Probability interval partitioning entropy coding using systematic variable-to-variable length codes

The recently emerging probability interval partitioning entropy (PIPE) coding scheme offers high coding efficiency at a comparably low complexity level. In this paper, a new set of systematic variable-to-variable length (v2v) codes is proposed for use within the PIPE coding concept that allows the complexity requirements to be reduced even further. The proposed systematic v2v codes can be efficiently implemented by using simple counters instead of memory consuming tables. At the same time, the average number of operations per decoded binary symbol can be reduced by more than a factor of 2 relative to a fast multiplication-free binary arithmetic decoder. In terms of coding efficiency, experimental results show that in a typical video coding environment the average Bjontegaard delta (BD) rate increase is typically less than 0.5% when compared to the use of nearly optimal binary arithmetic codes.