avcodec/decode: Add new ProgressFrame API

Frame-threaded decoders with inter-frame dependencies
use the ThreadFrame API for syncing. It works as follows:

During init each thread allocates an AVFrame for every
ThreadFrame.

Thread A reads the header of its packet and allocates
a buffer for an AVFrame with ff_thread_get_ext_buffer()
(which also allocates a small structure that is shared
with other references to this frame) and sets its fields,
including side data. Then said thread calls ff_thread_finish_setup().
From that moment onward it is not allowed to change any
of the AVFrame fields at all any more, but it may change
fields which are an indirection away, like the content of
AVFrame.data or already existing side data.

After thread A has called ff_thread_finish_setup(),
another thread (the user one) calls the codec's update_thread_context
callback which in turn calls ff_thread_ref_frame() which
calls av_frame_ref() which reads every field of A's
AVFrame; hence the above restriction on modifications
of the AVFrame (as any modification of the AVFrame by A after
ff_thread_finish_setup() would be a data race). Of course,
this av_frame_ref() also incurs allocations and therefore
needs to be checked. ff_thread_ref_frame() also references
the small structure used for communicating progress.

This av_frame_ref() makes it awkward to propagate values that
only become known during decoding to later threads (in case of
frame reordering or other mechanisms of delayed output (like
show-existing-frames) it's not the decoding thread, but a later
thread that returns the AVFrame). E.g. for VP9 when exporting video
encoding parameters as side data the number of blocks only
becomes known during decoding, so one can't allocate the side data
before ff_thread_finish_setup(). It is currently being done afterwards
and this leads to a data race in the vp9-encparams test when using
frame-threading. Returning decode_error_flags is also complicated
by this.

To perform this exchange a buffer shared between the references
is needed (notice that simply giving the later threads a pointer
to the original AVFrame does not work, because said AVFrame will
be reused lateron when thread A decodes the next packet given to it).
One could extend the buffer already used for progress for this
or use a new one (requiring yet another allocation), yet both
of these approaches have the drawback of being unnatural, ugly
and requiring quite a lot of ad-hoc code. E.g. in case of the VP9
side data mentioned above one could not simply use the helper
that allocates and adds the side data to an AVFrame in one go.

The ProgressFrame API meanwhile offers a different solution to all
of this. It is based around the idea that the most natural
shared object for sharing information about an AVFrame between
decoding threads is the AVFrame itself. To actually implement this
the AVFrame needs to be reference counted. This is achieved by
putting a (ownership) pointer into a shared (and opaque) structure
that is managed by the RefStruct API and which also contains
the stuff necessary for progress reporting.
The users get a pointer to this AVFrame with the understanding
that the owner may set all the fields until it has indicated
that it has finished decoding this AVFrame; then the users are
allowed to read everything. Every decoder may of course employ
a different contract than the one outlined above.

Given that there is no underlying av_frame_ref(), creating
references to a ProgressFrame can't fail. Only
ff_thread_progress_get_buffer() can fail, but given that
it will replace calls to ff_thread_get_ext_buffer() it is
at places where errors are already expected and properly
taken care of.

The ProgressFrames are empty (i.e. the AVFrame pointer is NULL
and the AVFrames are not allocated during init at all)
while not being in use; ff_thread_progress_get_buffer() both
sets up the actual ProgressFrame and already calls
ff_thread_get_buffer(). So instead of checking for
ThreadFrame.f->data[0] or ThreadFrame.f->buf[0] being NULL
for "this reference frame is non-existing" one should check for
ProgressFrame.f.

This also implies that one can only set AVFrame properties
after having allocated the buffer. This restriction is not deep:
if it becomes onerous for any codec, ff_thread_progress_get_buffer()
can be broken up. The user would then have to get a buffer
himself.

In order to avoid unnecessary allocations, the shared structure
is pooled, so that both the structure as well as the AVFrame
itself are reused. This means that there won't be lots of
unnecessary allocations in case of non-frame-threaded decoding.
It might even turn out to have fewer than the current code
(the current code allocates AVFrames for every DPB slot, but
these are often excessively large and not completely used;
the new code allocates them on demand). Pooling relies on the
reset function of the RefStruct pool API, it would be impossible
to implement with the AVBufferPool API.

Finally, ProgressFrames have no notion of owner; they are built
on top of the ThreadProgress API which also lacks such a concept.
Instead every ThreadProgress and every ProgressFrame contains
its own mutex and condition variable, making it completely independent
of pthread_frame.c. Just like the ThreadFrame API it is simply
presumed that only the actual owner/producer of a frame reports
progress on said frame.

Signed-off-by: Andreas Rheinhardt <andreas.rheinhardt@outlook.com>

0 files changed, 0 insertions, 0 deletions