Ant weight-lifting algorithm for motion estimation

Abstract

Every video coding standard includes and requires motion estimation and compensation. The full search algorithm, which provides the best motion estimation, has a very high computation cost. Researchers have developed several algorithms to reduce the cost of computation. However, most of these algorithms become trapped in local minima during the search. Population-based evolutionary algorithms are widely used to develop a computationally efficient and cost-effective motion estimation strategy. The most recent effort used the Jaya algorithm to develop a motion estimation process that outperformed the state-of-the-art test zone search algorithm. In this study, a motion estimation algorithm based on the ant weight-lifting approach is proposed. Previously, the ant weight-lifting algorithm was used to solve a variety of problems, such as image segmentation, signal compression, and so on. The ant weight-lifting algorithm's computation cost was reduced by adopting a fitness estimation method that uses nearest-neighbor interpolation and an early termination strategy. Compared to Jaya algorithm-based motion estimation, the proposed algorithm executes up to 3% more quickly and exhibits up to 1.2 dB less distortion.