Patents Represented by Attorney Dirk Brinkman

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  • Method for estimating channels in two-hop MIMO AF networks
    Patent number: 7796630
    Abstract: A method estimates interim channels in a two-hop multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) amplify-and-forward (AF) relay network including a source station (SS), a relay station (RS), and a destination station (DS). The estimate is according to the overall channel obtained at the DS or the SS. By varying an amplifying matrix of the RS over time, the method establishes a linear equation group with respect to the elements of the interim channels over the first (SS-RS) and second (RS-SS) hops, based on which low-complexity estimation of the interim channels is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Philip V. Orlik, Jun Ma
  • Method and system for playing back videos at speeds adapted to content
    Patent number: 7796860
    Abstract: A method plays back a video at speeds adapted to content of the video. A video is partitioned into summary segments and skipped segments. The summary segments are played back sequentially at a normal play back speed, and the skipped segments are played back at varying speeds corresponding to a visual complexity of the skipped segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Kadir A. Peker
  • Method for transmitting a communications packet in a wireless communications network
    Patent number: 7792091
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for transmitting a packet in a wireless communications network is presented. A packet is constructed to include synchronization header, a physical layer header, and a payload. A preamble and a start of frame delimiter is inserted in the synchronization header. Multiple pairs of cores and of suffixes are inserted in the start of frame delimiter, and then the packet is transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Zafer Sahinoglu, Andreas F. Molisch
  • System and method for acquiring acoustic signals using doppler techniques
    Patent number: 7792314
    Abstract: A method and system enhances an acoustic signal acquired by a microphone from an acoustic source while concurrently acquiring a Doppler signal from moving parts of the acoustic source. The acoustic signal and the Doppler signal are then analyzed according to a model to generate an enhanced acoustic signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Bhiksha Ramakrishnan, Paul H. Dietz, Bent Schmidt-Nielsen
  • 4D light field cameras
    Patent number: 7792423
    Abstract: A camera acquires a 4D light field of a scene. The camera includes a lens and sensor. A mask is arranged in a straight optical path between the lens and the sensor. The mask including an attenuation pattern to spatially modulate the 4D light field acquired of the scene by the sensor. The pattern has a low spatial frequency when the mask is arranged near the lens, and a high spatial frequency when the mask is arranged near the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramesh Raskar, Amit Kumar Agrawal
  • Apparatus and method for reducing errors in analog circuits while processing signals
    Patent number: 7788312
    Abstract: A method and apparatus processes signals in a set of analog circuit components of an analog circuit white enforcing a set of explicit constraints corresponding to a set of implicit constraints to reduce errors in output signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Benjamin Butterfly William Vigoda
  • Apparatus and method for reducing glare in images
    Patent number: 7780364
    Abstract: Glare is reduced by acquiring an input image with a camera having a lens and a sensor, in which a pin-hole mask is placed in close proximity to the sensor. The mask localizes the glare at readily identifiable pixels, which can then be filtered to produce a glare reduce output image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramesh Raskar, Cyrus A. Wilson, Amit K. Agrawal
  • Biometric based user authentication and data encryption
    Patent number: 7779268
    Abstract: Biometric parameters acquired from human forces, voices, fingerprints, and irises are used for user authentication and access control. Because the biometric parameters are continuous and vary from one reading to the next, syndrome codes are applied to determine biometric syndrome vectors. The biometric syndrome vectors can be stored securely while tolerating an inherent variability of biometric data. The stored biometric syndrome vector is decoded during user authentication using biometric parameters acquired at that time. The syndrome codes can also be used to encrypt and decrypt data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Stark C. Draper, Ashish Khisti, Emin Martinian, Anthony Vetro, Jonathan S. Yedidia
  • Asymmetric cooperation in downlink cellular networks with relay stations
    Patent number: 7778598
    Abstract: In a wireless network using cooperative relaying, a set of messages are broadcast from a base station to a set of relay stations during a first phase of a scheduling interval. During a second phase of the scheduling interval, the set of messages from the set of relay stations are broadcasting cooperatively to a set of mobile stations, while broadcasting. While broadcasting, a time and a rate and a size of each message is optimized during the first phase, and a rate of each message is optimized during the second phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Natasha Devroye, Neelesh B. Mehta, Andreas F. Molisch
  • Multiple access by varying received power in wireless networks
    Patent number: 7778659
    Abstract: The invention describes a method for transmitting a packet in a wireless network of nodes. At a beginning of a scheduled time slot a metric in the node is set, in which the metric indicates a need to transmit a packet to a receiver in the wireless network. The metric is mapped to a received power level and the packet is transmitted at a transmit power level so that the received power level is achieved at the receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Neelesh B. Mehta, Andreas F. Molisch, Raymond Yim
  • Context aware image conversion method and playback system
    Patent number: 7773099
    Abstract: The embodiments of invention provide method and apparatus for converting one or more images for display on a display surface. The output image is obtained from an input image. We scale the input image to generate a foreground image, in which a content of the foreground image corresponds directly to a content of the input image, and in which a resolution of the foreground image when displayed is smaller than a resolution of a display surface. The input image is also transformed to a background image, in which a content of the background image depends indirectly on the input image, and in which a resolution of the background image is larger than the resolution of the foreground image. Next, the foreground image is combined with the background image to form the output image, in which pixels of the foreground image replace corresponding pixels of the background image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Clifton L. Forlines, Anthony Vetro
