Coding method and coding apparatus

Abstract

The image decoding method includes: determining a context for use in a current block to be processed, from among a plurality of contexts; and performing arithmetic decoding on a bit sequence corresponding to the current block, using the determined context, wherein in the determining: the context is determined under a condition that control parameters of neighboring blocks of the current block are used, when the signal type is a first type, the neighboring blocks being a left block and an upper block of the current block; and the context is determined under a condition that the control parameter of the upper block is not used, when the signal type is a second type, and the second type is “inter_pred_flag”.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A coding method for coding a control parameter for controlling coding of an image, the coding method comprising:
 determining a context for a current block in the image, from among a plurality of contexts; and 
 performing arithmetic coding on the control parameter for the current block, using the determined context to generate a bitstream corresponding to the current block, wherein the determining further includes: 
 determining a signal type under which the control parameter for the current block is classified; 
 determining the context by using both of coded control parameters for a left block and an upper block, when the signal type is a first type, the left block being a neighboring block to the left of the current block, and the upper block being a neighboring block on top of the current block; and 
 determining the context by using a hierarchical depth of a data unit to which the control parameter for the current block belongs, without using any coded control parameters for the left block and the upper block, when the signal type is a second type different from the first type, 
 wherein the control parameter determined as the first type belongs to the current block having a size larger than or equal to a size of a block to which the control parameter determined as the second type belongs, 
 wherein one of a split flag and a skip flag is classified under the first type, the split flag indicating whether or not the current block is partitioned into a plurality of blocks, and the skip flag indicating whether or not the current block is to be skipped, and 
 wherein inter-prediction information is classified under the second type, the inter-prediction information indicating which of uni-prediction and bi-prediction is used for predicting the current block. 
 
     
     
       2. A coding apparatus for coding a control parameter for controlling coding of an image, the coding apparatus comprising:
 a context control unit configured to determine a context for a current block in the image, from among a plurality of contexts; and 
 an arithmetic coding unit configured to perform arithmetic coding on the control parameter for the current block, using the determined context to generate a bitstream corresponding to the current block, 
 wherein the context control unit is further configured to: 
 determine a signal type under which the control parameter for the current block is classified; 
 determine the context by using both of coded control parameters for a left block and an upper block, when the signal type is a first type, the left block being a neighboring block to the left of the current block, and the upper block being a neighboring block on top of the current block; and 
 determine the context by using a hierarchical depth of a data unit to which the control parameter for the current block belongs, without using any coded control parameters for the left block and the upper block, when the signal type is a second type different from the first type, 
 wherein the control parameter determined as the first type belongs to the current block having a size larger than or equal to a size of a block to which the control parameter determined as the second type belongs, 
 wherein one of a split flag and a skip flag is classified under the first type, the split flag indicating whether or not the current block is partitioned into a plurality of blocks, and the skip flag indicating whether or not the current block is to be skipped, and 
 wherein inter-prediction information is classified under the second type, the inter-prediction information indicating which of uni-prediction and bi-prediction is used for predicting the current block. 
 
     
     
       3. A coding apparatus for coding a control parameter for controlling coding of an image, the coding apparatus comprising:
 processing circuitry; and 
 storage coupled to the processing circuitry, 
 wherein the processing circuitry performs the following using the storage: 
 determining a context for a current block in the image, from among a plurality of contexts; and 
 performing arithmetic coding on the control parameter for the current block, using the determined context to generate a bitstream corresponding to the current block, 
 wherein the determining further includes: 
 determining a signal type under which the control parameter for the current block is classified; 
 determining the context by using both of coded control parameters for a left block and an upper block, when the signal type is a first type, the left block being a neighboring block to the left of the current block, and the upper block being a neighboring block on top of the current block; and 
 determining the context by using a hierarchical depth of a data unit to which the control parameter for the current block belongs, without using any coded control parameters for the left block and the upper block, when the signal type is a second type different from the first type, 
 wherein the control parameter determined as the first type belongs to the current block having a size larger than or equal to a size of a block to which the control parameter determined as the second type belongs, 
 wherein one of a split flag and a skip flag is classified under the first type, the split flag indicating whether or not the current block is partitioned into a plurality of blocks, and the skip flag indicating whether or not the current block is to be skipped, and 
 wherein inter-prediction information is classified under the second type, the inter-prediction information indicating which of uni-prediction and bi-prediction is used for predicting the current block.