Bi-prediction for video coding

The coding system addresses inefficiencies in video coding by determining whether to bypass BDOF based on CU weight indications, reducing complexity and enhancing efficiency in video coding processes.

JP2026004579APending Publication Date: 2026-01-14INTERDIGITAL VC HOLDINGS INC
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2025171170
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2018-12-31
Filing Date
2025-10-09
Publication Date
2026-01-14

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing video coding systems face increased computational complexity due to the use of bidirectional optical flow (BDOF) in combination with bi-prediction with coding unit weights, which can be inefficient and complex.

Method used

A coding system that determines whether to bypass bidirectional optical flow (BDOF) based on the weight indication of coding unit (CU) weights, enabling or disabling BDOF and bi-prediction based on specific weight indications for current CUs, and performs CU weight bi-prediction without BDOF when unequal weights are indicated.

Benefits of technology

Reduces computational complexity and improves efficiency by selectively using BDOF and bi-prediction, optimizing video coding processes.

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Abstract

Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are provided to determine whether to bypass BDOF.SOLUTION: A coding system can combine coding modes, coding techniques, and coding tools. The coding system may include a wireless transmit / receive unit. The coding system may combine bi-prediction with BDOF and CU weights. BDOF may include refining a motion vector associated with a current CU based at least in part on gradients associated with positions in the current CU. The coding system can determine that BDOF is enabled and can determine that bi-prediction with CU weights is enabled for the current CU. The determination of the coding system that bi-prediction with CU weights is enabled and BDOF is enabled may be based on one or more indications.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 736,790, filed September 26, 2018, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 786,641, filed December 31, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0002] This application relates to video signal compression techniques. [Background technology]

[0003] For example, to reduce the storage and / or transmission bandwidth used for digital video, video coding systems may be used to compress such signals. Video coding systems may include block-based systems, wavelet-based systems, and / or object-based systems. Systems employ video coding techniques such as bidirectional motion compensated prediction (MCP), which can reduce temporal redundancy by exploiting temporal correlation between pictures. Certain techniques may increase the complexity of the computations performed during encoding and / or decoding. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Systems, methods, and means may be provided that determine whether to bypass bidirectional optical flow (BDOF) when BDOF is used in combination with bi-prediction with coding unit (CU) weights (e.g., generalized bi-prediction (GBi)). The coding system may combine coding modes, coding techniques, and / or coding tools. The coding system may include a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU). For example, the coding system may combine BDOF and bi-prediction with CU weights (BCW). BDOF may include refining a motion vector associated with the current CU based at least in part on a gradient associated with a position in the current CU. The coding system may determine that BDOF is enabled and / or that bi-prediction with CU weights is enabled for the current CU. The coding system's determination that bi-prediction with CU weights is enabled and / or that BDOF is enabled may be based on one or more indications.

[0005] The coding system may determine whether to perform or bypass BDOF based on the weight of the CU weight bi-prediction. In an embodiment, the coding system may identify a weight indication of the CU weight bi-prediction for the current CU. The weight indication may indicate a weight to be used for the current CU in the CU weight bi-prediction. The coding system may determine whether to bypass BDOF for the current CU based at least in part on the CU weight bi-prediction weight indication for the current CU. If the weight indication indicates that unequal weights will be used for the current CU in the CU weight bi-prediction, the coding system may determine to bypass BDOF for the current CU. To reconstruct the current CU, the coding system may perform CU weight bi-prediction without BDOF based on the determination to bypass BDOF. If the weight indication indicates that equal weights will be used for the current CU in the CU weight bi-prediction, the coding system may determine whether to perform BDOF for the current CU.

[0006] In an embodiment, the weight indication may indicate that unequal weights will be used for the current CU in CU weight bi-prediction. The coding system may derive a predicted CU weight. For example, the coding system may determine a first predicted CU weight based on the CU weight bi-prediction weight indication. The coding system may derive a second predicted CU weight based on the first predicted CU weight and a constraint associated with the CU weight bi-prediction. The coding system may perform CU weight bi-prediction based on the first predicted CU weight and the second predicted CU weight. The CU weight bi-prediction weight indication may include an index value. The index value may correspond to a predetermined weight. Different index values ​​may indicate different predetermined weights. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system. [Figure 1B] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communication system shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1C] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communication system illustrated in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1D] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating a further exemplary RAN and a further exemplary CN that may be used within the communication system illustrated in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example block-based video encoder. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary video decoder. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram of an example block-based video encoder with support for bi-prediction with CU weights. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example module with support for bi-prediction with CU weights for an encoder. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example block-based video decoder with support for bi-prediction with CU weights. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example module with support for bi-prediction with CU weights for a decoder. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary four-parameter affine mode. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary six-parameter affine mode. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary hierarchical prediction structure with temporal layers (TL). [Figure 11] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of determining whether to skip affine for a particular MVD precision and / or weight. [Figure 12]FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment for determining whether to bypass BDOF. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] 1A illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable the multiple wireless users to access such content through sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may utilize one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tailed unique word discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC).

[0009] 1A, communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, Internet 110, and other networks 112, although it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA,” may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (UE), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspot or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain situations), consumer electronics devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be referred to interchangeably as a UE.

[0010] The communications system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communications networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a NodeB, an eNodeB, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, a gNB, an NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be understood that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0011] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in the licensed spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of the licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for wireless services in a particular geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may utilize multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0012] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over the air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0013] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c in the RAN 104 / 113 may establish the air interface 116 using Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) or may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0014] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or LTE Advanced (LTE-A), and / or LTE Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0015] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0016] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement both LTE radio access and NR radio access, e.g., using a dual connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0017] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a wireless technology such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN).

[0018] 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., used by drones), and a roadway. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Therefore, the base station 114b may not need to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0019] The RAN 104 / 113 may communicate with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, application, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have various quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput, delay, error resilience, reliability, data throughput, and mobility requirements. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A , it will be understood that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs that utilize the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) that utilizes GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0020] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The network 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs that may utilize the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0021] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links.) For example, WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with base station 114a, which may employ cellular-based wireless technology, and with base station 114b, which may utilize IEEE 802.11 wireless technology.

[0022] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the above elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0023] The processor 118 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0024] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0025] 1B, the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may utilize MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0026] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As mentioned above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as, for example, NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0027] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. Additionally, the processor 118 may obtain information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as located on a server or home computer (not shown).

[0028] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to other components within the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0029] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or instead of, information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or may determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may obtain location information using any suitable location determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0030] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth module, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0031] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio where transmission and reception of some or all of the signals associated with a particular subframe (e.g., for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and the downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be parallel and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit 139 to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference via hardware (e.g., a choke) or via signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or the processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0032] 1C is a system diagram showing the RAN 104 and the CN 106. As mentioned above, the RAN 104 may employ E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also communicate with the CN 106.

[0033] The RAN 104 may include eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c, although it will be understood that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNodeBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNodeB 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a.

