Fast Mode Decision Algorithm for Inter-Frame Coding in Fully Scalable Video Coding

Scalable video coding is an ongoing standard, and the current working draft (WD) is an extension of H.264/AVC. In the WD, an exhaustive search technique is employed to select the best coding mode for each macroblock. This technique achieves the highest possible coding efficiency, but it results in extremely large encoding time which obstructs it from practical use. This paper proposes a fast mode decision algorithm for inter-frame coding for spatial, coarse grain signal-to-noise ratio, and temporal scalability. It makes use of the mode-distribution correlation between the base layer and enhancement layers. Specifically, after the exhaustive search technique is performed at the base layer, the candidate modes for enhancement layers can be reduced to a small number based on the correlation. Experimental results show that the fast mode decision scheme reduces the computational complexity significantly with negligible coding loss and bit-rate increases