Half pixel interpolator for video motion estimation accelerator

A method for interpolation of pixels in a pixel array having rows and columns of pixels, comprising:

• providing a shift register array including two or more shift registers and an interpolation filter array interconnected to the shift register array, the interpolation filter array including one or more interpolation filters;
• shifting pixel values of the pixel array through the shift registers of the shift register array;
• supplying pixel values in columns of the pixel array from the shift register array to respective interpolation filters in a vertical mode to generate vertical sub-pixel values;
• and
• supplying pixel values in rows of the pixel array from the shift register array to respective interpolation filters in a horizontal mode to generate horizontal sub-pixel values, wherein at least one shift register of the shift register array is configured to provide pixel values to the interpolation filter array in both the horizontal and vertical modes.

An apparatus for filtering of data values in a data array having rows and columns of data values, comprising:

• a shift register array to shift data values of the data array;
• a digital filter interconnected to the shift register array, wherein the digital filter is configured to perform vertical pixel interpolation in a vertical mode and configured to perform horizontal pixel interpolation in a horizontal mode;
• and
• a controller configured to supply data values in columns of the data array from the shift register array to the digital filter in a vertical mode and to supply data values in rows of the data array of the shift register array to the digital filter in a horizontal mode, wherein at least one shift register of the shift register array is configured to provide pixel values to the digital filter in both the horizontal and vertical modes.

A method for filtering data values in a data array having rows and columns of data values, comprising:

• providing a shift register array including two or more shift registers and a digital filter array interconnected to the shift register array, the digital filter array including one or more digital filters;
• shifting pixel values of the data array through the shift registers of the shift register array;
• supplying pixel values in columns of the data array from the shift register array to respective digital filters in a vertical mode to generate vertical sub-pixel values;
• and
• supplying pixel values in rows of the data array from the shift register array to respective digital filters in a horizontal mode to generate horizontal sub-pixel values, wherein at least one shift register of the shift register array is configured to provide pixel values to the digital filter array in both the horizontal and vertical modes.