Patents Examined by Tracy Li
  • Patent number: 9076045
    Abstract: A method of analyzing images over time is provided herein. The method includes: capturing a plurality of images each associated with specified objects in specified locations such that a specified area is covered; specifying regions of interest (ROI) in each of the captured images; repeating the capturing with at least one of: a different location, a different orientation, and a different timing such that the captured images are associated with the specified covered area; and comparing the captured imaged produced in the capturing with the captured imaged produced in the repeating of the capturing to yield comparison between the captured objects by comparing specified ROI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Inventors: Alon Atsmon, Dan Atsmon, Ram Dayan, Hilla Bass
  • Patent number: 9071842
    Abstract: A metric representing the sum of variances for pixel blocks of a region of an image are used to identify the presence a video feature of the image, and a transcoding is performed responsive to identifying the presence of the video feature. The identified video feature can include, but is not limited to, a scene change, the presence of a black border region or a caption region, or the complexity of the image. The transcoding operation can include, but is not limited to, coding the image as an Intra-frame, omitting the content corresponding to the black border region or the caption region from the transcoded image or allocating a relatively lower bit budget for the black border region or a relatively higher bit budget to the caption region during transcoding of the image, or setting the bit budget for rate control during transcoding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: VIXS Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Ying Li, Xu Gang Zhao
  • Patent number: 9071825
    Abstract: Tiling or blockiness detection based on spectral power signature uses one-dimensional vectors at block edges to find a spectral signature created by the tiling or blockiness in an image. A baseband component of the image, such as luminance, is edge enhanced, and then the pixel values along each horizontal line are summed to form a one-dimensional column vector of summed edge values for the image. The power of the column vector and the power of selected frequency components within the column vector are determined. The powers are then combined and converted to dimensionless tiling or blockiness values relative to each of the selected frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: TEKTRONIX, INC.
    Inventor: Daniel G. Baker
  • Patent number: 9071848
    Abstract: Sub-band video coding architecture for packet based transmission. Video processing includes converting of a frame or picture of a video signal into a number of respective sub-bands or sub-frames (e.g., such that each respective one is a respective subsampled version of an original frame or picture) and subsequent assembly thereof into a reconstructed frame or picture. The reconstructed frame or picture then undergoes video encoding to generate an output bitstream that may subsequently undergo appropriate processing (e.g., packetization, continuous time signal generation, etc.) to generate a signal for transmission via one or more communication the links. Characteristics associated with each respective sub-band or sub-frame may be similar (e.g., similar characteristics) or different (e.g., two or more sub-bands or sub-frames have different characteristics, such as different respective number of pixels, aspect ratios, etc.). Respective sub-frames may undergo video encoding and transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventors: Gianluca Filippini, James F. Dougherty, III, William S. Bunch
  • Patent number: 9065986
    Abstract: The present invention provides an imaging apparatus capable of monitoring a plurality of monitored sites in a switching manner by a single surveillance camera and an imaging system. Provided are: an imager for imaging an object scene image so as to produce imaging data; a cutout processor for cutting out one portion of the imaging data so as to create a plurality of cutout image data; and an outputter for sequentially outputting the plurality of cutout image data to the external apparatus at a predetermined output interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Aritaka Mizutani, Yusuke Fujita
  • Patent number: 9060187
    Abstract: Embodiments for changing bit rates in streaming media are provided. As portions of a streaming media file are downloaded for playback, the size of the portion is compared with an expected size determined prior to initiating playback of streaming AV data. The portion of the media file may be padded such that the size of the portion matches the size specified prior to initiating playback of streaming AV data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: NETFLIX, INC.
