Dirty Region Video Frame Encoding for Bandwidth Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing video conferencing applications consume significant power due to high memory bandwidth usage for encoding and decoding video frames, especially when processing multiple participants with high frame rates.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of image processing circuitry that identifies and processes only the dirty regions of video frames, reducing the need for reading and writing entire frames, and utilizing metadata to skip encoding and decoding of static background portions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of energy

If entire video frames are read and written during encoding and decoding, then complete video processing is achieved, but memory bandwidth usage and power consumption increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepower consumptionVSAvoidvideo processing efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides video frames into dirty regions (containing changed pixel data) and static regions (unchanged background). By segmenting the frame processing into these distinct regions, the system processes only the necessary dirty regions while skipping static regions, thereby reducing memory bandwidth usage and power consumption without compromising overall video processing quality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts and processes only the dirty regions from complete video frames. By identifying and isolating the changed portions (dirty regions) using metadata from the encoder, the system eliminates the need to read and write entire frames, directly reducing memory bandwidth consumption and power usage while maintaining video processing effectiveness

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Speed

If high frame rates are processed for multiple participants, then video conferencing quality is improved, but memory bandwidth usage increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveframe rateVSAvoidmemory bandwidth usage

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies partial action by processing only the dirty regions of video frames rather than complete frames. This partial processing approach allows the system to maintain high frame rates for multiple participants while significantly reducing memory bandwidth usage, as only the necessary changed portions are read and written during encoding and decoding operations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS12244798B2Methods and apparatus to perform dirty region reads and writes to reduce memory bandwidth usage

Publication Date: 2025.03.04 INTEL CORP

AI summary

An example apparatus includes image processing circuitry to determine an uncovered region of a background image in a current video frame relative to the background image in a previous video frame, the uncovered region obscured in the previous video frame by a first foreground region of the previous video frame, and the uncovered region uncovered in the current video frame based on movement of a second foreground region in the current video frame relative to the first foreground region of the previous video frame, and encoder circuitry to generate an updated frame portion by encoding the second foreground region and dirty blocks of the background image corresponding to the uncovered region without encoding static blocks of the background image, the static blocks not corresponding to the uncovered region, and store the updated frame portion in the at least one memory.