An MPEG-4 video coding SOC design is presented in this paper. We adopt platform-based architecture with an embedded RISC core
and efficient memory organization. A motion estimator supporting predictive diamond search and spiral full search is implemented
for compromise between compression performance and design cost. The proposed data reuse scheme reduces required memory access
bandwidth. For texture coding path, an interleaving DCT/IDCT scheduling with substructure sharing technique is proposed. Several
key modules are integrated into an efficient platform in hardware/software co-design fashion. The cost-efficient video encoder
SOC consumes 256.8 mW at 40 MHz and achieves real-time encoding of 30 CIF (352×288) frames per second.
Keywords MPEG-4 video - video encoder - platform-based architecture
Yung-Chi Chang was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1975. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering,
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1998 and 2000, respectively, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D.
degree in the Graduate Institute of Electrical Engineering. His research interests include video coding algorithms and VLSI
architectures for image/video processing.
Wei-Min Chao was born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1977. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Electronics Engineering,
National Taiwan University in 2000 and 2002 separately. His research interests include video coding algorithms and VLSI architecture
for image and video processing.
Chih-Wei Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1979. He received the B.S.E.E and M.S.E.E degrees from National Taiwan University (NTU), Taipei,
in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He joined MediaTek, Inc., Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 2003, where he develops integrated circuits
related to multimedia systems and optical storage devices. His research interests include object tracking, video coding, baseband
signal processing, and VLSI design.
Liang-Gee Chen was born in Yun-Lin, Taiwan, in 1956. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National
Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, in 1979, 1981, and 1986, respectively. He was an Instructor (1981-1986), and an Associate
Professor (1986-1988) in the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University. In the military service
during 1987 to 1988, he was an Associate Professor in the Institute of Resource Management, Defense Management College. In
1988, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University. During 1993 to 1994 he was a Visiting
Consultant of DSP Research Department, AT & T Bell Lab, Murray Hill. In 1997, he was a visiting scholar of the Department
of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle. During 2001 to 2004, he was the first director of the Graduate
Institute of Electronics Engineering (GIEE) in National Taiwan University (NTU). Currently, he is a Professor of the Department
of Electrical Engineering and GIEE in NTU, Taipei, Taiwan. He is also the director of the Electronics Research and Service
Organization in Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan. His current research interests are DSP architecture
design, video processor design, and video coding systems.
Dr. Chen has served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology since 1996, as
Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems since 1999, and as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits
and Systems II since 2000. He has been the Associate Editor of the Journal of Circuits, Systems, and Signal Processing since
1999, and a Guest Editor for the Journal of Video Signal Processing Systems. He is also the Associate Editor of the Proceedings
of the IEEE. He was the General Chairman of the 7th VLSI Design/CAD Symposium in 1995 and of the 1999 IEEE Workshop on Signal
Processing Systems: Design and Implementation. He is the Past-Chair of Taipei Chapter of IEEE Circuits and Systems (CAS) Society,
and is a member of the IEEE CAS Technical Committee of VLSI Systems and Applications, the Technical Committee of Visual Signal
Processing and Communications, and the IEEE Signal Processing Technical Committee of Design and Implementation of SP Systems.
He is the Chair-Elect of the IEEE CAS Technical Committee on Multimedia Systems and Applications. During 2001--2002, he served
as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE CAS Society. He received the Best Paper Award from the R.O.C. Computer Society in
1990 and 1994. Annually from 1991 to 1999, he received Long-Term (Acer) Paper Awards. In 1992, he received the Best Paper
Award of the 1992 Asia-Pacific Conference on circuits and systems in the VLSI design track. In 1993, he received the Annual
Paper Award of the Chinese Engineer Society. In 1996 and 2000, he received the Outstanding Research Award from the National
Science Council, and in 2000, the Dragon Excellence Award from Acer. He is a member of Phi Tan Phi.