Methods and devices for tree switching in point cloud compression

A decoder for decoding a bitstream of compressed point cloud data to produce a reconstructed point cloud representing a three-dimensional location of a physical object, the point cloud data being located within a volumetric space, the decoder comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• and
• a decoding application containing instructions executable by the processor that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• decode a first part of the point cloud data represented by a first tree of a first type;
• determine for a given node of the first tree if an assignation to a second type of tree is enabled, said given node still being processed for the first tree, wherein determining the assignation comprises decoding from the bitstream an assignation flag that signals whether the assignation to the second type of tree is performed or not for the given node;
• when the assignation is enabled, decode a second part of the point cloud data represented by a second tree of the second type, wherein features associated with a root node of the second tree are at least partially obtained from the given node.