[0034] Each of the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, etc. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with each other over an X2 interface.

[0035] 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the above elements is depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity different from the CN operator.

[0036] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, etc. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0037] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNodeB handover, triggering paging when DL data is available to the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0038] The SGW 164 may be connected to a PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0039] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional landline communication devices. For example, the CN 106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0040] Although in Figures 1A-1D the WTRU is described as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments such a terminal may use a wired communication interface (e.g., temporary or permanent) with a communication network.

[0041] In an embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0042] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or interface with a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic within and / or outside the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to a STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from a STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP for delivery to the respective destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP; for example, a source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent (e.g., directly) between a source STA and a destination STA using direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z Tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs within or using an IBSS (e.g., all of the STAs) may communicate directly with each other. IBSS mode communication may sometimes be referred to herein as "ad hoc" mode communication.

[0043] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, an AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a width dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In one representative embodiment, for example, in an 802.11 system, carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented. With CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. Within a given BSS, one STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time.

[0044] A high-throughput (HT) STA may use a 40-megahertz-wide channel for communication, for example, by combining a primary 20-megahertz channel with an adjacent or non-adjacent 20-megahertz channel to form a 40-megahertz-wide channel.

[0045] A very high throughput (VHT) STA may support channels that are 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide. A 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channel may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining eight contiguous 20 MHz channels or two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. In the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, the data may be passed through a segment parser that may split the data into two streams. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing may be performed separately on each stream. The streams may be mapped onto two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operations described above for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed and the combined data may be sent to the media access control (MAC).

[0046] Sub-1 GHz mode operation is supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The channel operating bandwidths and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to an embodiment, 802.11ah may support meter-type control / machine-type communication, such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have limited functionality, including, for example, support for certain bandwidths and / or limited bandwidths (e.g., only support for them). The MTC device may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (eg, to maintain a very long battery life).

[0047] WLAN systems capable of supporting multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that may be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in a BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA that supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode among all STAs operating in the BSS. In the example of 802.11ah, for a STA (e.g., an MTC-type device) that supports (e.g., only supports) 1 MHz mode, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) setting may depend on the status of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy because a STA (that only supports a 1 MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even though most of the frequency band may remain idle and available for use.

[0048] In the United States, the available frequency bands that may be used by 802.11ah are 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency bands are 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total available bandwidth for 802.11ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz, depending on country regulations.

[0049] 1D is a system diagram illustrating an example RAN 113 and CN 115. As described above, the RAN 113 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116 using NR radio technology. The RAN 113 may also communicate with the CN 115.

[0050] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, although it will be understood that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNB 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a may, for example, transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a using multiple antennas. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on an unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on a licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement coordinated multipoint (CoMP) technology. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from the gNBs 180a and 180b (and / or 180c).

[0051] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of different or scalable lengths (e.g., including different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or lasting for different lengths of absolute time).

[0052] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without accessing another RAN (e.g., eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in unlicensed bands. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to a gNB 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN, such as an eNodeB 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement the DC principle to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c may act as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0053] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to User Plane Functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b and routing of control plane information to Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, etc. As shown in FIG. 1D , the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with each other over the Xn interface.

[0054] 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the above elements is depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity different from the CN operator.

[0055] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, and mobility management. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b to customize CN support for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. Different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency (URLLC) access, services relying on eMBB access, and / or services for Machine-Type Communication (MTC) access, etc. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0056] The SMFs 183a and 183b may be connected to the AMFs 182a and 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b may also be connected to the UPFs 184a and 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b may select and control the UPFs 184a and 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPFs 184a and 184b. The SMFs 183a and 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and assigning UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notification. PDU session types may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0057] The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPFs 184a, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multihoming PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchoring.

[0058] The CN 115 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to local data networks (DNs) 185a, 185b through the UPFs 184a, 184b via an N3 interface to the UPFs 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the DNs 185a, 185b.

[0059] 1A-1D and the corresponding description thereof, one or more or all of the functions described herein with respect to one or more of the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNodeBs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other devices described herein may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functionality.

[0060] The emulation device may be designed to perform one or more tests of other devices in a laboratory environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network to test other devices in the communication network. One or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or may perform tests using over-the-air wireless communication.

[0061] The one or more emulation devices may perform one or more functions, including all functions, without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a test lab and / or in a test scenario in an undeployed (e.g., test) wired and / or wireless communication network to perform tests of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which may include, for example, one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0062] Video coding systems may be used to compress digital video signals to reduce the storage requirements and / or transmission bandwidth of the video signals. Video coding systems may include block-based systems, wavelet-based systems, and / or object-based systems. Block-based video coding systems may include MPEG-1 / 2 / 4 part 2, H.264 / MPEG-4 part 10 AVC, VC-1, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), and / or Versatile Video Coding (VVC).

[0063] A block-based video coding system may include a block-based hybrid video coding framework. FIG. 2 shows an example block-based hybrid video coding framework for an encoder. The WTRU may include the encoder. The input video signal 202 may be processed block-by-block. A block size (e.g., an extended block size such as a coding unit (CU)) can compress high-resolution (e.g., 1080 pixels or greater) video signals. For example, a CU may include 64×64 pixels or larger. The CU may be partitioned into prediction units (PUs), and / or separate prediction may be used. Spatial prediction 260 and / or temporal prediction 262 may be performed on input video blocks (e.g., macroblocks (MBs) and / or CUs). Spatial prediction 260 (e.g., intra prediction) may use pixels from samples (e.g., reference samples) of coded neighboring blocks within a video picture / slice to predict a current video block. Spatial prediction 260 can, for example, reduce spatial redundancy that may be inherent in a video signal. Motion prediction 262 (e.g., inter prediction and / or temporal prediction) may, for example, use reconstructed pixels from a coded video picture to predict a current video block. Motion prediction 262 may, for example, reduce temporal redundancy that may be inherent in a video signal. A motion prediction signal for a video block may be signaled by one or more motion vectors and / or may indicate the amount and / or direction of motion between the current block and / or its reference blocks. If multiple reference pictures are supported for (e.g., each) a video block, a reference picture index for the video block may be transmitted. The reference picture index may be used to identify which reference picture in reference picture store 264 the motion prediction signal can be derived from.

[0064] After spatial prediction 260 and / or motion prediction 262, a mode decision block 280 in the encoder may determine a prediction mode (e.g., a best prediction mode), for example, based on rate-distortion optimization. The prediction block may be subtracted from the current video block 216, and / or the prediction residual may be de-correlated using transform 204 and / or quantization 206 to achieve a bitrate, such as a target bitrate. The quantized residual coefficients may be inverse quantized in quantization 210 and / or inverse transformed in transform 212, for example, to form a reconstructed residual, which may be added to prediction block 226, for example, to form a reconstructed video block. The reconstructed video block may be placed in reference picture store 264 and / or in-loop filtering (e.g., a deblocking filter and / or an adaptive loop filter) may be applied to the reconstructed video block in loop filter 266 before the reconstructed video block can be used to code a video block (e.g., a subsequent video block). To form the output video bitstream 220, the coding mode (e.g., inter or intra), prediction mode information, motion information, and / or quantized residual coefficients may be transmitted (e.g., all transmitted) to the entropy coding module 208, for example, to be compressed and / or packed to form the bitstream.

