Abstract: A method of the present invention includes coordinating tuning to the same channel of a radio band wherein the following steps are performed: tuning to a channel, within a radio band, that uses a side band; receiving control information in the side band of the channel; and processing the received audio information in the channel using the control information.

Abstract: A method of the present invention includes coordinating tuning to the same channel of a radio band wherein the following steps are performed: tuning to a channel, within a radio band, that uses a side band; receiving control information in the side band of the channel; and processing the received audio information in the channel using the control information.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for encoding and compressing video data. A memory device is configured to store video data, and a corresponding memory controller controls the storage of video data in the memory device. A frame buffer compression module compresses frame data received from a video module to be stored in the memory device according to the memory controller and decompresses compressed frame data received from the memory device according to the memory controller for use by a video module. The frame buffer compression module includes a frame buffer compression encoder configured to encode and compress frame data received from a video module for storage in memory according to the memory controller. The frame buffer also includes a corresponding frame buffer compression decoder configured to decode and decompress frame data received from memory according to the memory controller for use by a video module.

Abstract: An image processing method and apparatus is described for processing a signal from a monochrome or color sensor that may be subject to pixel defects or blemishes. Without prior knowledge of any pixel defects, the processing method examines each pixel value and its neighboring pixel values. A number of tests are applied to the set of pixel values to determine whether the underlying pixel is defective. If the underlying pixel is determined to be defective, the pixel value is replaced by an estimate value derived from the values of its neighboring pixels. Otherwise, the pixel value remains intact.

Abstract: To detect color motion artifacts in a video frame, a motion-compensated color-distance value is compared against a threshold value. If the motion-compensated color-distance value is greater than or equal to the threshold value, color-motion artifacts are detected. The motion-compensated color-distance value is a sum of absolute values of the differences between corresponding pixel values of the video frame and a reference frame. To detect color motion artifacts in a video frame, in another embodiment, luminance and chrominance components of the intra-frame activity levels are compared against luminance and chrominance components of the inter-frame activity levels. If any of the components of the inter-frame activity levels is greater than the corresponding components of the intra-frame activity levels, color-motion artifacts are detected. To reduce color-motion artifacts, either a smaller quantization scale or intra-frame encoding is used to encode the data.

Abstract: An image processing method and apparatus is described for processing a signal from a monochrome or color sensor that may be subject to pixel defects or blemishes. Without prior knowledge of any pixel defects, the processing method examines each pixel value and its neighboring pixel values. A number of tests are applied to the set of pixel values to determine whether the underlying pixel is defective. If the underlying pixel is determined to be defective, the pixel value is replaced by an estimate value derived from the values of its neighboring pixels. Otherwise, the pixel value remains intact.

Abstract: An image processing method and apparatus is described for processing a signal from a monochrome or color sensor that may be subject to pixel defects or blemishes. Without prior knowledge of any pixel defects, the processing method examines each pixel value and its neighboring pixel values. A number of tests are applied to the set of pixel values to determine whether the underlying pixel is defective. If the underlying pixel is determined to be defective, the pixel value is replaced by an estimate value derived from the values of its neighboring pixels. Otherwise, the pixel value remains intact.

Abstract: An image processing method and apparatus is described for processing a signal from a monochrome or color sensor that may be subject to pixel defects or blemishes. Without prior knowledge of any pixel defects, the processing method examines each pixel value and its neighboring pixel values. A number of tests are applied to the set of pixel values to determine whether the underlying pixel is defective. If the underlying pixel is determined to be defective, the pixel value is replaced by an estimate value derived from the values of its neighboring pixels. Otherwise, the pixel value remains intact.

Abstract: A video signal processor includes a motion vector estimation system having a first operating mode for performing frame-structure processing and a second operating mode for field-structure processing. The system includes N motion estimator units, each of the units receiving two respective time separated data blocks, wherein N units are operating during the first operating mode, wherein M of the N units are operating during the second operating mode and wherein (N-M) units provide motion estimating processing outside of an area of an image represented by the data blocks. According to one aspect of the present invention, N is an integer greater than 2 while M is an integer less than N.

