Energy-aware decoders: A case study based on an RVC-CAL specification

Along with the pervasive development of video coding standards, new algorithms have suffered increasing complexities. An MPEG Reconfigurable Video Coding (RVC) framework has been proposed to efficiently support multiple codec specifications and facilitate innovation in codec design. Meanwhile, an energy-aware design is expected to be included into video coding standards for an energy optimization of multimedia applications, which are known to have highly computational load. This paper proposes an energy-aware decoder manager jointly based on a Just-In-Time Adaptive Decoder Engine (Jade) and an energy estimation model. The model is driven by Performance Monitoring Counters (PMCs) and fitted by the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) method and demonstrates its estimation accuracy is less than 10% when applies on the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) decoder. In addition, this manager introduces 4.58% decoder performance decrease in the worst case. By combining the estimation model into the RVC framework, the experimental result shows a good potential of energy efficiency improvement with increase in 5.16% based on energy consideration.