[0065] Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an example block-based video decoding framework for a decoder. A WTRU may include the decoder. A video bitstream 302 (e.g., video bitstream 220 in Figure 2) may be unpacked (e.g., first unpacked) and / or entropy decoded in an entropy decoding module 308. Coding mode and prediction information may be sent to a spatial prediction module 360 ​​(e.g., if intra-coded) and / or to a motion-compensated prediction module 362 (e.g., if inter-coded) to form a prediction block. Residual transform coefficients may be sent to an inverse quantization module 310 and / or an inverse transform module 312, for example, to reconstruct a residual block. The prediction block and / or the residual block may be added together at 326. The reconstructed block may go through loop filtering in a loop filter 366, for example, before the reconstructed block is stored in a reference picture store 364. The reconstructed video 320 in the reference picture store 364 may be transmitted to a display device and / or used to predict video blocks (e.g., future video blocks).

[0066] The use of bidirectional motion compensated prediction (MCP) in video codecs can remove temporal redundancy by exploiting temporal correlation between pictures. A bi-predictive signal may be formed by combining two uni-predictive signals using a weighting value (e.g., 0.5). In certain videos, illuminance characteristics may change rapidly from one reference picture to another. Thus, prediction techniques can compensate for variations in illuminance over time (e.g., fading transitions) by applying global weights and global offset values ​​or local weights and local offset values ​​to one or more sample values ​​in a reference picture.

[0067] One or more coding tools may be used to compensate for changes in illumination over time (e.g., fading transitions). For example, if motion compensation is performed, one or more coding tools may be used to compensate for changes in illumination over time. The one or more coding tools may include, for example, weighted prediction (WP). As an example of WP, a set of weights and / or a set of offsets may be signaled at the slice level. The set of weights may include multiplicative weight(s). The set of offsets may include additive offset(s). In an embodiment, a set of multiplicative weights and a set of additive offsets may be signaled (e.g., at the slice level) for each reference picture in each reference picture list (L0 and L1). For example, one or more of the weight(s) and / or offset(s) may be applied during MCP when the corresponding reference picture can be used. In an embodiment, WP may be employed when illumination changes linearly from picture to picture. WP may be adopted when the change in illumination is global, for example at the picture / slice level.

[0068] MCP in a bi-prediction mode may be performed using CU weights. As an example, MCP may be performed using bi-prediction by CU weights. An example of bi-prediction by CU weights (BCW) may include generalized bi-prediction (GBi). The bi-prediction signal may be calculated based on one or more of weight(s) and / or motion compensated prediction signal(s) corresponding to motion vectors associated with reference picture list(s), etc. In an example, a prediction signal at sample x in (assuming) a bi-prediction mode may be calculated using Equation (1).

[0069]

number

[0070] P[x] may represent the resulting prediction signal for sample x located at picture position x. i [x+v i ] is the motion vector (MV) v for the i-th list (e.g., list 0, list 1, etc.). i W0 and W1 may represent a motion compensated prediction signal of x using W0 and W1. W0 and W1 may represent two weight values ​​applied to prediction signal(s) for a block and / or CU. As an example, W0 and W1 may represent two weight values ​​shared across samples in a block and / or CU. Various prediction signals may be obtained by adjusting the weight value(s). As shown in equation (1), various prediction signals may be obtained by adjusting the weight values ​​W0 and W1.

[0071] Some configurations of weight values ​​W0 and W1 can indicate prediction, such as uni-prediction and / or bi-prediction. For example, (W0,W1)=(1,0) may be used in association with uni-prediction with reference list L0. (W0,W1)=(0,1) may be used in association with uni-prediction with reference list L1. (W0,W1)=(0.5,0.5) may be used in association with bi-prediction with two reference lists (e.g., L1 and L2).

[0072] The weight(s) may be signaled at the CU level. In an embodiment, weight values ​​W0 and W1 may be signaled for each CU. Bi-prediction may use CU weights. A weight constraint may be applied to a weight pair. The constraint may be pre-configured. For example, a weight constraint may include W0+W1=1. A weight may be signaled. The signaled weight may be used to determine another weight. For example, a CU weight constraint may signal only one weight. Signaling overhead may be reduced. Example weight pairs may include {(4 / 8, 4 / 8), (3 / 8, 5 / 8), (5 / 8, 3 / 8), (-2 / 8, 10 / 8), (10 / 8, -2 / 8)}.

[0073] For example, when unequal weights are to be used, the weights may be derived based on a constraint on the weights. The WTRU may receive a weight indication and may determine a first weight based on the weight indication. The WTRU may derive a second weight based on the determined first weight and the constraint on the weights.

[0074] Equation (2) may be used. In an embodiment, equation (2) may be generated based on equation (1) and the constraint W0+W1=1.

[0075]

number

[0076] The weight values ​​(e.g., W1 and / or W0) may be discretized. Weight signaling overhead may be reduced. In an embodiment, the bi-predictive CU weight value W1 may be discretized. The discretized weight value W1 may include, for example, one or more of −2 / 8, 2 / 8, 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8, 6 / 8, and / or 10 / 8, etc. For example, for bi-prediction, a weight indication may be used to indicate the weight to be used for a CU. An example of the weight indication may include a weight index. In an embodiment, each weight value may be indicated by an index value.

[0077] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an example video encoder with support for BCW (e.g., GBi). The WTRU may include an encoder such as that described in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. The encoder may include a mode decision module 404, a spatial prediction module 406, a motion prediction module 408, a transform module 410, a quantization module 412, an inverse quantization module 416, an inverse transform module 418, a loop filter 420, a reference picture store 422, and an entropy coding module 414. In an embodiment, some or all of the modules or components of the encoder (e.g., the spatial prediction module 406) may be the same as or similar to the modules or components described in connection with FIG. 2. In addition, the spatial prediction module 406 and the motion prediction module 408 may be pixel-domain prediction modules. Thus, the input video bitstream 402 may be processed in a manner similar to the input video bitstream 202 to output a video bitstream 424. The motion prediction module 408 may further include support for bi-prediction with CU weights. As such, the motion prediction module 408 may combine the two separate prediction signals in a weighted averaging scheme, and the selected weight index may be signaled in the input video bitstream 402.

