• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.43 no.4 s.310
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• pp.55-65
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• 2006

Most of fast block motion estimation algorithms reported so far in literatures aim to reduce the computation in terms of the number of search points, thus do not fit well with multimedia processors due to their irregular data flow. For multimedia processors, proper reuse of data is more important than reducing number of absolute difference operations because the execution cycle performance strongly depends on the number of off-chip memory access. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a Hexagon-shape line search (HEXSLS) algorithm using line search pattern which can increase data reuse from on-chip local buffer, and check sub-sampling points in line search pattern to reduce unnecessary SAD operation. Our experimental results show that the prediction error (MAE) performance of the proposed HEXSLS is similar to that of the full search block matching algorithm (FSBMA), while compared with the hexagon-based search (HEXBS), the HEXSLS outperforms. Also the proposed HEXSLS requires much lesser off-chip memory access than the conventional fast motion estimation algorithm such as the hexagon-based search (HEXBS) and the predictive line search (PLS). As a result, the proposed HEXSLS algorithm requires smaller number of execution cycles on media processor.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.29 no.7A
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• pp.828-835
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• 2004

An adaptive hexagon based search(AHBS) algorithm is proposed in this paper to perform block motion estimation in video coding. The AHBS evaluates the value of a given objective function starting from a diamond-shaped checking block and then continues its process using two hexagon-shaped checking blocks until the minimum value is found at the center of checking blocks. Also, the determination of which checking block is used depends on the position of minimum value occurred in previous searching step. The AHBS is compared with other fast searching algorithms including full search(FS). Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm provides competitive performance with slightly reduced computational complexity.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.12 no.1 s.45
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• pp.57-65
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• 2007

In the fast block matching algorithm. search patterns of different shapes or sizes and the distribution of motion vectors have a large impact on both the searching speed and the image qualify. In this paper, we propose a new fast block matching algorithm using the flat-hexagon search pattern that ate solved disadvantages of the diamond pattern search algorithm(DS) and the hexagon-based search algorithm(HEXBS). Our proposed algorithm finds mainly the motion vectors that not close to the center of search window using the flat-hexagon search pattern. Through experiments, compared with the DS and HEXBS, the proposed f)at-hexagon search algorithm(FHS) improves about $0.4{\sim}21.3%$ in terms of average number of search point per motion vector estimation and improves about $0.009{\sim}0.531dB$ in terms of PSNR(Peak Signal to Noise Ratio).

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.441-449
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• 2007

In video coding, motion estimation is a process to estimate the pixel of the current frame from the reference frame, which affects directly the predictive quality and the encoding time. This paper is related to AHHS(Adaptive Hierarchical Hexagon Search) using spatio-temporal motion activity for fast motion estimation. The proposed method defines the spatio-temporal motion activity of the current macroblock using the motion vectors of its spatio-temporally adjacent macroblocks, and then conventional AHS(Adaptive Hexagon Search) is performed if the spatio-temporal motion activity is lower, otherwise, hierarchical hexagon search is performed on a multi-layered hierarchical space constructed by multiple sub-images with low frequency in wavelet transform. In the paper, based on computer simulation results for multiple video sequences with different motion characteristics, the performance of the proposed method was analysed and assessed in terms of the predictive quality and the computational time. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method is both suitable for (quasi-) stationary and large motion searches. The proposed method could keep the merit of the adaptive hexagon search capable of fast estimating motion vectors and also adaptively reduce the local minima occurred in the video sequences with higher spatio-temporal motion activity.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.305-315
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• 2008

Pre-proposed AHHS(Adaptive Hierarchical Hexagon Search) is a kind of the fast hierarchical block matching algorithm based on the AHS(Adaptive Hexagon Search). It is characterized as keeping the merits of the AHS capable of fast estimating motion vectors and also adaptively reducing the local minima often occurred in the video sequences with higher spatio-temporal motion activity. The objective of this paper is to propose the method effectively extending the horizontal biased pattern and the vertical biased pattern of the AHHS to improve its predictive image quality. In the paper, based on computer simulation results for multiple video sequences with different motion characteristics, the performance of the proposed method was analysed and assessed in terms of the predictive image quality and the computational time. The simulation results indicated that the proposed method was both suitable for (quasi-) stationary and large motion searches. While the proposed method increased the computational load on the process extending the hexagon search patterns, it could improve the predictive image quality so as to cancel out the increase of the computational load.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Industry Society
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• v.4 no.12
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• pp.953-964
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• 2003

