Intra Block Copy Buffer Management for Video Coding

The reference buffer is divided into multiple regions or segments that can be independently managed. Each segment stores reference samples from different spatial or temporal sources, allowing selective access and management. This segmentation reduces the complexity of managing the entire buffer as a single unit while maintaining the compression benefits of stored reference samples.

Reference samples are pre-stored in the buffer during the decoding of previous blocks or pictures, before they are needed for prediction of current blocks. This preliminary action allows the buffer to be populated in advance, reducing the computational burden during actual prediction operations and simplifying real-time buffer management.

The buffer stores reference samples with different qualities or precision levels depending on their location or source. Recently decoded samples or those from important regions are stored with higher precision, while older or less important samples use lower precision. This local quality differentiation reduces overall memory requirements while maintaining compression efficiency for critical regions.

The buffer implements a selective discarding mechanism where reference samples that are no longer needed for prediction are removed or overwritten. The buffer manages sample retention based on prediction needs, discarding old samples and recovering storage space for new reference samples, thus optimizing memory utilization while maintaining the bandwidth reduction benefits.