Patents Examined by Tracy Li
  • Patent number: 9427137
    Abstract: A system (100) is provided for imaging a patient's interior. The system comprises an imaging sensor (120) for acquiring a series of images of a region of interest (020) in the patient's interior, and a plurality of light sources (140) for illuminating the region of interest in the patient's interior from different light source directions (152-156). A light controller (160) is provided for controlling individual ones (142-146) of the plurality of light sources (140) to dynamically vary the light source directions (152-156) during said acquiring. Moreover, a processor (180) is provided for obtaining lighting data (164) indicative of the dynamically varying light source directions. The processor (180) is further arranged for using the lighting data to apply a photometric stereo technique to the image data so as to establish a three-dimensional [3D] surface profile of the region of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: Shankar Mosur Venkatesan, Pallavi Vajinepalli, Vipin Gupta, Sushanth Govinahallisathyanarayana, Mandar Shirikant Kulkarni
  • Patent number: 9432593
    Abstract: Disclosed are a target object information acquisition method and an electronic device. The target object information acquisition method comprises a first infrared transmitter transmitting scattered light to a target area comprising at least one object; a photoreceptor receiving first reflected light output after at least one object reflects the scattered light in a first time period, and generating a depth image corresponding to the target area, acquiring the target image information about a target object; a second infrared transmitter transmitting scattered light to the target area; the photoreceptor receiving second reflected light output after at least one object reflects the scattered light in a second time period, and generating a feature image corresponding to the target area; and acquiring feature information. By means of the time division, the present invention solves the technical problem of a low acquisition rate for target object information in the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignees: BEIJING LENOVO SOFTWARE LTD., LENOVO (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Guang Yang, Jian Yao
  • Patent number: 9432631
    Abstract: Data from a wireless network location system is used in conjunction with the known geographic location of a video surveillance area such that the system according to the present invention infers that a person who appears in an image in the video is the user of a mobile phone estimated to be at the person's location. When facial recognition is applied and the person's identity is thus recognized, an association is generated as between the identity according to the facial recognition and the identity of the co-located mobile phone. This association can be critical when there is no personal identification available for a mobile phone such as a pre-paid mobile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Manlio Allegra, Martin Feuerstein, Mahesh B. Patel
  • Patent number: 9432700
    Abstract: Adaptive loop filtering in accordance with video coding. An adaptive loop filter (ALF) and/or other in-loop filters (e.g., sample adaptive offset (SAO) filter, etc.) may be implemented within various video coding architectures (e.g., encoding and/or decoding architectures) to perform both offset and scaling processing, only scaling processing, and/or only offset processing. Operation of such an ALF may be selective in accordance with any of multiple respective operational modes at any given time and may be adaptive based upon various consideration(s) (e.g., desired complexity level, processing type, local and/or remote operational conditions, etc.). For example, an ALF may be applied to a decoded picture before it is stored in a picture buffer (or digital teacher buffer (DPB)). An ALF can provide for coding noise reduction of a decoded picture, and the filtering operations performed thereby may be selective (e.g., on a slice by slice basis, block by block basis, etc.).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: BROADCOM CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peisong Chen, Ba-Zhong Shen, Wade K. Wan
  • Patent number: 9426412
    Abstract: A rendering device provides improved rendering responsiveness in multi-window display for rendering scenarios in which display sizes of images vary over time, while also reducing required memory bandwidth. The device comprises: a scenario processor 101 for interpreting a rendering scenario and calculating for each frame period a scale-down ratio for each of a plurality of pictures; a plurality of decoders 107 for decoding encoded data of a plurality of videos; a plurality of first scalers for scaling-down the decoded pictures using the scale-down ratios calculated by the scenario processor 101; a memory 106 for storing the scaled-down pictures; a plurality of second scalers 113 for reading the scaled-down pictures from the memory and re-scaling the scaled-down pictures to match the scale-down ratios calculated by the scenario processor for a current frame period; and, a composing unit 115 for composing the re-scaled pictures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hideshi Nishida
  • Patent number: 9420291
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for reducing vector quantization error through patch shifting. A method generates, from an input video sequence, one of more high resolution replacement patches, the one or more high resolution replacement patches for replacing one or more low resolution patches during a reconstruction of the input video sequence. This generating step generates the one or more high resolution replacement patches using data corresponding to a patch spatial shifting process, the patch spatial shifting process for reducing jittery artifacts caused by a motion-induced vector quantization error in the one or more high resolution replacement patches, the data for at least deriving a patch size of the one or more high resolution replacement patches such that the one or more high resolution replacement patches are generated to have the patch size greater than a patch size of the one or more low resolution patches in order to be suitable for use in the patch spatial shifting process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: THOMSON LICENSING
    Inventors: Dong-Qing Zhang, Joan Llach, Sitaram Bhagavathy
  • Patent number: 9420310