In the block matching algorithm, search patterns of different shapes or sizes and the distribution of motion vectors have a large impact on both the searching speed and the image quality. In this paper, we propose a new fast block matching algorithm using the cross pattern and the flat-hexagon search pattern. Our algorithm first finds the motion vectors that are close to the center of search window using the cross pattern, and then lastly finds the other motion vectors that are not close to the center of search window using the flat-hexagon search pattern. Through experiments, compared with the hexagon-based search algorithm(HEXBS), the proposed cross pattern and flat-hexagonal pattern search algorithm(CFHPS ) improves about 0.2-6.2% in terms of average number of search point per motion vector estimation and improves about 0.02-0.31dB in terms of PSNR(Peak Signal to Noise Ratio).

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.141-144
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• 2003

가장 최근의 동영상 압축 표준인 H.264는 매크로블록의 최적 모드를 결정하기 위하여 총 7가지 모드를 사용하여 움직임 예측을 수행하기 때문에 부호화 효율과 수행 성능 면에서 기존의 방식에 비해 좋은 결과를 보이지만, 움직임 예측 과정에서 많은 계산 시간을 필요로 한다는 것이 커다란 단점으로 지적되고 있다. 따라서, 본 논문에서는 H.264에서 가변 블륵 단위의 움직임 예측 시 인접한 블록과의 상관성을 분석하여 다음 움직임 예측 모드의 사용 여부를 결정하는 블록 병합 알고리즘을 HEXBS(Hexagon-based Search) 고속 움직임 탐색 알고리즘에 적용하여 움직임 예측 시간을 효율적으로 절약하는 방법을 제안한다.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.570-576
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• 2007

This paper presents a hexagon-based Q-leaning algorithm to find a hidden targer object with multiple robots. An experimental environment was designed with five small mobile robots, obstacles, and a target object. Robots went in search of a target object while navigating in a hallway where obstacles were strategically placed. This experiment employed two control algorithms: an area-based action making (ABAM) process to determine the next action of the robots and hexagon-based Q-learning to enhance the area-based action making process.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.99-108
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• 2008

For video compression, we have to consider two performance factors that are the search speed and coded video's quality. In this paper, we propose an enhanced fast block matching algorithm using the spatial correlation of the video sequence and the center-biased characteristic of motion vectors(MV). The proposed algorithm first finds a predicted motion vector from the adjacent macro blocks of the current frame and determines an exact motion vector using the cross pattern and a flat hexagon search pattern. From the performance evaluations, we can see that our algorithm outperforms both the hexagon-based search(HEXBS) and the cross-hexagon search(CHS) algorithms in terms of the search speed and coded video's quality. Using our algorithm, we can improve the search speed by up to 31%, and also increase the PSNR(Peak Signal Noise Ratio) by at most 0.5 dB, thereby improving the video quality.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.242-259
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• 2015

Three-dimensional video coding is one of the main challenges restricting the widespread applications of 3D video and free viewpoint video. In this paper, a novel fractal coding algorithm with motion-vector-field-based motion estimation for depth map sequence is proposed. We firstly add pre-search restriction to rule the improper domain blocks out of the matching search process so that the number of blocks involved in the search process can be restricted to a smaller size. Some improvements for motion estimation including initial search point prediction, threshold transition condition and early termination condition are made based on the feature of fractal coding. The motion-vector-field-based adaptive hexagon search algorithm on the basis of center-biased distribution characteristics of depth motion vector is proposed to accelerate the search. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can reach optimum levels of quality and save the coding time. The PSNR of synthesized view is increased by 0.56 dB with 36.97% bit rate decrease on average compared with H.264 Full Search. And the depth encoding time is saved by up to 66.47%. Moreover, the proposed fractal depth map sequence codec outperforms the recent alternative codecs by improving the H.264/AVC, especially in much bitrate saving and encoding time reduction.