# US 2017/0257631 A1 · Block size determining method and program recording medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0257631 A1 - Document ID: US20170257631A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/506,803 - Filed: 2015-08-27 - Published: 2017-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2014-08-28 - Assignees: NEC Corporation - Applicants: NEC Corporation - Inventors: Fumiyo TAKANO - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170257631A1 ## CPC - H04N 19/119: Adaptive subdivision aspects, e.g. subdivision of a picture into rectangular or non-rectangular coding blocks - H04N 19/139: Analysis of motion vectors, e.g. their magnitude, direction, variance or reliability - H04N 19/176: the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock - H04N 19/192: the adaptation method, adaptation tool or adaptation type being iterative or recursive - H04N 19/53: Multi-resolution motion estimation; Hierarchical motion estimation - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract The present invention reduces the amount of computation that is needed when determining the block size, which is the unit in which motion information is to be held, for a video coding format in which motion estimation is performed. A program causes a computer to execute: a vector search process for determining motion information for each of the smallest blocks, which are the blocks in a predetermined deepest layer; a block size determination process for determining the block size, which is the unit in which the motion information is to be held; and a block integration process for determining whether or not to integrate one or a plurality of mutually adjacent sub-blocks with a single block having a single piece of motion information, on the basis of integration conditions including at least the motion information of the sub-blocks which are the blocks in a layer that is one layer deeper than the layer currently being considered; wherein the block size determination process determines the block size by carrying out the block integration process in layers, in a sequence from the blocks in a layer one level shallower than the smallest blocks, to the largest blocks, which are the blocks in a predetermined shallowest layer. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-readable program recording medium recording a program for a video coding method for estimating motion, the program making a computer execute: vector search processing of obtaining motion information of each of smallest blocks that are blocks belonging to a predefined deepest layer; block size determination processing of determining a block size that is a unit for retaining motion information; and block merging processing of, based on a merging condition that includes at least motion information of sub-blocks that are blocks belonging to a layer one layer deeper than a layer on which attention is currently focused, determining whether one or a plurality of sub-blocks that are adjacent to each other are merged into a block including a piece of motion information; wherein the block size determination processing determines a block size by means of executing the block merging processing in a hierarchical manner in the order from blocks belonging to a layer one layer shallower than smallest blocks to a largest block that is a block belonging to a predefined shallowest layer. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The program recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the merging condition includes another piece of information of motion information of sub-blocks; and the program further makes the computer execute merging condition determination processing of determining the merging condition at a layer on which attention is currently focused based on the another piece of information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The program recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the another piece of information is a depth of a layer on which attention is currently focused. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The program recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the another piece of information is information relating to a result from the block merging processing at a layer deeper than a layer on which attention is currently focused. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The program recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the merging condition includes a condition that is defined based on a comparison between a difference in motion information between adjacent sub-blocks and a threshold value related to the difference. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The program recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the merging condition includes a depth of a layer on which attention is currently focused, and the program further makes the computer execute processing of defining a threshold value related to the difference depending on a depth of a layer on which attention is currently focused. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The program recording medium according to claim 1, the program further making the computer execute: processing of, based on a result from the block merging processing at a layer deeper than a layer on which attention is currently focused, determining whether execution of the block merging processing at a layer on which attention is currently focused is needed. ### Claim 8 A block size determination method for a video coding method for estimating motion, the block size determination method comprising: obtaining motion information of each of smallest blocks that are blocks belonging to a predefined deepest layer; determining a block size that is a unit for retaining motion information; and based on a merging condition that includes at least motion information of sub-blocks that are blocks belonging to a layer one layer deeper than a layer on which attention is currently focused, determining whether one or a plurality of sub-blocks that are adjacent to each other are merged into a block including a piece of motion information; wherein the block size is determined by means of performing the determination in a hierarchical manner in the order from blocks belonging to a layer one layer shallower than smallest blocks to a largest block that is a block belonging to a predefined shallowest layer. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The block size determination method according to claim 8, wherein the merging condition includes another piece of information of motion information of sub-blocks, and the block size determination method further comprises determining the merging condition at a layer on which attention is currently focused based on the another piece of information. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The block size determination method according to claim 9, wherein the another piece of information is a depth of a layer on which attention is currently focused.