A flexible processor for object based HDTV motion estimation

Object based motion estimation with a compensation of rotation and zoom as well as a variable shape of the matched region gains more and more importance (MPEG4). In this paper we describe a new concept for object based motion estimation consisting of a preprocessing unit and a standard block matching processor. In the preprocessing unit the motion components zoom and rotation and the shape of objects are estimated. Then the blocks are manipulated according to the estimated parameters and a standard block matching is performed. For the standard block matching a flexible block matching motion estimation processor with a computational power of 200 GOPS is described. The chip performs block matching on a search area of ±15 vertically and horizontally for a variable block size of up to 32×32 pixels. For larger search areas devices can be cascaded. Full search can be processed as well as fast search strategies. Sub-pel precision motion vectors can be derived using a smaller search area or cascading devices. The chip has a die size of 170 mm² in a 0.5-μm CMOS technology