[0078] FIG. 5 is a diagram of example modules having support for bi-prediction with CU weights for an encoder. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an estimation module 500. The estimation module 500 may be employed in a motion prediction module of an encoder, such as the motion prediction module 408. The estimation module 500 may be used in conjunction with a BCW (e.g., GBi). The estimation module 500 may include a weight value estimation module 502 and a motion estimation module 504. The estimation module 500 may utilize a two-step process to generate an inter-prediction signal, such as a final inter-prediction signal. The motion estimation module 504 may perform motion estimation using reference picture(s) received from a reference picture store 506 and by searching for two optimal motion vectors (MVs) indicating the (e.g., two) reference blocks. The weight value estimation module 502 may search for an optimal weight index to minimize a weighted bi-prediction error between the current video block and the bi-prediction signal. The generalized bi-prediction prediction signal may be calculated as a weighted average of two prediction blocks.

[0079] Figure 6 is a diagram of an example block-based video decoder with support for bi-prediction with CU weights. Figure 6 shows a block diagram of an example video decoder capable of decoding a bitstream from an encoder. The encoder may support BCW and / or share some similarities with the encoder described in connection with Figure 4. A WTRU may include a decoder as described in the example shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, the decoder may include an entropy decoder 604, a spatial prediction module 606, a motion prediction module 608, a reference picture store 610, an inverse quantization module 612, an inverse transform module 614, and a loop filter module 618. Some or all of the modules of the decoder may be the same as or similar to the modules described in connection with Figure 3. For example, predictive blocks and / or residual blocks may be added together at 616. The video bitstream 602 may be processed to generate reconstructed video 620, which may be sent to a display device and / or used to predict video blocks (e.g., subsequent video blocks). The motion prediction module 608 may further include support for BCW. The coding mode and / or prediction information may be used to derive a prediction signal using either spatial prediction or MCP with support for BCW. For BCW, block motion information and / or weight values ​​(e.g., in the form of indices indicating the weight values) may be received and decoded to generate a prediction block.

[0080] 7 is a diagram of an example module having support for bi-prediction with CU weights for a decoder. Figure 7 shows a block diagram of a prediction module 700. The prediction module 700 may be employed in a motion prediction module of a decoder, such as the motion prediction module 608. The prediction module 700 may be used in conjunction with a BCW. The prediction module 700 may include a weighted average module 702 and a motion compensation module 704, which may receive one or more reference pictures from a reference picture store 706. The prediction module 700 may use block motion information and weight values ​​to calculate a prediction signal of the BCW as a weighted average of (e.g., two) motion-compensated prediction blocks.

[0081] There may be various types of motion in a particular video, such as zoom-in / out motion, rotational motion, perspective motion, and other irregular motion. A translational motion model and / or an affine motion model may be applied to the MCP. The affine motion model may be four-parameter and / or six-parameter. A first flag for (e.g., each) inter-coded CU may be signaled indicating whether a translational motion model or an affine motion model is applied for inter prediction. If an affine motion model is applied, a second flag may be transmitted indicating whether the model is four-parameter or six-parameter.

[0082] The four-parameter affine motion model may include two parameters for translation in the vertical and horizontal directions, one parameter for zoom motion in the vertical and horizontal directions, and / or one parameter for rotation motion in the vertical and horizontal directions. The horizontal zoom parameter may be equal to the vertical zoom parameter. The horizontal rotation parameter may be equal to the vertical rotation parameter. The four-parameter affine motion model may be coded using two motion vectors at two control point locations defined at the top-left and top-right corners of the (current) CU.

[0083] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exemplary four-parameter affine mode. FIG. 8 shows an exemplary affine motion field of a block. As shown in FIG. 8, a block may be described by two control point motion vectors (V0, V1). Based on the control point motion, the motion field of one affine-coded block (v x ,v y ) may be written in equation (3).

[0084]

number

[0085] In equation (3), (v 0x ,v 0y ) may be the motion vector of the upper left corner control point. (v 1x ,v 1y ) may be the motion vector of the control point in the upper right corner. w may be the width of the CU. The motion field of the affine-coded CU may be derived at the level of a 4x4 block. For example, (v x ,v y ) may be derived for each 4x4 block in the current CU and applied to the corresponding 4x4 block.

[0086] The four parameters may be estimated iteratively. The pair of motion vectors at step k is

[0087]

number

[0088] the original luminance signal may be represented as I(i,j) and the predicted luminance signal may be represented as I' k It may be expressed as (i,j). Spatial gradient

[0089]

number

[0090] and

[0091]

number

[0092] are the predicted signals I' in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. k It may be derived using a Sobel filter applied to (i,j). The derivative of equation (1) may be expressed as equation (4).

[0093]

number

[0094] In equation (4), (a, b) may be the delta translation parameters at step k, and (c, d) may be the delta zoom and delta rotation parameters at step k. The delta MV at a control point may be derived by its coordinates in equations (5) and (6). For example, (0, 0) and (w, 0) may be the coordinates for the top-left and top-right control points, respectively.

[0095]

number

[0096]

number

[0097] Based on the optical flow equation, the relationship between the change in luminance and the spatial gradient and temporal movement may be formulated as Equation (7).

[0098]

number

[0099] According to equation (4),

[0100]

number

[0101] and

[0102]

number

[0103] Constructing (a, b, c, d) can generate equation (8) for the parameters (a, b, c, d).

[0104]

number

[0105] If the samples in the CU satisfy Equation (8), the parameter set (a, b, c, d) may be derived using, for example, a least squares calculation.

[0106]

number

[0107] The motion vectors at may be derived by equations (5) and (6), which may be rounded to a particular precision (e.g., 1 / 4 pel). Iterations can be used to refine the motion vectors at the two control points until they converge when the parameters (a, b, c, d) can be zero, or until the number of iterations meets a predefined limit.

[0108] The six-parameter affine motion model may include two parameters for translation in the horizontal and vertical directions, one parameter for zoom motion, one parameter for rotation in the horizontal direction, one parameter for zoom motion, and / or one parameter for rotation in the vertical direction. The six-parameter affine motion model may be coded with three motion vectors at three control points. FIG. 9 is a diagram of an exemplary six-parameter affine mode. As shown in FIG. 9, the three control points for a six-parameter affine coded CU may be defined at the top-left corner, the top-right corner, and / or the bottom-left corner of the CU. The motion at the top-left control point may be associated with translation motion. The motion at the top-right control point may be associated with rotation and zoom motion in the horizontal direction. The motion at the bottom-left control point may be associated with rotation and zoom motion in the vertical direction. In a six-parameter affine motion model, the rotation and zoom motion in the horizontal direction may not be the same as those in the vertical direction. In an embodiment, each sub-block (v x ,v y ) may be derived from equations (9) and (10) using the three motion vectors as control points.

[0109]

number

[0110]

number

[0111] In equations (9) and (10), (v 2x ,v 2y ) may be the motion vector of the bottom-left control point; (x, y) may be the center position of the sub-block; w and h may be the width and height of the CU.

[0112] The six parameters of the six-parameter affine model may be estimated in a similar manner, for example, Equation (11) may be generated based on Equation (4).

