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1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to signal processors and in particular to an optical image processor.
2. Description of Related Art
Log-polar mapping, biologically-inspired by analytic formulation of cortical mapping of the primate visual system, exists as a method that reduces image data size drastically but also gives rotation- and scale-invariant (RS-invariant) property. It translates rotation and scaling into translation in two orthogonal directions. This property is applicable for an active vision system where a camera is motorized for changing its gaze position. That is, such system utilizes a log-polar image for implementing rotation- scale- and translation-invariant (RST-invariant) image matching by regarding control of the camera's gaze position at a target as equivalent with translation. In order to acquire the log-polar image, a special CCD or CMOS log-polar chip, that is, a retina-like fovea sensor exists, where a united size of photosensitive elements increases as going to periphery. This fovea sensor has been incorporated into some active vision systems for the purpose of image matching. As another fovea sensor, a wide-angle foveated lens exists for acquiring the log-polar image by distorting a projected image geometrically.
A specially-made optics, such as a Wide-Angle Foveated (WAF) lens, exists where a projected image is distorted geometrically. It combines the special lens with a commercially available conventional linear-coordinate vision chip, where photosensitive elements are arranged uniformly.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for making a image processor.
Briefly described, in architecture, one embodiment of the system, among others, can be implemented as follows.
A system for processing an image may include a target image processing element, a distorted image calculating element coupled to the target image processing element, an eccentricity estimator coupled to the distorted image calculating element, an eccentricity compensator coupled to the distorted image calculating element, a distorted foveated image modeler coupled to the eccentricity compensator, a log-polar image generator coupled to the eccentricity compensator, and an unreliable feature omitter coupled to the eccentricity compensator.
The present disclosure can also be viewed as providing a method of processing an image. The method may include providing a target image, calculating a distorted image from the target image, estimating an eccentricity between the target image and the distorted image, compensating for the eccentricity between the target image and the distorted image; modeling a distorted foveated image, generating a log-polar image, and omitting an unreliable feature.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be, or will become apparent, to a person having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawing, like-referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
a-f) illustrates a Target image (I) in part (a), distorted foveated image (DF) in part (b), polar images P1 in part (c) and P2 in part (d), compensated log-polar image (CLP) in part (e), and undistorted foveated image (UDF) in part (f), in each eccentricity θε=0[°], 18.69[°], and 34.08[°] from the left.
a-i) illustrate CLP images before and after UFO when θε=0[°], 18.69[°], and 34.08[°] from the left.
a-b) illustrate CF images under an fCF mapping.
a-f) illustrate UDF, U, fre of UDF and fre of U when θε=0[°], 18.69[°], and 34.08[°] (from the left).
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for making an image processor.
As a person having an ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, an arrow entering a block or a symbol indicates an input and an arrow leaving a block or a symbol indicates an output. Similarly, connections described below may be of any electromagnetic type, such as electrical, optical, radio-frequency, and magnetic.
The present disclosure describes an image or a signal from which rotation-, scale-, and translation-invariant features are extracted.
I. Eccentricity Compensator
A. Calculation of Wide-Angle Distorted Foveated Image
A direction, (θ, φ), from a point (x, y) to the optical center Oc, is represented in Equ. (2).
where L is a length from the optical center to the object plane, and ε is positional eccentricity on the object plane.
ε=L tan θε (3)
Continuous coordinates (x′, y′) of the image DF are represented as
where r(θ) shows the image height, determined by the foveation model, versus incident angle θ, α1 is magnification of the image, (θε, φε) shows a direction from the target image center to the optical center. Thus, the origin of the coordinates (x′, y′) corresponds to the direction (θε, φε). Discrete coordinates, (xd′, yd′), of the image DF are calculated from the (x′, y′) by an element size (ε′x, δ′y).
The present disclosure uses a foveation model, such as an Advanced Wide Angle Foveated (AdWAF) model, in order to calculate the image DF from which a log-polar image can be acquired. The AdWAF model uses both linear coordinates and logarithmic coordinates in both planar projection and spherical projection. The field of view (FOV) is divided into 4 areas, that is, fovea (0≦θ≦θ0), para-fovea (θ0≦θ≦θ1), near-periphery (θ1≦θ≦θ2), and periphery (θ2≦θ≦θmax).
