Multi-Camera Video Compression via Deferred Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-camera mobile devices face challenges in capturing high-quality, intelligently-compressed video streams simultaneously while operating within thermal limits and conserving battery life.
Innovation Solution
The techniques involve capturing redundant video image streams at different resolutions and frame rates, with at least one stream being compressed to reduce power consumption. Deferred processing is used to reconstruct enhanced video streams with higher frame rates and resolutions by leveraging optical flow information from overlapping fields of view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple cameras capture concurrent video image streams at high quality and high frame rates, then video quality and frame rate are improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple video streams by capturing redundant footage from multiple cameras simultaneously, then combines them through deferred processing to create a single enhanced video output. This consolidation allows the system to leverage data from multiple sensors while processing them efficiently as a unified stream, reducing overall power consumption compared to processing separate high-quality streams from each camera independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary capture at multiple camera streams simultaneously, storing the raw data temporarily. The enhanced video is then reconstructed in deferred processing using optical flow algorithms that leverage the redundant data from all cameras. This preliminary capture approach allows the system to gather all necessary data upfront at lower power costs, then perform intensive processing only when needed for final output generation.
2Measurement precision
If multiple cameras capture concurrent video image streams at high resolution and high frame rate, then video quality is improved, but thermal limits are exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple camera streams into a single enhanced output through deferred processing, the system consolidates thermal workload. Instead of continuously processing high-resolution streams from multiple cameras simultaneously (which would generate excessive heat), the system captures the data and processes it sequentially when thermal conditions permit, maintaining video quality while managing thermal output.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary data capture at high resolution from multiple cameras without immediate processing. The actual intensive processing that generates heat is deferred to later when thermal conditions are more favorable. This separation of capture and processing operations allows the system to maintain high video quality capabilities while avoiding sustained thermal overload.
3Measurement precision
If multiple cameras capture concurrent video image streams, then video quality and frame rate are improved, but storage space is consumed quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges redundant video data from multiple cameras into a single enhanced video stream. By combining the information from all camera sensors through optical flow algorithms and deferred processing, the system creates one consolidated video file that contains the enhanced quality and frame rate information, rather than storing separate high-resolution files from each camera. This merging dramatically reduces the total storage space required while preserving video quality.
4Measurement precision
If multiple cameras capture concurrent video image streams, then video quality is improved, but data transmission time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple camera streams into a single enhanced video output, the system consolidates the data transmission requirement. Instead of transmitting large amounts of separate high-resolution video data from multiple cameras (which would take a long time), the system processes the data locally through deferred processing and optical flow algorithms, then transmits only the final enhanced video file, significantly reducing transmission time.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques to concurrently capture several redundant (e.g., overlapping) video image streams on electronic devices having multiple image capture devices (e.g., on mobile devices having two or more digital video cameras). The techniques described herein advantageously capture at least one “compressed” video image stream, such that the overall multi-video image stream capture process uses significantly less power than capturing each stream independently in an “uncompressed” fashion. These techniques provide an electronic device with the ability to provide a user with more video streams that are of a higher frame rate and/or higher quality for a longer capture time-without exceeding the device's thermal limits. In particular, a “compressed” amount of image information may be processed and saved from at least one camera at capture time, and then deferred processing operations may be used to reconstruct any missing information and produce the higher frame rate/higher quality video image streams.