SVC CE1: STool - a native spatially scalable approach to SVC

This documents describes the UNIBS-SCL proposal in response to the MPEG21 SVC CE1 [1]. Our scalable video coding scheme, called STool, is based on a 2D+t+2D structure and is implemented using a modified version of the Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) reference software [2] plus some modifications and tools which has been used in substitution. The STool architecture has been implemented in two different systems. In System-1 the modules provided in the MSRA software have been used to build the new STool architecture. In System-2 we test a new entropy coder, called GOF-EMDC, which is an extended version of the EMDC coder [3]. At the time GOF-EMDC codec and other parts of System-2 have not been optimized in many aspects, therefore we can expect better performance from our system in the next future. Despite this fact System-2 provides similar coding performances when compared to System-1. In addition, System-2 is much more flexible in many aspects, it guarantees a major number of functionalities and better fulfill the requirements list. Therefore with System-1 we intend to demonstrate the characteristics of the STool architecture, especially with respect to the reference software used, while with System-2 we customize and add functionalities to Stool. We submitted extraction and decoding software for both Systems-1 and System-2, System-1 coded sequences for both scenarios 1 and 2 and System-2 coded sequences for scenario 2 only. For System-2 scenario 1 we only had deadline problems. No technical problems actually exist to produce such sequences.