input control section 24 controls the object subdivision section 22 and the distribution section 23 based on the encoding time information f1 measured by the encoding time measuring section 7 added to each unit encoding section 3. . As an example, encoding time information f
1 and the information amount of the object (for example, the image area in the case of an image object), the processing capability of the unit encoding unit 3 is calculated based on an index, and control is performed so as to perform subdivision and distribution according to the processing capability. . The encoding time measuring unit 7 dynamically controls the encoding time information f1 by updating the encoding time information f1 every time the unit encoding unit 3 encodes an object.

The unit encoding section 3 performs compression encoding on the input object or the subdivided object b1, and the resulting code data or subdivided code data c
Outputs 1. In the unit encoding unit, the encoding method differs depending on the attribute of the object.

The output unit 4 inputs the subdivided code data c
1 is reconstructed into the code data corresponding to the object before subdivision as an input of the reconstruction unit 41, and the result is output.
At the time of reconfiguration, the output control unit 42 exchanges the subdivision information e1 with the object input control unit 24, and performs reconfiguration based on the information at the time of subdivision. The multiplexing unit 5 multiplexes the reconstructed coded objects in time series, and outputs the multiplexed objects as a predetermined stream d1 at the output port 6 of the object compression coding apparatus.
Output to

As in this embodiment, subdivision, distribution, and reconstruction are performed on a plurality of input objects while performing feedback control according to the state of the unit encoder, thereby changing the state of the unit encoder. And the encoding process can be stabilized. Further, the effect shown in the second embodiment can be further reinforced.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, <1> an object compression / encoding device having a plurality of encoding units is provided with an object input unit having subdivision and distribution functions. It is possible to suppress encoding delay of objects having different attribute sizes and perform stable encoding.

<2> By dynamically controlling the subdivision and distribution of objects with an index based on the encoding time of the unit encoding unit, encoding delay caused by a change in the state of the unit encoding unit is suppressed, and performance is reduced. Can be prevented.

From the above, an efficient object compression encoding apparatus can be realized while maintaining the stability of the object compression encoding apparatus and preventing performance degradation. That is, it is possible to realize object compression encoding with less resources. Alternatively, it is possible to exhibit higher performance with the same resources as in the past, and it is possible to construct a compression encoding device that achieves improvement in image quality and high compression.

More specifically, real-time object encoding that satisfies advanced requirements such as MPEG-4, which is considered to be implemented with software first, can be realized more easily. It is very effective in the field of multimedia communication services on the Internet and intranet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an object compression encoding apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an example of subdivision of an object input unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an object compression encoding device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional unit object compression encoding apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional object compression encoding apparatus using parallel processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Input port 2 Object input part 21 Buffer 22 Object subdivision part 23 Distribution part 24 Object input control part 3 Unit encoding part 4 Output part 41 Reconstruction part 42 Output control part 5 Multiplexing part 6 Output port 7 Encoding time measurement part a1 input object b1 object or subdivided object c1 encoded data or subdivided code data d1 stream e1 subdivided information f1 encoding time information

Claims (2)

[Claims] An object representing different data including video data, audio data, and text data is input, and these are compression-encoded in parallel by a plurality of encoding units, and the compression-encoded code data is converted into a single stream. In an object compression encoding apparatus that multiplexes data and outputs the data, an object input unit includes a buffer for temporarily storing an input object, an object subdivision unit that subdivides an input object to generate a subdivided object, or an object code. And an object input control unit for controlling the buffer, the subdivision unit and the distribution unit, and the subdivision code data, which is a compression-encoded subdivision object, to the object before subdivision as an output unit. A reconstructing unit for converting to equivalent code data, An output control unit that controls a reconstructing unit based on the subdivision information of the object input control unit, and implements a predetermined compression encoding process. 2. An object compression encoding apparatus, comprising: an encoding time measuring unit that measures an encoding time of each unit encoding unit; and an encoding time measured by the encoding time measuring unit and an object size. Buffer, object subdivision,
The object compression encoding device according to claim 1, further comprising: an object input control unit that controls a distribution unit, and that performs a predetermined compression encoding process.