[0113]

number

[0114] In equation (11), during step k, (a, b) may be delta translation parameters, (c, d) may be delta zoom parameters and delta rotation parameters for the horizontal direction, and (e, f) may be delta zoom parameters and delta rotation parameters for the vertical direction. For example, equation (12) may be generated based on equation (8).

[0115]

number

[0116] The parameter set (a, b, c, d, e, f) may be derived using a least squares calculation by considering the samples within the CU.

[0117]

number

[0118] The motion vector of the top right control point may be calculated using equation (5).

[0119]

number

[0120] The motion vector of the bottom left control point may be calculated using equation (13).

[0121]

number

[0122] The motion vectors may be calculated using equation (14).

[0123]

number

[0124]

number

[0125] Adaptive precision for translational motion models may be utilized. For CUs coded as non-merge mode and non-affine inter mode, the motion vector difference (MVD) between the motion vector of the current CU and its predictor may be coded at different precisions, such as 1 / 4-pel precision, 1-pel precision, or 4-pel precision. 1 / 4-pel may be fractional precision. Both 1-pel and 4-pel may belong to integer precision. In an embodiment, precision may be signaled by multiple (e.g., two) flags per CU to indicate the MVD precision. A first flag may indicate whether the precision is fractional precision, such as 1 / 4-pel. If the precision is not fractional precision (e.g., 1 / 4-pel), a second flag may be signaled indicating whether the precision is integer precision, such as 1-pel precision or 4-pel precision. In motion estimation, delta motion vectors may be searched around an initial motion vector, which may be treated as a starting position. A starting position may be selected from the spatial and temporal predictors. The starting motion vector may be rounded to the precision for MVD signaling, for example, to facilitate implementation. MVD candidates having the determined (e.g., required) precision may be searched for.

[0126] The motion vector predictor may be rounded to the MVD precision. The encoder may check the rate-distortion (RD) cost for different MVD precisions and / or select the MVD precision. In an embodiment, the selected MVD precision may be the optimal precision with the minimum RD cost. The RD cost may be calculated by a weighted sum of the sample value distortion and the coding rate. The RD cost may be a measurement of coding performance. A coding mode with a lower RD cost may indicate better overall coding performance. A flag related to the MVD precision may be signaled when at least one of the MVD components (e.g., the horizontal or vertical component of the L0 or L1 motion vector) is non-zero. This may reduce signaling overhead. If the signaled MVD component is zero, the MVD precision may be inferred to be 1 / 4-pel precision.

[0127] To provide (e.g., efficient) temporal prediction, a hierarchical prediction structure may be used in a random access configuration. FIG. 10 is a diagram of an exemplary hierarchical prediction structure with temporal layers (TLs). FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary hierarchical prediction using four temporal layers (TLs) (e.g., TL-0, TL-1, TL-2, and TL-3) in association with pictures having a picture order count (POC), such as pictures 0 through 8. The arrows in FIG. 10 represent the predictive relationship between a current picture and its reference picture(s). The arrows originating from the reference picture(s) may lead to the current picture being predicted. In hierarchical prediction, higher TL pictures may be predicted from reference pictures that are closer in temporal distance. For example, a picture in TL-3 (e.g., picture 3) may be predicted from a temporally adjacent picture (e.g., picture 2 in TL-2). Lower TL pictures may have a greater temporal distance from their reference pictures. As shown in Figure 10, picture 8 in TL-0 may be 8 pictures away from its reference picture 0 in TL-0. Picture(s) in the highest TL, such as TL-3 in Figure 10, may not serve as reference pictures. They may be referred to as non-reference pictures. While Figure 10 shows an example with four TLs, any suitable number of TLs (e.g., five or more) may be employed to achieve a desired (e.g., deeper) hierarchy.

[0128] In hierarchical prediction, for example, picture / slice level quantization parameter (QP) values ​​may be adapted depending on the TL in which the current picture resides. For example, QP0 may be used for a picture in TL0, and QP0+Delta(TLx) may be used for a picture in TLx. Delta() may be a function based on TL. Delta() may be zero or a positive integer. In an embodiment, Delta(TLx) may be set to TLx.

[0129] Bi-prediction in video coding may be based on a combination of multiple (e.g., two) temporal prediction blocks and / or CUs. Temporal prediction blocks (and / or CUs) may be combined. In an embodiment, two temporal prediction blocks obtained from a reconstructed reference picture may be combined using averaging. Bi-prediction may be based on block-based motion compensation. Relatively small motion may be observed between (e.g., two) prediction blocks in bi-prediction.

[0130] For example, bidirectional optical flow (BDOF) may be used to compensate for relatively small motion observed between prediction blocks. BDOF may be applied to compensate for such motion for samples within a block. In an embodiment, BDOF can compensate for such motion for individual samples within a block. This can increase the efficiency of motion-compensated prediction.

[0131] BDOF may include refining motion vector(s) associated with a block and / or CU. In an embodiment, BDOF may include sample-wise motion refinement performed on top of block-based motion compensated prediction when bi-prediction is used. BDOF may include deriving refined motion vector(s) for samples. As an example of BDOF, the derivation of refined motion vectors for individual samples in a block may be based on an optical flow model.

[0132] The BDOF may include refining a motion vector associated with a block and / or CU based on one or more of the position of the block and / or CU, a gradient (e.g., horizontal and / or vertical, etc.) associated with the position of the block and / or CU, and / or a sample value associated with a corresponding reference picture list for the position, etc. To derive the refined motion vector for a sample, Equation (14B) may be used. As shown in Equation (14B), I (k) (x, y) may represent the sample value at coordinates (x, y) of the prediction block derived from reference picture list k (k=0, 1). (k) (x,y) / ∂x and ∂I (k) (x,y) / ∂y may be the horizontal and vertical gradients of the sample. The motion refinement (v x ,v y ) may be derived using equation (14B), which may be based on the assumption that the optical flow model is valid.

[0133]

number

[0134] BDOF prediction may be based on an optical flow model and interpolation of a prediction block along a motion trajectory. Equation (14C) shows an example using a combination of an optical flow model (e.g., shown in Equation (14B)) and interpolation of a prediction block along a motion trajectory for BDOF prediction. τ1 and τ0 can represent the temporal distance from the reference picture to the current picture.

[0135]

number

[0136] Multiple coding techniques may be utilized with an exemplary encoder / decoder (e.g., the exemplary encoder shown in FIG. 4 and the exemplary decoder shown in FIG. 6). In an embodiment, WP and BCW (e.g., GBi) may be utilized together in the exemplary encoder / decoder. When BCW and WP are used together, WP may be enabled. For example, a reference picture may be signaled by WP parameters such as weight and offset. At the coding block level, if the reference picture is coded bi-predictively, a BCW weight may be signaled. WP parameters may be associated with global illumination changes. Parameters for BCW may be associated with local illumination changes for the coding block.

