Device and method for texture padding for motion estimation in alternate line encoding

PURPOSE: A texture padding device for motion estimation of an alternate line encoding and a method thereof are provided to realize motion estimation with high precision by a field unit with respect to alternate texture data included in alternate images, thereby improving the encoding efficiency of the texture data. CONSTITUTION: A texture padding device for motion estimation of an alternate line encoding includes a boundary block padding block(204) for padding undefined pixel values in upper and lower field blocks which form boundary block of restored texture images, an adjacent block padding block(208) for padding undefined blocks adjacent to the padded boundary blocks, a frame reconstituting block(210) for reconstituting a texture image frame having padding areas by combining blocks positioned in the padded adjacent blocks in sequence, and a search area determining block(212) for determining a search area in a previous frame on the basis of the upper and lower field blocks and dividing the determined search area into upper and lower search areas by separating even numbered lines and odd numbered lines.