Syntax parsing apparatus with multiple syntax parsing circuits for processing multiple image regions within same frame or processing multiple frames and related syntax parsing method

1. A syntax parsing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of syntax parsing circuits, each having at least entropy decoding capability, wherein the syntax parsing circuits are arranged to generate a plurality of entropy decoding results of a plurality of image regions within a same frame, respectively; and

a dispatcher, arranged to assign bitstream start points of the image regions to the syntax parsing circuits and trigger the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding, respectively;

wherein the syntax parsing circuits comprise:

a first syntax parsing circuit, arranged to perform entropy decoding upon a first image region included in the image regions during a first processing time period; and

a second syntax parsing circuit, arranged to perform entropy decoding upon a second image region included in the image regions during a second processing time period, wherein the second processing time period is overlapped with the first processing time period.

2. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the image regions is a tile or a slice.

3. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a storage device, shared by the syntax parsing circuits, wherein the storage device is arranged to store the entropy decoding results of the image regions.

4. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of storage devices, dedicated to the syntax parsing circuits, respectively;

wherein the storage devices are arranged to store the entropy decoding results of the image regions, respectively, and each of the syntax parsing circuits is arranged to perform entropy decoding upon image regions of a same column in the same frame.

5. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the syntax parsing circuits comprises:

a counter, arranged to calculate counts of each symbol decoded by the syntax parsing circuit; and

the syntax parsing apparatus further comprises:

a merger, arranged to update a count table according to count data generated from counters of the syntax parsing circuits, wherein the count table is referenced for backward adaptation of probabilities.

6. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the dispatcher is arranged to calculate a location of a start processing unit (PU) of a not-yet-decoded image region within the same frame, check if the syntax parsing circuits have any idle syntax parsing circuit, and check if spatial reference data of the not-yet-decoded image region is ready; and is further arranged to assign a bitstream start point of the not-yet-decoded image region to an idle syntax parsing circuit and trigger the idle syntax parsing circuit to start entropy decoding when the idle syntax parsing circuit is found in the syntax parsing circuits and the spatial reference data of the not-yet-decoded image region is ready.

7. A syntax parsing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of syntax parsing circuits, each having at least entropy decoding capability, wherein the syntax parsing circuits are arranged to generate a plurality of entropy decoding results of a plurality of frames, respectively; and

a dispatcher, arranged to assign bitstream start points of the frames to the syntax parsing circuits and trigger the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding, respectively;

wherein the syntax parsing circuits comprise:

a first syntax parsing circuit, arranged to perform entropy decoding upon a first frame included in the frames during a first processing time period; and

a second syntax parsing circuit, arranged to perform entropy decoding upon a second frame included in the frames during a second processing time period, wherein the second processing time period is overlapped with the first processing time period.

8. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the dispatcher is arranged to check if the syntax parsing circuits have any idle syntax parsing circuit, and is further arranged to assign a bitstream start point of a not-yet-decoded frame to an idle syntax parsing circuit and trigger the idle syntax parsing circuit to start entropy decoding when the idle syntax parsing circuit is found in the syntax parsing circuits.

9. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:

a monitoring circuit, shared by the syntax parsing circuits and arranged to monitor availability of temporal reference data required by each of the syntax parsing circuits;

wherein when temporal reference data required by entropy decoding of a processing unit is not available to a specific syntax parsing circuit, the monitoring circuit stalls the entropy decoding performed by the specific syntax parsing circuit.

10. The syntax parsing apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:

a plurality of monitoring circuits, dedicated to the syntax parsing circuits, respectively;

wherein each of the monitoring circuits is arranged to monitor availability of temporal reference data required by a corresponding syntax parsing circuit; the monitoring circuit stalls entropy decoding performed by the corresponding syntax parsing circuit when temporal reference data required by the entropy decoding of a processing unit is not available to the corresponding syntax parsing circuit.