[0137] The WP parameters and the parameters for BCW may be applied together. For example, the WP parameters and the parameters for BCW may be applied as part of a two-step process. As an example of a two-step process, the WP parameters may be applied first, followed by the parameters for BCW. FIG. 15 shows an example of applying the WP parameters and the parameters for BCW. As shown in FIG. 15, coding block B may be bi-predicted with reference pictures r0 and r1 from two reference picture lists. P(r0) and P(r1) may represent two predictors from r0 and r1. The WP parameters for r0 and r1 may include (W0, O0) and (W1, O1). The weighting parameters for bi-prediction with CU weights for r0 and r1 are ((1-W GBi ),W GBi ) may also be included.

[0138]

number

[0139] As an example of a fixed-point implementation, WP and BCW (e.g., GBi) are GBi ,N WP Equation (15) may be written as an example shown in equation (16).

[0140]

number

[0141] In equation (16), S GBi is (1< <N GBi ) can be equal to W' GBi is S GBi W scaled by GBi (W'0,O'0) and (W'1,O'1) can be fixed point representations of (1< <N WP ) may be a fixed-point representation of the WP parameters scaled by (1<<(N GBi +N WP -1) and may be used for rounding purposes.

[0142] In an embodiment, when a WP is not used for a bi-predictively coded coding block, a BCW may be used. When a WP is used for a bi-predictively coded coding block, GBi may be used. For example, for some reference pictures, WP parameters may not be signaled. For some reference pictures, the weight may be 1 and the offset may be 0. If the current block does not use a WP for both reference pictures, parameter(s) for the BCW may be signaled. If the current coding block uses a WP in either reference picture list, parameter(s) for the BCW may not be signaled. The signaling overhead associated with the BCW may be reduced.

[0143] In an embodiment, if a coding block uses a WP, parameter(s) for the BCW may be signaled. When the CU weight is not equal to a specific value (e.g., 0.5), a bi-predictive signal may be generated by using the CU weight(s) for the BCW and an offset parameter of the WP. In an embodiment, Equation (17) may be generated based on Equation (15).

[0144]

number

[0145] If the CU weight is equal to a certain value (e.g., 0.5), the unmodified WP may be applied. In an embodiment, at the encoder side, the WP offset may be taken into account in bi-predictive motion estimation, assuming a weight (e.g., not equal to 0.5). Changes in global illumination may be compensated for by the WP offset, and changes in local illumination may be compensated for by the CU weight.

[0146] The BCW (e.g., GBi) may be based on one or more weights. The BCW weights may be signaled. In an embodiment, five weights (e.g., −2 / 8, 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8, and 10 / 8) may be used for low-latency pictures, and three weights (e.g., 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8) may be used for non-low-latency pictures. If a CU is coded using a bi-prediction mode, the BCW weight for the CU may be signaled. For example, a weight indication may be used to indicate the BCW weight to be used for the current CU in the BCW. As shown in Table 1, the weight indication may include an index value corresponding to a predetermined BCW weight (e.g., −2 / 8, 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8, and 10 / 8). Different predetermined BCW weights may have different corresponding index values.

[0147] In an embodiment, if a CU is coded using a bi-predictive mode, the BCW weights may be signaled based on truncated unary coding. Table 1 shows an exemplary truncated unary coding scheme for low-latency pictures. Table 2 shows an exemplary truncated unary coding scheme for non-low-latency pictures.

[0148] [Table 1]

[0149] [Table 2]

[0150] A particular weight may be considered to be the most frequently used weight. For example, weight 4 / 8 may be considered to be the most frequently used weight. The weight considered to be the most frequently used weight may be signaled using a number of bits that is fewer than the number of bits used to signal other weights. The weight considered to be the most frequently used weight may be signaled with the smallest number of bits. In an embodiment, the weight considered to be the most frequently used weight may be signaled with one bit. If a weight is not signaled, the most frequently used weight may be the default weight.

[0151] For example, the weight of a CU may be derived based on the weight of neighboring CU(s). In an embodiment, the weight of a CU may be the same as the weight of neighboring CU(s), which may occur due to factors such as spatial correlation. The weight of a CU may be derived based on spatial correlation. Signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0152] In an embodiment, the most likely weight for the current CU may be derived from neighboring CU(s). For example, the most likely weight for the current CU may be set to be the most used weight of five spatially neighboring CUs. The five spatially neighboring CUs may include a left-neighboring CU, an above-neighboring CU, a bottom-left-neighboring CU, a top-right-neighboring CU, and a top-left-neighboring CU (e.g., in merge mode). If the neighboring CU is not coded using bi-prediction or merge mode, the weight of the neighboring CU may be treated as a specific value (e.g., 4 / 8).

[0153] An indication (e.g., a flag) may be signaled indicating that the weight of the current CU is equal to the most likely weight. If the weight of the current CU is different from the most likely weight, the weight may be signaled. In the embodiment herein, there may be four remaining weights for low-delay pictures and two remaining weights for non-low-delay pictures. The remaining weights may be signaled by variable-length coding (e.g., after binarization) and / or fixed-length coding. If fixed-length coding is used, the four weights may be signaled using two bits per weight value, and the two weights may be signaled using one bit per weight value.

[0154] The BCW (e.g., GBi) may be applied to one or more motion models, including one or more of a translation model, a four-parameter affine motion model, and / or a six-parameter affine motion model, etc. One or more weights may be used for bi-prediction with CU weights. As an example herein, five weights (e.g., -2 / 8, 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8, 10 / 8) may be used for low-latency pictures, and three weights (e.g., 3 / 8, 4 / 8, 5 / 8) may be used for non-low-latency pictures. Weights may be selected for bi-predictive inter-coding modes with different MVD precisions (e.g., 1 / 4 pel, 1 pel, and / or 4 pel, etc.). In an example, for each bi-predictive inter-coding mode with different MVD precisions, a weight may be selected based on an RD cost. The RD cost calculation (e.g., for GBi) may include motion estimation for bi-prediction and / or entropy coding. Affine motion estimation may be disabled in certain cases.

[0155] Certain motion estimations associated with a motion model and / or MVD precision may be skipped based on the BCW weight. In an embodiment, affine motion estimation for different weights may be terminated early. Certain weight candidate selections associated with MVD precision may be bypassed. Certain weight candidate selections for certain MVD precisions may be bypassed. In an embodiment, motion estimation for some weights that are not the most likely weights may be skipped for a particular motion model and / or a particular MVD precision.

[0156] Affine motion estimation associated with a particular weight may be disabled or bypassed. Affine motion estimation may be an iterative process. Affine motion estimation (e.g., for each iteration) may include one or more of applying motion compensation to generate a prediction signal, calculating horizontal and / or vertical gradients using the prediction signal, calculating a correlation matrix, and / or deriving affine motion model parameters based on least-squares calculations, etc. The level of calculation for one iteration may be relatively high. Motion estimation associated with one or more weights may be performed. For example, if bi-prediction with CU weights is enabled, possible weights associated with the reference picture list of a coding block or CU may be tested or examined. For the weights, the encoder may perform four-parameter affine motion estimation and / or six-parameter affine motion estimation. Affine motion estimation may be terminated early if the weight is equal to or unequal to a particular value. In an embodiment, if the weight is not equal to 4 / 8, affine motion estimation may be disabled or bypassed.