AdWAF Model:
if 0≦θ≦θ0,
r=rmaxc0f1 tan θ, (6)
where f1 is a focal length for planar projection,
else if θ0≦θ≦θ1 (inner bright part in
r=rmax{c1 logaf1 tan θ+d1}, (7)
where a basis α is represented as α=exp(1/f1 tan θ0),
else if θ1≦θ≦θ2,
r=rmax{c2 logb(f2θ)+d2}, (8)
where f2 is a focal length for spherical projection, and a basis b is represented as b=exp(1/f2θ2),
else if θ2≦θ≦θmax,
r=rmax{c3f2θ+d3}, (9)
where rmax is the maximum image height when θ=θmax, ci (i=0, 1, 2, 3) is a scale modification factor for adjusting the height, and di (i=1, 2, 3) is calculated by continuity of the image height and its magnification.
PHC Lens:
B. Modeling Compensated Log-polar Image:
As shown in
where α2 is magnification. Discrete coordinates (xd″, yd″) of the image UDF are calculated from the (x″, y″) by an element size (δ″x, δ″y),
where (δ″x, δ″y) is an element size of this image.
Continuous coordinates, (η, ξ, of the compensated log-polar image CLP (that is, a remapped log-polar image after correcting the deformation caused by the eccentricity) are calculated from the coordinates (x″,y″) as in Equ. (14).
where r0 is a radius from which the log-polar image starts, α3 is magnification of the image, and Θ is defined as
where L″=α2L. Discrete coordinates (ηd, ξd) of the image CLP are
where (δη, δξ) is an element size of this polar image, and the maximum integer of ηd is replaced with 0 (that is, the discrete value ηd corresponds to 0≦η<2π).
Cartesian coordinates, (x′″, y′″), of the compensated foveated image CF are represented as
where α4 is magnification of the image. Discrete coordinates of the image CF are
where (δ″x, δ″y) is an element size of this image.
C. Image Simulator in Discrete Space:
In discrete space, image simulator of the proposed compensator outputs the image CLP using the following 2 mappings f and fCLP.
where N is the number of members in a set S, and coordinates (x′d, y′d) are calculated from the corresponding coordinates (xd i, yd i) {iεS|(x′d≦x′di≦x′d+1)∩(y′d≦y′di≦y′d+1)} using Equs. (1)-(5). Note that the N is not constant in each coordinates (x′d, y′d).
where NCLP is the number of members in a set SCLP, and (ηd, ξd) are calculated from the corresponding coordinates
(x′di,y′di){iεSCLP|(ηd≦ηdi≦ηd+1)∩(ξd≦ξdi<ξd+1)}.
The mapping f is foveation and the fCLP is a kind of cortical mapping. It is noted that the proposed image simulator also calculates intensity of each point from corresponding N-multiple points.
D. Estimation:
For the following simulation, a boundary between fovea and para-fovea is defined by r0=rmaxc1f1 tan θ0 using the AdWAF model.
The image CLP is estimated using root mean square error (RMSE) from a model log-polar image LP, acquired from the image I (
where Nη and Nξ show the size of the log-polar image.
The log-polar image acquired from a uniform-resolution image such as the image I is space-variant inherently, however, its resolution changes radial-symmetrically (that is, it does not change in the η-direction but changes only in the ξ-direction). When a low-pass filter is used for such space-variant image in order to reduce noise, not only noise but desirable information is also lost from the original image. In addition, if the eccentricity exists, resolution of the image CLP is not only space-variant but also radial-asymmetrical.
II. Unreliable Feature Omission:
A. Definition:
An Unreliable Feature Omission (UFO) is described below. If the image CLP is up-sampled from low-resolution part of the image DF (not fulfilling the sampling theorem), aliasing occurs as noise. This noise appears in components more than some frequency. The UFO discards such components using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), because it is suitable for local noise reduction from the space-variant image. UFO is applicable for the radial-asymmetric space-variant resolution caused by the eccentricity, mentioned in the previous chapter. UFO is defined as follows:
1) Define DWT of the image CLP as ω. Its coefficient is represented as ωj k,ic, where j is resolution level and c shows diagonal, horizontal and vertical components as d, h, and v, respectively.
