Low-complexity intra/inter mode-decision for H.264/AVC video coder

We present a novel mode decision scheme with which a portion of the macroblocks' intra/inter coding mode is determined without performing the exhaustive spatial estimation and motion estimation searches. The coding modes of such macroblocks are determined utilizing the correlation across spatially and temporally close macroblocks' prediction modes. By bypassing a large amount of spatial estimation and motion estimation searches, the scheme can reduce the computational complexity substantially. Simulation results show that the coding performance using the proposed mode decision scheme is perceptually as good as using traditional mode decision. The proposed scheme can be applied to any modern video codec that employs predictive coding, including H.263, MPEG-4, and H.264/AVC.