[0157] Affine motion estimation may be performed on the condition that a weight is equal to a specific value (e.g., 4 / 8), and affine motion estimation may not be performed for other weights. As such, each weight (e.g., 4 / 8) may be applicable to an affine coding mode. For example, affine mode may be indicated or signaled before weights for inter-coded CUs are indicated or signaled. If a coding block is in affine mode, weights may be inferred. If a coding block is in affine mode, weights may not be signaled. Signaling overhead for affine-coded CUs can be reduced.

[0158] The coding result associated with a particular weight(s) may be used to determine whether to disable or bypass affine motion estimation associated with other weights. In an embodiment, the RD cost for motion estimation associated with weight 4 / 8 may be used to determine whether to bypass affine motion estimation associated with other weights. The encoder may evaluate the RD costs of the weights in a particular order. For example, the encoder may evaluate weight 4 / 8 first, followed by weights −2 / 8, 10 / 8, 3 / 8, and 5 / 8. The encoder may use the coding result of weight 4 / 8 to determine whether to bypass affine motion estimation associated with other weights. For example, when the weight is 4 / 8, if the motion estimation cost of the affine model is greater than the motion estimation cost of the translational model multiplied by a threshold value (e.g., 1.05), affine motion estimation may be skipped for one or more other weights, such as −2 / 8, 10 / 8, 3 / 8, and / or 5 / 8.

[0159] The encoder may determine whether to bypass affine motion estimation for one or more other weights based on the current mode. Figure 11 illustrates an example of determining whether to skip affine motion estimation for a particular MVD precision and / or a particular weight. In the example shown in Figure 11(a), for pel 1 / 4, all weights and affine modes may be checked. In the example shown in Figure 11(b), the encoder may check the (e.g., best) coding mode after encoding with weight 4 / 8. The BCW weight is calculated as W as shown in equation (17). BCW For example, the sum of the weights for each list may be 1. BCW may be for list1, and the weight for list0 may be (1-W BCW). If the affine mode with weight 4 / 8 is selected as the current (e.g., best) mode, motion estimation for other weights may be performed. In this case, motion estimation for a translational model may or may not be performed. If the affine mode with weight 4 / 8 is not selected as the current (e.g., best) mode, affine motion estimation may be skipped for one or more other weights, such as -2 / 8, 10 / 8, 3 / 8, and / or 5 / 8. The weights associated with the affine modes may be for one list, and the weight for another list may be derived based on the sum of the two weights, which are 1. For example, using this constraint, if 4 / 8 is for one list, the weight for another list may be 4 / 8, indicating equal weights.

[0160] Among different MVD precisions, weight candidate selection may be terminated early. Certain weight candidate selections associated with certain MVD precisions may be bypassed. The coding system may support one or more precisions (e.g., ¼ pel, 1 pel, 4 pel) for MVD. The encoder may calculate RD costs for one or more precisions (e.g., three) and / or select the best precision based on the calculated RD. The encoder may compare RD costs for one or more precisions. The best precision may be the one with a relatively low (e.g., lowest) RD cost. The encoder may calculate RD costs for one or more precisions in sequence. In an embodiment, when bi-prediction with CU weights (e.g., GBi) is enabled, different weights may be tested for each MVD precision. In some cases, a bi-predictive search may be performed for each weight.

[0161] The RD calculation for some weights associated with a particular MVD precision may be bypassed. When the MVD precision is a particular value (e.g., 1 / 4 pel), the coding device (e.g., encoder and / or decoder) may record the RD costs of different weights. The coding device may order some or all of the weights in ascending or descending order based on the RD costs of the weights, excluding a particular weight value. In an embodiment, the coding device may order the weights associated with the recorded RD costs in ascending or descending order according to the RD costs of the weights, excluding the 4 / 8 weight. The coding device may not test all weights for 1-pel precision and / or 4-pel precision. In an embodiment, the first several weights among the ordered weights and the 4 / 8 weight may be tested against 1-pel precision and 4-pel precision. The number of weights to be tested against 1-pel precision and 4-pel MVD precision may be reduced.

[0162] Some bi-predictive (e.g., GBi) searches may be skipped for the same reference picture in more than one reference picture list. For example, for some pictures in a lower TL in the hierarchical prediction structure, the same picture may occur in multiple reference picture lists (e.g., list0 and list1). Table 3 may include a reference picture structure for the first group of pictures (GOP). As shown in Table 3, the GOP size may be 16. POC may be the picture order count of the current picture. TL may be the temporal level to which the current picture belongs. L0 and L1 may identify the POC values ​​of reference pictures used by each of the two reference picture lists for current picture coding.

[0163] [Table 3]

[0164] As shown in Table 3, POC16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 12, 14, and 15 may have the same reference picture(s) in both lists. For example, POC16 may have reference picture 0 in L0 and L1, and POC8 may have reference picture 16 in L0 and L1. For bi-prediction, the same reference picture for L0 and L1 may be selected. If two reference pictures in bi-prediction are identical, a coding device (e.g., an encoder) may skip certain bi-predictive motion estimation. In an embodiment, for example, if two reference pictures in bi-prediction are identical, a coding device (e.g., an encoder) may perform bi-predictive motion estimation for weight 4 / 8 and skip bi-predictive motion estimation for other weights. In an embodiment, when the MVD precision is a certain value (e.g., 1 pel, 4 pel), a coding device may skip bi-predictive motion estimation for other weights. When the affine model is a four-parameter model or a six-parameter model, the coding device may skip affine bi-predictive motion estimation for other weights, thereby reducing coding loss.

[0165] Certain bi-predictive motion estimation may be bypassed under conditions associated with the TL of the current picture. For example, when TL is greater than a predefined threshold, such as 1, the coding device may skip bi-predictive motion estimation for other weights.

[0166] Any of the conditions herein for skipping bi-predictive searches (e.g., for weights other than 4 / 8) may be combined. For example, the conditions herein for skipping some weights may be implemented as an encoder approach to speed up encoding.

[0167] The conditions herein for skipping some weights may be implemented in an exemplary manner. In an embodiment, BCW with non-default weights may be allowed when the MVD precision is 1 / 4 pel and / or when the affine 4-parameter mode is not used. When the MVD precision is 1 pel or 4 pel, BCW index signaling may be disabled. When the affine 4-parameter mode is used, BCW index signaling may be disabled. Signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0168] For example, the BCW (e.g., GBi) may be disabled for some pictures depending on their TL and / or QP used to encode the pictures. In an embodiment, the BCW may be more effective for low to medium QP values. The BCW may be more effective for medium to high quality encoding. If the QP used to encode the current picture is above a threshold, the BCW may be disabled. The BCW may be disabled for non-reference pictures (e.g., pictures at the highest TL). Non-reference pictures may not be used as reference pictures by other pictures.

