System and method for layered video coding enhancement

A method of compressing high-resolution video frames containing low-resolution frames and high-resolution frames, comprising:

• generating a base layer containing the low-resolution frames that is capable of being decompressed into a low-resolution video representation;
• generating an enhancement layer containing the high-resolution frames that is capable of being decompressed into a high-resolution video representation;
• placing compressed base layer data into the base layer;
• and
• providing the compressed base layer data to a base layer decompressor and an enhancement layer decompressor.

A method of decoding an encoded high-resolution video sequence containing a base layer and an enhancement layer, comprising:

• decoding the base layer to generate a decoded low-resolution representation of the high-resolution video sequence;
• extracting encoded base layer data from the base layer;
• and
• decoding the enhancement layer using the encoded base layer data and the decoded low-resolution representation to provide enhancement to the decoded low-resolution representation.

A layered video encoder for encoding a high-resolution video sequence, comprising:

• a base layer module that encodes at least a portion of a low-resolution video sequence to create a base layer, the low-resolution video sequence obtained from the high-resolution video sequence;
• an enhancement layer module that encodes at least a portion of the high-resolution video sequence to create an enhancement layer that enhances the base layer;
• and
• encoded base layer data that is used by an enhancement layer decoder to decode the enhancement layer.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable modules, comprising:

• a base layer module that creates a low-resolution video sequence from a high-resolution video sequence and generates a base layer from the low-resolution video sequence;
• an enhancement layer module that encodes at least a portion of the high-resolution video sequence to generate an enhancement layer;
• and
• encoded base layer data that is contained in the base layer and is used by a decoder to decode the enhancement layer.

A layered video decoder that decodes an encoded high-resolution video sequence containing a base layer and an enhancement layer, comprising:

• a base layer decoder module that decodes the base layer to produce a decoded low-resolution representation of the video sequence;
• an enhancement layer decoder module that decodes the enhancement layer to produce a high-resolution enhancement to the decoded low-resolution representation;
• and
• motion vector data that is used along with the decoded low-resolution representation to decode the enhancement layer.

A method for encoding a high-resolution video sequence, comprising:

• computing a set of high-resolution motion vectors corresponding to the high-resolution video sequence;
• downsampling the set of high-resolution motion vectors to generate a set of downsampled motion vectors;
• downsampling the high-resolution video sequence to create a low-resolution video sequence;
• and
• generating a base layer by encoding the low-resolution video sequence using the downsampled motion vectors.

A method for encoding a high-resolution video sequence having low-resolution information and high-resolution information, comprising:

• performing high-resolution motion estimation on the high-resolution video sequence to generate motion estimation results;
• creating a base layer containing the low-resolution information using the motion estimation results;
• creating an enhancement layer containing the high-resolution information;
• and
• incorporating motion vector data within the base layer for use in the decoding of the enhancement layer.