    Abstract: Implementations are provided that relate, for example, to view tiling in video encoding and decoding. A particular implementation accesses a video picture that includes multiple pictures combined into a single picture, and accesses additional information indicating how the multiple pictures in the accessed video picture are combined. The accessed information includes spatial interleaving information and sampling information. Another implementation encodes a video picture that includes multiple pictures combined into a single picture, and generates information indicating how the multiple pictures in the accessed video picture are combined. The generated information includes spatial interleaving information and sampling information. A bitstream is formed that includes the encoded video picture and the generated information. Another implementation provides a data structure for transmitting the generated information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Dong Tian, Polin Lai, Jiancong Luo, Peng Yin
  • Patent number: 9417134
    Abstract: According to one aspect, the invention relates to a microbolometer array for thermal detection of light radiation in a given spectral band, comprising a supporting substrate and an array of microbolometers (300) of given dimensions, arranged in an array. Each of said microbolometers comprises a membrane (301) suspended above said supporting substrate, said membrane consisting of an element (305) for absorbing the incident radiation and a thermometric element (304) in thermal contact with the absorber, electrically insulated from said absorber element. The absorber element comprises at least one first metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structure comprising a multilayer of three superposed films of submicron-order thickness i.e. a first metallic film (311), a dielectric film (310), and a second metallic film (309), said MIM structure being able to have a resonant absorption of said incident radiation at at least one wavelength in said spectral band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignees: Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Office Nathional d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales—ONERA—Chemie de la Huniere, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives—CEA
    Inventors: Charlie Koechlin, Patrick Bouchon, Riad Haidar, Jean-Luc Pelouard, Jean-Jacques Yon, Joël Deschamps, Fabrice Pardo, Stéphane Collin
  • Patent number: 9414078
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for rate control for a constant-bit-rate finite-buffer-size video encoder is described. Rate control is provided by adjusting the size of non-intra frames based on the size of intra frames. A sliding window approach is implemented to avoid excessive adjustment of non-intra frames located near the end of a group of pictures. A measurement of “power” based on a sum of absolute values of pixel values is used. The “power” measurement is used to adjust a global complexity value, which is used to adjust the sizes of frames. The global complexity value responds to scene changes. An embodiment of the invention calculates and uses L1 distances and pixel block complexities to provide rate control. An embodiment of the invention implements a number of bit predictor block. Predictions may be performed at a group-of-pictures level, at a picture level, and at a pixel block level. An embodiment of the invention resets a global complexity parameter when a scene change occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: ATI Technologies ULC
    Inventor: Stefan Eckart
  • Patent number: 9414059
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing device which performs plural processes efficiently, by pipelining, on a coded stream obtained by coding an image based on various coding unit blocks. The image processing device which performs plural first processes, by pipelining, on a coded stream obtained by dividing an image into plural coding unit blocks having at least two sizes, and coding the image on a coding unit block-by-block basis includes: plural first process units which perform, by the pipelining, the plural first processes on the coded stream by each executing one of the plural first processes; and a control unit which divides the coded stream into plural first processing unit blocks each having a first size, and control the plural first process units to cause the plural first processes to be executed for each of the first processing unit blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Tanaka, Hiroshi Amano
  • Patent number: 9407898
    Abstract: There is provided a display control device which includes an information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to an object image for a right eye to be observed by a right eye of a viewer and an object image for a left eye to be observed by a left eye of the viewer, a determination unit for determining whether scale correction of the information acquired by the information acquisition unit can be omitted, and a display control unit for performing control of stereoscopically displaying an object based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit, in a case it is determined that the scale correction can be omitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yusuke Kudo, Takashi Kitao, Ryo Fukazawa
  • Patent number: 9407931
    Abstract: A data processing apparatus is provided which is configured to receive a down-sampled source block and a down-sampled reference frame portion. The data processing apparatus comprises interpolation circuitry configured to interpolate between pixels of the down-sampled reference frame portion to generate a set of interpolated down-sampled reference frame blocks. Cost function calculation circuitry calculates a cost function value indicative of a difference between the down-sampled source block and each interpolated down-sampled reference frame block. Minimisation circuitry identifies the lowest cost function value and estimation motion vector generation circuitry generates an estimate motion vector independence thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: ARM Limited
    Inventors: Patrik Andersson, Tomas Edsö
  • Patent number: 9402075
    Abstract: An image coding method includes: generating a predicted block; calculating a residual block; calculating quantized coefficients by performing transform and quantization on the residual block; calculating a coded residual block by performing inverse quantization and inverse transform on the quantized coefficients; generating a temporary coded block; determining whether or not an offset process is required, to generate first flag information indicating a result of the determination; executing the offset process on the temporary coded block when it is determined that the offset process is required; and performing variable-length coding on the quantized coefficients and the first flag information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: SUN PATENT TRUST
    Inventors: Toru Matsunobu, Takahiro Nishi, Youji Shibahara, Hisao Sasai, Kyoko Tanikawa, Toshiyasu Sugio
  • Patent number: 9389409
