Buffer requirement analysis and reference picture marking for temporal scalable video coding

Temporal scalable video coding is a useful feature supported in all existing video coding standards. Though coding efficiency is still the predominant performance metric, buffer requirement is another important factor for assessment of temporal scalable video coding methods. This paper presents analyses of minimum buffer requirement for temporal scalable coding based on the most typical temporal scalable video coding structure, i.e., the so-called hierarchical B picture coding structure. Minimum buffer sizes required for decoding of both the full bitstreams and thinned bitstreams are derived. After that, some reference picture management methods are proposed in order to enable both minimum buffer consumption and maximum coding efficiency. Comparative experiment results showing how different reference picture marking methods affect coding efficiency are also provided.