    Inventors: Chung-Ping Wu, Christian Kaiser, Yung-Hsiao Lai, James Mitch Zollinger, David Randall Ronca
  • Patent number: 9060141
    Abstract: A system and method of reducing undesirable image artifacts such as image tear and image smearing are described. The system can include a series of pixels and enhanced sensitivity circuits. The circuit can be configured so as to operate in an enhanced sensitivity mode having a combination of sample and hold circuits and binning functions, the combination acting so as to reduce the undesirable imaging artifacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: SELEX ES LTD
    Inventors: Mark Clifford Wilson, Peter Michael Thorne
  • Patent number: 9055298
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to process multimedia data enabling efficient partial decoding of transform coded data are described. A decoder device receives transform coefficients, where the transform coefficients are associated with multimedia data. The decoder device determines a set of multimedia samples to be reconstructed. In one aspect, the set of samples to be reconstructed is a subset of a matrix of transformed multimedia samples. The decoder device determines a set of transform coefficients to be used to reconstruct the multimedia samples. In one aspect, the transform coefficients are used to scale partial basis images associated with the encoding method used to generate the transform coefficients, resulting in reconstructed multimedia samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Peisong Chen, Seyfullah Halit Oguz
  • Patent number: 9047507
    Abstract: A method for processing data includes receiving a depth map of a scene containing at least an upper body of a humanoid form. The depth map is processed so as to identify a head and at least one arm of the humanoid form in the depth map. Based on the identified head and at least one arm, and without reference to a lower body of the humanoid form, an upper-body pose, including at least three-dimensional (3D) coordinates of shoulder joints of the humanoid form, is extracted from the depth map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Amiad Gurman, Oren Tropp
  • Patent number: 9042457
    Abstract: An image decoding apparatus which decodes, in parallel, a coded stream having processing order dependency includes: a slice data predecoding unit which predecodes, on a macroblock group basis, macroblock groups included in the coded stream to generate macroblock decoding information necessary for decoding other macroblock groups; and a first macroblock decoding unit and a second macroblock decoding unit each of which decodes a corresponding one of macroblock groups included in the coded stream in parallel. Each of the macroblock decoding units, when decoding the corresponding one of macroblock groups, uses the macroblock decoding information that has been generated for the other macroblock group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Hayashi, Hiroshi Amano, Masayasu Iguchi
  • Patent number: 9036714
    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: January 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Dong Tian, Polin Lai, Jiancong Luo, Peng Yin
  • Patent number: 9030558
    Abstract: In an image processing method for a driver assistance system for detecting and classifying a portion of a predefined image element having a road sign in a digital image captured by an image sensor of the driver assistance system, first scale-invariant image features and their relative geometric arrangement with respect to one another are computed based on at least one image region of the digital image to be searched, after which a classifier compares the first scale-invariant image features and their relative geometric arrangement with respect to one another to stored and/or learned second scale-invariant image features and their relative geometric arrangement with respect to one another which are computed based on the at least one predefined image element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Alexander Wuerz-Wessel
  • Patent number: 9030561
    Abstract: To alleviate the strictness degree required for a relative positional relationship between a calibration index and a vehicle in an image calibration method and an image calibration device. The image calibration device includes a calibration index 20, four cameras 10, a distortion correction processing unit 30, a viewpoint transformation processing unit 40, and a calibration processing unit 50. The calibration index 20 includes two mutually parallel lines and a distance between which is known and one line orthogonal to the two lines. The cameras 10 take peripheral area images S1 to S4 of peripheral areas R1 to R4 including the calibration index 20. The distortion correction processing unit 30 corrects the peripheral area images S1 to S4 by using internal parameters M to obtain distortion-corrected images P1 to P4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Keiji Sato
  • Patent number: 9025675
    Abstract: Several systems, methods and integrated circuits capable of reducing blocking artifacts in video data are disclosed. In an embodiment, a system for reducing blocking artifacts in video data includes a processing module and a deblocking module. The deblocking module comprises a luma deblocking filter and a chroma deblocking filter configured to filter an edge between adjacent blocks associated with the video data, where a block of the adjacent blocks corresponds to one of a prediction block and a transform block. The processing module is communicatively associated with the deblocking module and is operable to configure at least one filter coefficient corresponding to the chroma deblocking filter based on one or more filter coefficients corresponding to the luma deblocking filter. The processing module is further configured to cause the chroma deblocking filter to filter the edge between the adjacent blocks based on the configured at least one filter coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Mangesh Devidas Sadafale
