Real-time multi-GPU-based 8KVR stitching and streaming on 5G MEC/Cloud environments

In this study, we propose a multi-GPU-based 8KVR stitching system that operates in real time on both local and cloud machine environments. The proposed system first obtains multiple 4 K video inputs, decodes them, and generates a stitched 8KVR video stream in real time. The generated 8KVR video stream can be downloaded and rendered omnidirectionally in player apps on smartphones, tablets, and head-mounted displays. To speed up processing, we adopt group-of-pictures-based distributed decoding/encoding and buffering with the NV12 format, along with multi-GPU-based parallel processing. Furthermore, we develop several algorithms such as equirectangular projection-based color correction, real-time CG overlay, and object motion-based seam estimation and correction, to improve the stitching quality. From experiments in both local and cloud machine environments, we confirm the feasibility of the proposed 8KVR stitching system with stitching speed of up to 83.7 fps for six-channel and 62.7 fps for eight-channel inputs. In addition, in an 8KVR live streaming test on the 5G MEC/cloud, the proposed system achieves stable performances with 8 K@30 fps in both indoor and outdoor environments, even during motion.