2) If points in the image, corresponding to each coefficient ωj k,ic, fulfill conditions H^Ξ, H and Ξ in each case of c=d, h and v, respectively, discard the coefficient (set it as zero) as to determine a matrix ν of wavelet coefficients.
where Mf is a parameter regulating accuracy of the digitized error in sub-pixel order. The m and n are integer determined by the resolution level j.
3) Define an image U by Invert Discrete Wavelet Transform (IDWT) of the ν.
B. Estimation:
The image CLP is represented as DF+e1→f
In the case of Haar wavelet, however, when the WGN is 0[%], the RMSE after UFO is slightly larger than that that before UFO. This means that the high level coefficients, removed by UFO, include not only noise but also a part of the original signal. There may be two possible reasons as follows. One is that the distribution of the errors Δη and Δξ is not approximated sufficiently using only dyadic pyramid. The other is that actual errors of Δη and Δξ are smaller than estimated errors (by Equ. (22)), because the image CLP uses a sort of moving average when it is remapped from the image DF as defined in Equ. (20).
A combination of fovea sensor and compensator is described as follows. By taking account of combining the fovea sensor and the eccentricity compensator, a mapping f′CF from the image DF to the compensated foveated image CF and a mapping fCF from the image I to the image CF are defined as below:
where NCF is the number of members in a set S′CF, and (x′″d, y′″d) are calculated from the corresponding coordinates (x′d i, y′d i) {iεS′CF|(x′d≦x′di≦x′d+1)∩(y′d≦y′di≦y′d+1)}.
where NCF is the number of members in a set SCF, and (x′″d, y′″d) are calculated from the corresponding coordinates
(xdi,ydi){iεSCF|(xd≦xdi≦xd+1)∩(yd≦ydi≦yd+1)}
III. Eccentricity Estimator:
A. Estimating Eccentricity from Distorted Foveated image:
Eccentricity Estimator (EE) estimates the eccentricity θε. from the image DF using a method by which rotation-, scale- and translation-invariant (RST-invariant) features are processed. Fourier-Mellin Transform (FMT) is well-known for extracting such a feature from a linear-coordinate image, that is, a Cartesian image. FMT is based on Fourier Transform (FT) theory. It is equivalent with FT of log-polar mapping (with RS-invariant property) from magnitude of FT (with translation-invariant property) of an image.
When FMT is applied to the image DF, its image distortion needs to be removed.
The discrete image UDF are simulated by a mappings fUDF as follows:
where N is the number of members in a set SUDF, and (x″d, y″d) are calculated from the corresponding coordinates
(x′di,y′di) {iε=SUDF|(x″d≦x″di≦x″d+1)∩(y″d≦y″di≦y″d+1)}.
B. Applying FMT to UDF
The image DF is a space-variant image, that is, distorted. Thus, watermark-like alias is seen in the image UDF of
A model FMT Mm is acquired from the central part of the image I.
The eccentricity θε is estimated from translation calculated between M and Mm using Equ. (3).
C. Estimation
The resolution of image DF is not uniform but it changes radial-symmetrically around the optical axis. That is, it does not change in the tangential direction in case of the same incident angle θ, but it changes only in the radial direction. When the θε changes, the resolution of the image UDF gives the following properties:
1) The resolution changes largely versus the θε (i.e., the resolution gets much lower than the case of θε=0, as the θε gets larger).
2) The resolution is space-variant, i.e., the resolution is not uniform in the whole of image. Also, it is radial-asymmetrical around the image center of the image UDF that corresponds to the target image center, if the θε exists.
FMT of the image UDF is estimated using root mean square error (RMSE) between the reconstruction fre and the model reconstruction fm
IV. Applying UFO for Eccentricity Estimation (EE):
Unreliable Feature Omission (UFO) is applied for local noise reduction of alias in the image UDF. This case applies UFO as follows:
If points in the image, corresponding to each wavelet coefficient ωj k,ic, fulfill conditions X^Y, X and Y in each case of c=d, h and ν, respectively, discard the coefficient (set it as zero) to determine a matrix ν of wavelet coefficients and an image U by Inverse Discrete Wavelet Transform (IDWT) of the ν is defined.
where Δx(x, y) and Δy(x, y) are digitized errors of the image UDF, calculated from Δθ and Δφ, that is, digitized errors determined from the image DF by Equ. (29), Mf is a parameter regulating accuracy of the digitized error in sub-pixel order. The m and n are integers determined by the resolution level j.