  • Patent number: 8988526
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device comprising a camera unit (10), which is used to record images of the outer area of a motor vehicle, comprising a camera (11), which is accommodated in a housing (12) of the camera unit (10) so as to be movable between a retracted position and an image recording position. According to the invention, at least one first slotted guide (15) is provided for guiding the motion of the camera (11) between the retracted position and the image recording position, wherein at least one sliding element (21) is arranged on the camera (11), which sliding element is guided in the slotted guide (15) to guide the motion of the camera (11) between the retracted position and the image recording position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Heiko Schütz
  • Patent number: 8988503
    Abstract: A sensing device having a sensing arrangement with a sensing end (32) for coming into contact with a surface to be scanned of a body (26), a camera (30), and a connecting device (34) for rigidly connecting the camera with the sensing end, the camera being arranged such that it can detect a surface (12) which is provided with marks suitable to be automatically photogrammetrically evaluated and on which the body to be scanned has been placed, when the sensing end comes into contact with different points of the surface to be scanned of the body. The sensing device further has a photogrammetric evaluation program for a computing unit (18), the computing unit being configured such that image signals generated by the camera can be routed to the computing unit and the evaluation program can calculate the 3D coordinates of the surface to be scanned from the sequence of recorded and transmitted image sections using the marks (22) suitable to be automatically photogrammetrically evaluated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Corpus.e AG
    Inventors: Rene Pfeiffer, Dirk Rutschmann
  • Patent number: 8982217
    Abstract: Methods and systems for determining states of environments and modifying the environments according to the states are disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes a robot device determining for an environment a state comprising a plurality of state attributes for the environment. The method further includes receiving a request for the state and, in response to receiving the request, modifying the environment to comprise at least some of state attributes. The robot device may determine the state by receiving indications of at least some of the state attributes from some or all of a user, a server, another robot device, and another device. The attributes may be user attributes for a particular user, or may be event attributes for a particular type of event. The request may take the form of a request from a user, a calendar event, or a user arrival.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventor: Ryan Hickman
  • Patent number: 8976242
    Abstract: The present invention includes a camera which takes an image of a camera or an inspection target; a device which estimates the movement of the inspection target; a device which generates a high resolution image having a higher resolution than the pixel resolution of a video image taken by the camera from the video image taken by the camera; a device which evaluates the quality of the high resolution image generated by the generation device; and a device which presents an inspector who visually inspects the inspection target with the high resolution image together with the quality evaluation result of the high resolution image. The present invention can improve the reliability of inspection by use of the high resolution image as well as can reduce the inspection time, and further can guarantee the reliability of the inspection using a high resolution image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tetsuro Aikawa, Yoshinori Satoh, Makoto Ochiai, Tatsuya Oodake, Hiroyuki Adachi, Yasuhiro Yuguchi, Junichi Takabayashi
  • Patent number: 8971413
    Abstract: Techniques are described that can be used to store macroblocks to memory and retrieve macroblocks from memory. In some cases, macroblocks can be stored in memory in memory addressable locations with column and row addresses flipped. Because macroblocks are stored in columns but retrieved across rows, portions of multiple macroblocks can be retrieved in a single read burst. The portions can be Golomb decoded and stored so that macroblocks can be re-assembled from the portions. In some cases, macroblocks of encoded video can be stored in continuous memory addressable locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Vinay Thomas, Michael Coulter
  • Patent number: 8970670
    Abstract: A method for adjusting three-dimensional (3D) depth including performing block matching on left-eye/right-eye frames of a stereo video signal to generate a motion vector of a specific object and to obtain 3D depth of the specific object; and adjusting 3D depth of an additive object according to that of the specific object, wherein the additive object is one of a subtitle object, an on screen display (OSD) object or a program guide object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: MStar Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Chien Shun Wang