A 165-GOPS motion estimation processor with adaptive dual-array architecture for high quality video-encoding applications

A wide range motion estimation with exhaustive search is the best approach for high quality encoding applications. To perform the required computational power, a 165 GOPS (giga operations per second) exhaustive motion estimation processor ME3 has been developed. The ME3 is powerful enough to realize a range of -64/+63 pixels horizontally and -32/+31 pixels vertically with a single chip. A dual-array architecture supports not only high calculation power but also luminance and chrominance based search to increase picture quality. Also, the ME3 outputs extra vectors as candidates to enhance the picture quality. Using a multi-chip configuration, the exhaustive search range can be easily expanded to meet the requirements of MP@HL encoder. It is implemented using 0.35 μm CMOS technology and contains 1.9 million transistors in an area of 8.5×8.5 mm²