1) The RMSE of the U is always smaller than that of the image UDF. This means that UFO works well as an anti-alias filter that reduces local noise from the radial-asymmetric space-variant image, basically (comparing
2)
3)
Inherently, FMT is robust to changing resolution, because it has a property to extract scale-invariant feature. But if the resolution is space-invariant, that is, not uniform in the whole of the image, the performance is affected. Overall, UFO works well for FMT as an anti-aliasing filter. Because UFO does not reduce the original signal more than necessary, it is more suitable for keeping the feature(s) as robust and detailed as possible, compared to a global low-pass filter that impacts the entire image, for example, by making the log-polar space of FMT be smaller.
In the method 1600, the modeling the distorted foveated image may include sectoring a field of view in a plurality of areas. The plurality of the areas may at least be a foveal area, a para-foveal area, a near-peripheral area, and a peripheral area.
In the method 1600, the generating the log-polar image could include calculating at least one discrete coordinate. Further, the generating the log-polar image may include calculating at least one Cartesian coordinate. Still further, the compensating for the eccentricity may include performing a mapping.
In the method 1600, the performing the mapping could include at least one mapping selected from the group made of image to distorted foveated image and distorted foveated image to compensated log-polar image. Further, the at least one mapping of distorted foveated image to compensated log-polar image could include estimating a root mean square error. Still further, the omitting the unreliable feature may include generating a discrete wavelet transform, the omitting the unreliable feature could also include generating a threshold based on at least one quantity selected from the group made of a parameter regulating an accuracy of a digitized error, and an integer representing a resolution level.
Additionally, the omitting the unreliable feature may include generating an inverse discrete wavelet transform, and the omitting the unreliable feature may also include applying a Fourier-Mellin transform.
The foregoing method 1600 or elements of the method 1600 could also be stored on a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to implement the method 1600 or the elements of the method 1600.
As a person having ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, the elements or blocks of the methods described above could take place at the same time or in an order different from the described order.
In the system 1700, the distorted foveated image modeler 1710 may be configured to sector a field of view in a plurality of areas. Such plurality of areas may be selected from: a foveal area, a para-foveal area, a near-peripheral area, and a peripheral area. Further, in the system 1700, the log-polar image generator 1712 may be configured to calculate at least one discrete coordinate. Further, the log-polar image generator 1712 could be configured to calculate at least one Cartesian coordinate. Further, as pertaining to the log-polar image generator 1712, the eccentricity compensator 1708 may be configured to perform a mapping. Such mapping may include at least one mapping selected from: image to distorted foveated image and distorted foveated image to compensated log-polar image. Further, the at least one mapping of distorted foveated image to compensated log-polar image could include a root mean square error estimation.
The unreliable feature omitter 1714 may be configured to generate a discrete wavelet transform. The unreliable feature omitter 1714 may be configured to generate a threshold based on at least one quantity selected from: a parameter regulating an accuracy of a digitized error, and an integer representing a resolution level.
The unreliable feature omitter 1714 could be configured to generate an inverse discrete wavelet transform. The unreliable feature omitter 1714 could be configured to apply a Fourier-Mellin transform.
As used in this specification and appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the specification clearly indicates otherwise. The term “plurality” includes two or more referents unless the specification clearly indicates otherwise. Further, unless described otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have meanings commonly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely some possible examples of implementation, set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.
This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/875,731; filed Dec. 19, 2006, titled “A Model of Eccentricity Compensator for Fovea Sensor”; and No. 60/875,740, filed Dec. 19, 2006, titled “A Model of Rotation-, Scale-, and Transition-invariant Feature Extractor from Space-invariant Image.” References cited within this application, including patents, published patent applications other publications, and the U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/875,731 and 60/875,740; both filed Dec. 19, 2006, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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