Design Space Exploration at Frame-Level for Joint Decoding Energy and Quality Optimization in VVC

TL;DR

This paper introduces a frame-level design space exploration method for VVC that improves the trade-off between decoding energy and quality, enabling more precise optimization than previous whole-stream approaches.

Contribution

It proposes a novel frame-level optimization algorithm for VVC, expanding the design space and achieving better energy-quality trade-offs than existing methods.

Findings

Enables access to previously unreachable rate-energy trade-offs.

Extends the design space and improves Pareto front continuity.

Achieves more granular and effective coding tool configurations.

Abstract

In the pursuit of a reduced energy demand of VVC decoders, it was found that the coding tool configuration has a substantial influence on the bit rate efficiency and the decoding energy demand. The Advanced Design Space Exploration algorithm as proposed in the literature, can derive coding tool configurations that provide optimal trade-offs between rate and energy efficiency. Yet, some trade-off points in the design space cannot be reached with the state-of-the-art methodology, which defines coding tools for an entire bitstream. This work proposes a novel, granular adjustment of the coding tool usage in VVC. Consequently, the optimization algorithm is adjusted to explore coding tool configurations that operate on frame-level. Moreover, new optimization criteria are introduced to focus the search on specific bit rates. As a result, coding tool configurations are obtained which yield so far inaccessible trade-offs between bit rate efficiency and decoding energy demand for VVC-coded sequences. The proposed methodology extends the design space and enhances the continuity of the Pareto front.