Energy-Throughput Configurable Design for Video Processing Binary Arithmetic Encoder

Abstract

Video encoding draws high research interest, due to the enormous demand for video traffic and real-time encoding for transmission. In video encoding standards such as HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding), the final step of the encoding stage is the CABAC (Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding). The coding efficiency of the CABAC comes at the cost of increased computational complexity, especially for parallelization purposes, being the BAE (Binary Arithmetic Encoder) the critical part of CABAC. Thus, an important goal is to balance the real-time throughput requirements and the power/energy consumption in the design of BAE dedicated hardware. This work introduces a novel configurable high-throughput BAE design, named ET-BAE, utilizing a combination of a new modified Multiple-Bypass Bins Scheme (MBBS) and a power-saving approach into a single ASIC design with two-mode configuration. Synthesis and power-analysis results show that the configurable BAE design, the first of its kind with this feature, is more energy-efficient and less area consuming than utilizing non-configurable versions. The ET-BAE is able to accomplish the same real-time requirements of its competitors.