Apparatus and method for using side information to improve a coding system

(54) APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR USING SIDE INFORMATION TO IMPROVE A CODING SYSTEM

(75) Inventor: Charles Benjamin Dieterich, Kingston, NJ (US)

(73) Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation, Princeton, NJ (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ol this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 09/629,300

(22) Filed: Jul. 31, 2000

Related U.S. Application Data

(63) Continuation of application No. 09/123,238, filed on Jul. 28,

1998, now Pat. No. 6,100,940. (60) Provisional application No. 60/072,080, filed on Jan. 21,

1998.

(51) Int. C I. H04B 1/66

(52) U.S. CI 375/240.03; 348/700; 348/701;

375/240.26; 386/111; 386/112

(58) Field of Search 348/700, 701;

386/112, 111; 375/240.05, 240.26; H04N 7/32

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

5,504,585 * 4/1996 Funjinami et al 386/111

5,512,942 * 4/1996 Otsuki 348/143

5,530,483 * 6/1996 Cooper et al 348/518

5,532,833 * 7/1996 Hong et al 386/77

5,724,100 * 3/1998 Kuchihbhotla 375/240.24

5,751,364 * 5/1998 Yasuda et al 348/416

5,796,436 * 8/1998 Shioi et al 375/240.12

5,835,163 * 11/1998 Liou et al 348/700

6,100,940 * 8/2000 Dieterich 348/700

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—Howard Britton

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—-William J. Burke

(57) ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for pre-processing an image sequence to extract side information concerning the image sequence is disclosed. In one embodiment, the side information is inserted into the image sequence, such that upon being encoded at a later time, the encoder can utilize the side information to best select one or more coding parameters. Alternatively, the side information can be stored on a storage device and is then made available to an encoder that is tasked with encoding the image sequence.

30 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets