Motion estimation algorithm for real-time systems

This paper presents an algorithmic enhancement of the full-search block-matching algorithm for motion estimation for real-time systems. The multi-stage interval based motion estimation (MIME) algorithm reduces the computational load by successively eliminating candidate blocks from the search window. The elimination process uses low bit-resolution and it is applied in multiple stages for motion vector computation. On an average, MIME eliminates more than 88% of the candidate blocks in the search window after first and second stage. Based on these results, in real-time environment, the algorithm can be stopped at any stage without incurring significant loss in motion estimation accuracy. Simulation results show that, in worst case scenario when the algorithm stops after first stage, there is an average loss of only 3dB in PSNR as compared to full-search block-matching algorithm and an average loss of 1.2dB if the algorithm is stopped after the second step.