  • Method for finding minimal cost paths under uncertainty
    Patent number: 7756021
    Abstract: A computer implemented method finds a path having a minimal expected cost through a network of nodes connected by arcs, in which the path is from a source node to a destination node, and in which a traversal time for traversing each arc is a random variable. An expected cost of traversing each possible path from the source node to the destination node is determined as an average value of a nonlinear cost function applied to each possible total travel time for traversing the path. The expected cost is weighted according to a probability of each possible total travel time. For each node in the network and for each possible time to start, a particular path from the source node to the node having a minimal expected cost and an optimal time to start on that path is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Evdokia V. Nikolova, Matthew E. Brand
  • Method for detecting scene boundaries in genre independent videos
    Patent number: 7756338
    Abstract: A computer implemented method detects scene boundaries in videos by first extracting feature vectors from videos of different genres. The feature vectors are then classified as scene boundaries using a support vector machine. The support vector machine is trained to be independent of the different genres of the videos.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin W. Wilson, Ajay Divakaran, Feng Niu, Naveen Goela, Isao Otsuka
  • System and method for factorizing light in a sequence of images
    Patent number: 7756356
    Abstract: A method factorizing a sequence of images acquired of a scene into lighting components. The scene is illuminated by a moving light source. An appearance profile is constructed for each pixel in the sequence of images. The appearance profile is a vector representing intensities of the pixel at instances in time. The appearance profiles are factorized into a shadow component, a skylight component, and a sunlight component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Hanspeter Pfister, Wojciech Matusik, Kalyan Sunkavalli, Szymon M. Rusinkiewicz
  • Method and system for selecting antennas adaptively in OFDMA networks
    Patent number: 7756099
    Abstract: A method selects antennas in an OFDMA network. A channel state of a downlink is measured using a downlink subframe received in a mobile station from a base station. A channel state of an uplink is measured using an uplink subframe received in the base station from the mobile station. Next, the method compares the channel states to determine whether the downlink and the uplink are reciprocal or not. The mobile station can perform receive antenna selection based on the quality of the downlink channel state. The mobile station can also perform transmit antenna selection when instructed by the base station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhifeng Tao, Chun Nie, Neelesh B. Mehta, Andreas F. Molisch, Jinyun Zhang
  • Method for tracking objects in videos using forward and backward tracking
    Patent number: 7756296
    Abstract: A method tracks an object in a sequence of frames of a video. The method is provided with a set of tracking modules. Frames of a video are buffered in a memory buffer. First, an object is tracked in the buffered frames forward in time using a selected one of the plurality of tracking module. Second, the object is tracked in the buffered frames backward in time using the selected tracking module. Then, a tracking error is determined from the first tracking and the second tracking. If the tracking error is less than a predetermined threshold, then additional frames are buffered in the memory buffer and the first tracking, the second tracking and the determining steps are repeated. Otherwise, if the error is greater than the predetermined threshold, then a different tracking module is selected and the first tracking, the second tracking and the determining steps are repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Fatih M. Porikli, Xue Mei, Dirk Brinkman
  • Method for retargeting images
    Patent number: 7747107
    Abstract: A method for content-aware image retargeting generates an energy image from a source image according to an energy function. From the energy image, one or more seams are determined according to a minimizing function such that each seam has a minimal energy. Each seam is applied to the source image to obtain a target image that preserves content and a rectangular shape of the source image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Shmuel Avidan, Ariel Shamir
  • Method and system for determining instantaneous peak power consumption in elevator banks
    Patent number: 7743890
    Abstract: A method and system determine peak power consumption over time by a bank of elevator for servicing a set of passenger hall calls and delivery requests, and selecting elevator schedules that keep peak power consumption below a predetermined threshold. For each car in response to receiving a hall call, a set of all possible paths to service all hall calls assigned to the car are determined, in which each path includes a set of all possible segments. A peak power consumption for each possible segment is also determined. The peak power consumptions for the set of all possible segments for each time instant are added to determine a total peak power consumption for each time instant, and a particular path is selected as a schedule to operate the bank of elevator cars, if the total peak power consumption for any instant in time while operating according to the selected schedule is below a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel N. Nikovski, Matthew E. Brand
  • Stylized rendering using a multi-flash camera
    Patent number: 7738725
    Abstract: A method generates a stylized image of a scene including an object. A set of n input images are acquired of the scene with a camera. Each one of the n input images is illuminated by one of a set of n light sources mounted on a body of the camera at different positions from a center of projection of a lens of the camera. Ambient lighting can be used to illuminate one image. Features in the set of n input images are detected. The features include depth edges, intensity edges, and texture edges to determine qualitative depth relationships between the depth edges, the intensity edges and the texture edges. The set of n input images are then combined in an output image to enhance the detected features according to the qualitative relationships.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramesh Raskar, Rogerio Feris
  • Detecting objects in images with covariance matrices
    Patent number: 7734097
    Abstract: A method detects objects in an image. First, features are extracted from the image. A frequency transform is applied to the features to generate transformed features. A covariance matrix is constructed from the transformed features, and the covariance matrix is classified to determine whether the image includes the object, or not.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Faith M. Porikli, Tekin Kocak