A novel adjustable multiple cross-hexagonal search algorithm for fast block motion estimation

In this paper, we propose a novel adjustable multiple cross-hexagonal search (AMCHS) algorithm for fast block motion estimation. It employs adjustable multiple cross search patterns (AMCSP) in the first step and then uses half-way-skip and half-way-stop technique to determine whether to employ two hexagonal search patterns (HSPs) subsequently. The AMCSP can be used to find small motion vectors efficiently while the HSPs can be used to find large ones accurately to ensure prediction quality. Simulation results showed that our proposed AMCHS achieves faster search speed, and provides better distortion performance than other popular fast search algorithms, such as CDS and CDHS. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.