ISP Temporal Noise Reduction for Low-Power Content Transparency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing content transparency control (CTC) solutions in video conferencing and streaming consume high power and require significant system resources, making them unsuitable for resource and power-constrained systems.

Innovation Solution

Implementing content transparency control (CTC) using temporal noise reduction (TNR) hardware and software in an image signal processor (ISP) to reduce power consumption and resource usage, by blending input and reference images with feedback and output weight maps based on segmentation and user preferences.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Use of energy by moving object

If content transparency control is implemented using traditional processing methods, then CTC functionality is achieved, but power consumption and system resource usage increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepower consumptionVSAvoidCTC functionality

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces TNR hardware and software as an intermediary component within the ISP that enables CTC functionality. Instead of implementing CTC directly through resource-intensive traditional methods, the TNR module acts as a mediator that processes video frames to achieve content transparency control with reduced power consumption and system resource usage while maintaining functional reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces traditional software-based CTC processing with hardware-accelerated TNR processing within the ISP. This substitution of the processing mechanism leverages dedicated hardware resources to perform the same CTC function more efficiently, reducing overall power consumption and system resource requirements

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Productivity

If content transparency control is implemented in real-time, then video processing quality is improved, but computational resources and power consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereal-time processingVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSPower

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the TNR processing pipeline with the CTC functionality within the ISP. By combining these two processing functions into a unified hardware-accelerated pipeline, the system achieves real-time video processing with reduced power consumption compared to implementing separate processing stages

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The TNR hardware and software within the ISP are designed to perform multiple functions including both temporal noise reduction and content transparency control. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve real-time CTC processing without requiring dedicated separate processing resources, thereby reducing overall power consumption

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP4672733A1Low power content transparency control

Publication Date: 2025.12.31 INTEL CORP

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AI summary

Content transparency control implemented on a central processing unit, or a graphics processing unit to post-process live video content requires direct access to double data rate memory and can demand significant amounts of power. A solution addresses this issue by exploiting temporal noise reduction hardware and software already included in an image signal processor. The temporal noise reduction hardware and software are modified to support content transparency control in tandem with temporal noise reduction. Specifically, the feedback weight map and the output weight map used in temporal noise reduction to blend an input image and a retrieved reference image can be controlled based on a semantic map to effectuate content transparency control.