A high-performance entropy decoding system for H.264/AVC

We present a high-performance entropy decoding system for H.264/AVC. This system includes a variable length coding (VLC) decoder, a context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) decoder, and a run-level converter. Each syntax element above slice data is decoded by VLC decoder within a clock cycle. The CABAC decoder decodes the syntax elements at slice data and below through pipeline mechanism. A run-level converting method is designed and integrated into the system to improve the output efficiency of decoded quantized coefficients. This system can process 574,712 macroblock/s operating at 300 MHz, quite enough for real-time decoding for H.264/AVC HD level 4.1 video sequences.