Joint optimization of the motion estimation module and the up/down scaler in transcoders

A joint design scheme is proposed to optimize the up/down scaler and the motion vector estimation module in the transcoder system. The proposed scheme first optimizes the resolution scaler for a fixed motion vector, and then a new motion vector is estimated for the fixed scaler. These two steps are iteratively repeated until they reach a local optimum solution. In the optimization of the scaler, we derive an adaptive version of a cubic convolution interpolator to enlarge or reduce digital images by arbitrary scaling factors. The adaptation is performed at each macroblock of an image. In order to estimate an optimal motion vector, a temporary motion vector is composed from the given motion vectors. Then the motion vector is refined over a narrow search range. It is well-known that this refinement scheme provides the comparable performance compared to the full search method. Simulation results show that a jointly optimized system based on the proposed algorithms outperforms the conventional systems. We can also see that the algorithms exhibit significant improvement in the minimization of information loss compared with other techniques.