    Abstract: An imaging system for digital stereo microscope is disclosed, wherein the system comprising two camera units with each camera unit comprises a lens and the two lenses of the two camera units are focused below the respective lens and optical axes of both lenses are arranged to focus at a same point; a main controller configured to provide both sensors with a common trigger signal for outputting image data and a common pixel reference clock signal for each sensor to generate its own pixel clock signal; a synchronous synthesizer for generating synthesized image data with left eye image data located on the left side and the right eye image data located on right side by synchronizing and synthesizing the left eye data and the right eye image data output by the respective sensor; the synthesized image data is compresses and encoded in the main controller to generate RGB image data corresponding to parallel image data; a stereoscopic display convertor for receiving the RGB image data and converting the received RGB
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: GUANGZHOU JINGHUA OPTICAL & ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Denghai Xia
  • Patent number: 9392295
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for adaptable media processing architectures. In one example, among others, an adaptable coding architecture for servicing media streams includes media processing resources and a controller that supports a first media stream by placing media processing pipeline resources in a single stream configuration and that causes a transition from the single stream configuration to a multiple stream configuration of the media processing resources. For example, the transition may be made to simultaneously support encoding or decoding another media stream. In another example, a device includes media processing resources and a controller that causes an adaptive reconfiguration of media processing resources to support simultaneous coding related processing of both a new media stream and at least one ongoing media stream, which may cause a reallocation of at least a part of the media processing resources from an ongoing media stream to the new media stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventor: James Bennett
  • Patent number: 9380320
    Abstract: Frequency domain sample adaptive offset (SAO). Video processing of a first signal operates to generate a second video signal such that at least one characteristic of a first portion of video information of the first video signal is replicated in generating a second portion of video information, such that the first portion of video information and the second portion of video information undergo combination to generate the second video signal. Such use of the first video signal may involve replication and scaling of the first video information to generate the second portion of video information. One possible characteristic of the first portion of video information may correspond to an energy profile as a function of frequency. One or more portions of the first video signal may be employed to generate different respective portions of the second signal. Such video processing operations may be performed on a block by block basis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: BROADCOM CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ba-Zhong Shen, Wade K. Wan, Peisong Chen
  • Patent number: 9380295
    Abstract: Systems and methods for navigating a 3D stereoscopic scene displayed via a 3D stereoscopic display system using user head tracking. A reference POV including a reference user head position and a reference user head orientation may be established. The user head POV may be tracked, including monitoring user head positional displacements and user head angular rotations relative to the reference POV. In response to the tracking, a camera POV used to render the 3D stereoscopic scene may be adjusted based on a non-linear mapping between changes in the camera POV and the user head positional displacements and user head angular rotations relative to the reference POV. The non-linear mapping may include a mapping of user head positional displacements relative to the reference POV to translational movements in the camera POV and a mapping of user head angular rotations relative to the reference POV to rotations in the camera POV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: zSpace, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott M. Dolim, Cisco Lopez-Fresquet
  • Patent number: 9369698
    Abstract: The imaging element of the imaging apparatus is provided with pixels respectively having multiple photoelectric conversion units that generate image signals by photoelectrically converting light fluxes that transit different regions dividing an exit pupil of an imaging optical system to a single micro lens. The imaging apparatus generates left-eye image data and right-eye image data for three-dimensional display based on image signals output by the imaging element, and generates combined image data for two-dimensional display by additively combining the left-eye image data and the right-eye image data. The imaging apparatus compresses the combined image data at a first compression rate, compresses the left-eye image data and the right-eye image data at a second compression rate that is higher than the first compression rate, and records the respectively compressed image data in the same image file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yasuyuki Ikeda
  • Patent number: 9369707
    Abstract: An image sequence comprises at least a first image and a second image. A motion vector (MV(1)) is associated to these first and second images and is defined in a coordinate system having at least a first direction and a second direction, the second direction being different from said first direction. This motion vector has a first previous component value (MVD1(0)) in the first direction. A method processes both images in order to determine an estimate of the motion vector based on the first previous component value. To this purpose, the method defines a first image portion in the first image and a second image portion in the second image based on the first previous component value of the motion vector. Then, the method determines a first characteristics vector for the first image in the first image portion and a second characteristics vector for the second image in the second image portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: ST-ERICSSON SA
    Inventor: Antoine Chouly
  • Patent number: 9369691
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method for transmitting two consecutive pairs of images. The method may include decimating each image with a ratio of 2, assembling the two decimated images of each pair in a composite image, transmitting the composite images, and reconstructing complete images from the composite images. In decimation, the information removed from the images of the first pair may be kept in the images of the second pair, from the spatial point of view, and the complete images may be reconstructed by de-interlacing processing from the composite images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (GRENOBLE 2) SAS
    Inventors: Frankie Eymard, Jean-Louis Labyre