Abstract: A variable-length codeword encoder is disclosed which produces 8-bit output segments for storage in a buffer (23) for subsequent transmission over a transmission channel (24). The encoder includes two memory tables (15, 16), which produce in response to each input symbol to be encoded, a variable-length codeword and an a codeword length. An accumulator (31, 33) accumulates, modulo-8, the successive codeword lengths, producing a carry signal during any clock cycle in which eight or more bits codeword bits are accumulated. At each clock cycle, the variable-length codeword is input to the parallel inputs of a cross bar shift control circuit (30). This shift control circuit produces a 16-bit output in which the input word is embedded.

Abstract: Method and system for high order conditional entropy coding utilizing an incremental-tree-extension technique to design a conditional tree for the coding. For complexity reduction, code table reduction and non-uniform quantization of conditioning symbols or pixels is provided. A pattern matching technique is provided for fast conditioning state extraction, and a multistage pipelined structure is provided to handle the case of a large number of conditioning pixels. Using the complexity reduction techniques and the hardware structures, it is possible to implement practical high order conditional entropy codecs using current low-cost VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology.

Abstract: A variable-length decoder is disclosed in which a received variable-word-length encoded bit stream is input to a buffer (102) and read out in parallel sequences equal in length to the maximum length codeword. These sequences are read into cascaded latches (105, 107). The cascaded sequences in both latches are input to a barrel shifter (109) which provides from its multi-bit input, a sliding decoding window to a table-lookup memory device (112). A control signal directly shifts the position of the decoding window of the barrel shifter as each codeword is detected. To detect each codeword, the initial bits in the decoding window are compared with the codeword entries in the table-lookup memory. When a codeword is detected, the corresponding stored codeword length is accumulated (120) with previously accumulated codeword lengths to produce the control signal which directly shifts the decoding window by the number of bits in the just decoded word.

Abstract: In a two-dimensional transform coding system, the transform coefficients are ordered according to the variance of the coefficients through a frame of coefficient blocks. Quantization bits are individually assigned to maximize the reduction in quantization error with each assignment. The coefficients are grouped according to the number of quantization bits assigned thereto. To assign each bit, the reduction in quantization error of the frame of the block is computed for the coefficient having the largest variance of each group as the product of the square of the variance and the normalized change in quantization error. The normalized change in quantization error may be stored in a lookup table as a function of the type of distribution of the coefficients.

Abstract: Quantizing apparatus for producing binary quantized values of increasingly closer approximation to a real-valued signal being quantized. A look-up table of threshold values are stored in a memory which is addressed by a shift register. A comparator compares a selected threshold value from the memory with the real-valued signal and produces a bit depending on which is greater. The bit is entered in the shift register causing an appropriate threshold value to be selected for the next comparison cycle with the real-valued signal. Over successive cycles the accumulated bits provide a quantized representation of the real-valued signal of increasing precision. The bits are dequantized to provide a reconstructed value by dequantizing apparatus having a memory containing a look-up table of reconstructed values. The memory is addressed by a shift register which accumulates the bits as they are received.

Abstract: System and method of progressively transmitting and reconstructing an image in which an approximate image is reconstructed based upon partial information and details are added as additional information becomes available. The image is divided into an array of blocks of picture elements and the data for each block is subjected to a two-dimensional transformation to provide transform coefficients thereof. The transform coefficients are quantized into a series of sets of quantized transform coefficients, each quantized transform coefficient being represented by a number of bits. Different numbers of bits are assigned to each quantized transform coefficient of each set of the series to represent the corresponding transform coefficient in increasingly finer detail. During each of a plurality of transmission sequences, signals representing the differences between each set of quantized transform coefficients and the preceding set of the series for each block are transmitted.