Side Information Generation Based on Hierarchical Motion Estimation in Distributed Video Coding

The side information quality has an immense effect on the compression efficiency of the distributed video coding (DVC) system. This article, based on the hierarchical motion estimation (HME), proposes a new side information generation algorithm which is integrated into DVC system. First, forward motion estimation (FME) and bidirectional motion estimation (BME) on the basis of variable block size HME algorithm are used to acquire relatively accurate motion vectors. Second, a motion vector filter (MVF) is introduced to correct the false estimated motion vectors caused by partial similarity in the video sequences. Finally, a decision mechanism is adopted to handle the overlapped areas in the interpolated frame. The simulation shows that the DVC system associated with the proposed side information generation algorithm can achieve a gain as much as 3-4 dB higher than conventional video coding of INTRA mode and only 0.5-1.0 dB less than that of IBIB mode.