Fast CABAC decoding architecture

A novel high-performance decoding architecture for H.264 context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) is presented, where several efficient techniques such as speculative decoding, table-based calculation, logic balancing, mathematic reordering and optimal retiming are adopted to reduce the critical timing path. Simulation and implementation results show that the architecture can achieve a fixed decoding rate of up to 247.5 Mbit/s, which is 67 faster than conventional architectures.