11. A syntax parsing method comprising:

utilizing a plurality of syntax parsing circuits, each having at least entropy decoding capability, to generate a plurality of entropy decoding results of a plurality of image regions within a same frame, respectively; and

assigning bitstream start points of the image regions to the syntax parsing circuits and triggering the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding, respectively;

wherein the syntax parsing circuits comprise a first syntax parsing circuit and a second syntax parsing circuit and utilizing the syntax parsing circuits comprises:

utilizing the first syntax parsing circuit to perform entropy decoding upon a first image region included in the image regions during a first processing time period; and

utilizing the second syntax parsing circuit to perform entropy decoding upon a second image region included in the image regions during a second processing time period, wherein the second processing time period is overlapped with the first processing time period.

12. The syntax parsing method of claim 11 , wherein each of the image regions is a tile or a slice.

13. The syntax parsing method of claim 11 , further comprising:

sharing a storage device by the syntax parsing circuits; and

storing the entropy decoding results of the image regions into the storage device.

14. The syntax parsing method of claim 11 , further comprising:

utilizing a plurality of storage devices dedicated to the syntax parsing circuits, respectively; and

storing the entropy decoding results of the image regions into the storage devices, respectively;

wherein utilizing the syntax parsing circuits comprises:

utilizing each of the syntax parsing circuits to perform entropy decoding upon image regions of a same column in the same frame.

15. The syntax parsing method of claim 11 , wherein each of the syntax parsing circuits comprises:

a counter, arranged to calculate counts of each symbol decoded by the syntax parsing circuit; and

the syntax parsing method further comprises:

updating a count table according to count data generated from counters of the syntax parsing circuits, wherein the count table is referenced for backward adaptation of probabilities.

16. The syntax parsing method of claim 11 , wherein assigning the bitstream start points of the image regions to the syntax parsing circuits and triggering the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding comprises:

calculating a location of a start processing unit (PU) of a not-yet-decoded image region within the same frame;

checking if the syntax parsing circuits have any idle syntax parsing circuit;

checking if spatial reference data of the not-yet-decoded image region is ready; and

assigning a bitstream start point of the not-yet-decoded image region to an idle syntax parsing circuit and triggering the idle syntax parsing circuit to start entropy decoding when the idle syntax parsing circuit is found in the syntax parsing circuits and the spatial reference data of the not-yet-decoded image region is ready.

17. A syntax parsing method comprising:

utilizing a plurality of syntax parsing circuits, each having at least entropy decoding capability, to generate a plurality of entropy decoding results of a plurality of frames, respectively; and

assigning bitstream start points of the frames to the syntax parsing circuits and triggering the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding, respectively;

wherein the syntax parsing circuits comprise a first syntax parsing circuit and a second syntax parsing circuit and utilizing the syntax parsing circuits comprises:

utilizing the first syntax parsing circuit to perform entropy decoding upon a first frame included in the frames during a first processing time period; and

utilizing the second syntax parsing circuit to perform entropy decoding upon a second frame included in the frames during a second processing time period, wherein the second processing time period is overlapped with the first processing time period.

18. The syntax parsing method of claim 17 , wherein assigning the bitstream start points of the frames to the syntax parsing circuits and triggering the syntax parsing circuits to start entropy decoding comprises:

checking if the syntax parsing circuits have any idle syntax parsing circuit;

assigning a bitstream start point of a not-yet-decoded frame to an idle syntax parsing circuit and trigger the idle syntax parsing circuit to start entropy decoding when the idle syntax parsing circuit is found in the syntax parsing circuits.

19. The syntax parsing method of claim 17 , further comprising:

sharing a monitoring circuit by the syntax parsing circuits for monitoring availability of temporal reference data required by each of the syntax parsing circuits; and

when temporal reference data required by entropy decoding of a processing unit is not available to a specific syntax parsing circuit, stalling the entropy decoding performed by the specific syntax parsing circuit.

20. The syntax parsing method of claim 17 , further comprising:

utilizing a plurality of monitoring circuits dedicated to the syntax parsing circuits, respectively, wherein each of the monitoring circuits is arranged to monitor availability of temporal reference data required by a corresponding syntax parsing circuit; and

stalling entropy decoding performed by the corresponding syntax parsing circuit when temporal reference data required by the entropy decoding of a processing unit is not available to the corresponding syntax parsing circuit.