A Hierarchical Motion Estimation Algorithm Using Correlation of Motion Fields

A new three step hierarchical search algorithm for motion estimation is proposed. The proposed algorithm exploits the motion correlation of spatially neighboring blocks and the motion continuity of temporally neighboring blocks to alleviate the local minimum problem in the first step of the three step hierarchical search algorithm (3SHS). Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves significant improvements in both estimation accuracy and performance reliability compared with the existing fast block matching algorithm including 3SHS, while maintaining almost the same computational complexity as 3SHS. The proposed scheme also possesses the regularity and simplicity of hardware-oriented features.