Method and apparatus for motion estimation with all binary representation

Abstract

A method of motion estimation for video encoding constructs a binary pyramid structure having three binary layers. A state update module registers and updates repeat occurrence of final motion vectors and a static-state checking module determines if the method is in a static mode or a normal mode based on the repeat occurrence. In a normal mode, the first binary layer is searched within a ±3 pixel refinement window to determine a first level motion vector. In the second binary layer, a search range is computed based on six motion vector candidates. By checking every point within in the search range, a second binary layer search generates a second level motion vector. Finally, a third binary layer search within a ±2 pixel refinement window generates a final motion vector according to the second level motion vector. In a static mode, a fine tuning module performs search within a ±1 pixel refinement window and generates a final motion vector.