Method of operating decoder using multiple channels to reduce memory usage and method of operating application processor including the decoder

A method of operating an application processor, the method comprising:

• setting each of unit buffers comprised in a decoding buffer as either of a non-shared buffer and a shared buffer;
• receiving a bitstream;
• restoring a plurality of frames by decoding the bitstream using a first decoding channel and a second decoding channel, wherein the bitstream includes a first section and a second section, wherein the first section of the bitstream is decoded by the first decoding channel, and the second section of the bitstream is decoded by the second decoding channel;
• determining a type of each of the frames;
• and
• writing each frame to one of a plurality of non-shared buffers and a plurality of shared buffers based on the type of each frame,
• wherein the non-shared buffers are not shared between the first and second decoding channels and the shared buffers are shared between the first and second decoding channels, wherein an I-frame of the plurality of frames is written to a first non-shared buffer of the plurality of non-shared buffers through the first decoding channel, and the I-frame is written to a second non-shared buffer of the plurality of non-shared buffers through the second decoding channel, wherein a first B-frame of the plurality of frames restored by using the first decoding channel is written to a first shared buffer of the plurality of shared buffers at a first period, wherein a display interface reads the first B-frame from the first shared buffer through the first decoding channel at a second period, wherein, at the second period, the first B-frame is written to a second shared buffer through the second decoding channel, and, at substantially the same time, the display interface reads the first B-frame from the second shared buffer, and a second B-frame of the plurality of frames restored by using the second decoding channel is written to the first shared buffer.

A method of decoding image data, comprising:

• operating a decoder including a decoding buffer and a decoding module, wherein the decoding module includes at least a first decoding channel and a second decoding channel;
• setting a non-shared memory region and a shared memory region in the decoding buffer, wherein the non-shared memory region includes a plurality of non-shared buffers and the shared memory region includes a plurality of shared buffers;
• restoring a plurality of frames by decoding a bitstream, wherein the bitstream includes a first section and a second section, wherein the first section of the bitstream is decoded by the first decoding channel, and the second section of the bitstream is decoded by the second decoding channel;
• determining a type of each of the frames;
• and
• writing each frame to one of the non-shared buffers or shared buffers based on type of each frame through the first decoding channel or the second decoding channel, wherein the non-shared buffers are accessible by an assigned decoding channel, and the shared buffers are accessible by all decoding channels, wherein a first B-frame of the plurality of frames is written to a first shared buffer of the plurality of shared buffers through the first decoding channel at a first period, wherein a display interface reads the first B-frame from the first shared buffer through the first decoding channel at a second period, and at the second period, the first B-frame of the plurality of frames is written to a second shared buffer through the second decoding channel, and at substantially the same time, the display interface reads the first B-frame from the second shared buffer.