[0169] For example, a BCW may be combined with BDOF for a current block or CU. In an embodiment, a coding system may receive one or more indications that a BCW and / or a BDOF are enabled. The coding system may include a WTRU. The WTRU may use a combination of a BCW and a BDOF based on the one or more indications. The one or more indications may be signaled at the block and / or picture / slice level. For example, the WTRU may determine that a BCW is enabled for a current CU. The WTRU may identify a weight indication of the BCW for the current CU. The weight indication may indicate, for example, a weight in the BCW to be used for the current CU. An example of the weight indication may include a weight index. The WTRU may determine that a BDOF is enabled for the current CU.

[0170] One or more of the following features may apply to the interaction between bi-prediction with CU weights and BDOF: BDOF may include refining a motion vector associated with the current CU based at least in part on a gradient associated with a position in the current CU.

[0171] BDOF may be performed if equal weights (e.g., 4 / 8 or 0.5) will be used for the current CU in bi-prediction with CU weights. In an embodiment, BDOF may be performed for the current CU if equal weights will be used for the current CU and at least another condition is met. The other conditions may include, for example, equal weights are applied to L0 prediction and L1 prediction and / or the current CU is bi-predicted. In an embodiment, if the weight indication indicates that equal weights will be used for the current CU in bi-prediction with CU weights based on one or more other conditions, the WTRU may further determine whether to perform BDOF for the current CU.

[0172] The decision of whether to apply BDOF to further refine the bi-predictive signal may depend on the weights applied. The WTRU may identify a weight indication of the BCW for the current CU. The weight indication may indicate the weight to be used for the current CU in the BCW. FIG. 12 is a diagram of an example of determining whether to bypass BDOF. In an example, whether to bypass BDOF for the current CU may be determined at least in part based on the weight indication of the BCW for the current CU. As shown in FIG. 12, motion compensation may be performed at 1204. At 1206, it may be determined whether BCW is enabled for the current CU and whether BDOF is allowed. If it is determined that BCW is not enabled or BDOF is not allowed for the current CU, checking the bi-predictive weights with CU weights may be skipped and BDOF may not be performed. If it is determined that BCW is enabled for the current CU and BDOF is allowed, the weights of the BCW may be checked, and it may be determined at 1208 whether equal weights are applied. If equal weights are applied, BDOF may be performed at 1210. As an example, if the weight indication indicates that equal weights will be used for the current CU in the BCW, BDOF may be performed for the current CU. In the case where unequal weights are applied, BDOF may be bypassed. As an example, if the weight indication indicates that unequal weights will be used for the current CU in the BCW, the WTRU may determine to bypass BDOF for the current CU. The weight indication may include an index value corresponding to a predetermined weight.

[0173] The current CU may be reconstructed based on the determination of whether to bypass BDOF. The WTRU may be configured to perform BCW without BDOF based on the determination of whether to bypass BDOF. For example, a first predicted CU weight may be determined based on the weight indication. A second predicted CU weight may be derived based on the first predicted CU weight and a constraint on the BCW weight. BCW may be performed on the current CU based on the first predicted CU weight and the second predicted CU weight. As shown in FIG. 12, at 1212, inter prediction may end.

[0174] In an embodiment, BDOF may be enabled regardless of whether equal or unequal weights are applied to bi-predicted CUs. Based on an optical flow model, the derivation of a motion vector refined for a sample (e.g., each sample) in the current CU may remain the same as the BDOF derivation described herein. For example, before BDOF is applied, a weighted combination of the original L0 prediction signal and the original L1 prediction signal for the BCW may be applied. The prediction signal obtained after BDOF may be calculated as shown in the example of Equation (18).

[0175]

number

[0176] In one or more embodiments described herein, the weights for the BCW may be applied to the original L0 predicted signal and the original L1 predicted signal, and the derived motion refinement may remain the same as the original BDOF design. x and v y ) may not match the weights applied to the original prediction signal.

[0177] The same weights for bi-prediction with CU weights may be applied to the original bi-prediction and / or motion refinement derived in L0 and L1. x and v y ) derivation may be the same as described herein. In an embodiment, the predicted signal acquired after BDOF may be calculated as shown in equation (19).

[0178]

number

[0179] Although features and elements have been described above in particular combinations, those skilled in the art will recognize that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. Additionally, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WRTU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0180] 100 Communication Systems 102a Receiver Unit (WTRU) 102b Receiver Unit (WTRU) 102c Receiver Unit (WTRU) 102d Receiver Unit (WTRU) 108 Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 110 Internet 112 Network 114a base station 114b base station 116 Air Interface 118 processors 120 Transmitter / Receiver 122 receiving elements 124 microphones 126 keypad 128 Touchpad 130 Non-removable Memory 132 Removable Memory 134 Power supply 136 chipset 138 Peripherals 139 Interference Management Unit 162 Mobility Management Entity (MME) 164 Serving Gateway (SGW) 166 Gateway (or PGW) 182a Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182b Mobility Management Function (AMF) 183a Session Management Facility (SMF) 183b Session Management Facility (SMF) 184a User Plane Function (UPF) 184b User Plane Function (UPF) 185a Data Network (DN) 185b Data Network (DN)

Claims

1. Calculating a rate-distortion cost associated with bi-prediction by coding unit weights (BCW); determining whether to skip affine motion estimation for one or more other BCW weights based on the rate-distortion cost; 1. A device for video encoding, comprising: a processor configured to:

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the BCW weights on which the rate-distortion cost is calculated are default weights or most frequently used weights.

3. 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the default weight or the most frequently used weight is 4 / 8.

4. 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more other BCW weights include at least one of -2 / 8, 10 / 8, 3 / 8, and 5 / 8.

5. 5. The device of claim 1, wherein determining whether to skip affine motion estimation for one or more other BCW weights based on the rate-distortion cost comprises skipping affine motion estimation for one or more BCW weights in response to a motion estimation cost of an affine model exceeding a motion estimation cost of a translational model multiplied by a threshold.

6. Calculating a rate-distortion cost associated with bi-prediction by coding unit weights (BCW); determining whether to skip affine motion estimation for one or more other BCW weights based on the rate-distortion cost; 1. A method for video encoding, comprising:

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the BCW weights over which the rate-distortion cost is calculated are default weights or most frequently used weights.

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the default weight or the most frequently used weight is 4 / 8.

9. 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more other BCW weights include at least one of -2 / 8, 10 / 8, 3 / 8, and 5 / 8.

10. 10. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether to skip affine motion estimation for one or more other BCW weights based on the rate-distortion cost comprises skipping affine motion estimation for one or more BCW weights in response to the motion estimation cost of an affine model exceeding the motion estimation cost of a translational model multiplied by a threshold value.

11. 11. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for implementing the method of any one of claims 6 to 10.

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