Patents by Inventor Alain Ferre

Alain Ferre has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7020204
    Abstract: A method and a device for coding and decoding a sequence of images or pictures is disclosed. One exemplary embodiment disclosed codes by dividing each picture into blocks of picture elements. Each element of a block being represented by a digital value. Two types of coding are utilized in order to reduce the amount of data; inter-coding, which takes into account a corresponding block in a previous picture and intra coding, which is independent from a previous picture. Blocks being thus coded so that a further reduction of data is obtained by transmitting high spatial frequencies with less weight than low spatial frequencies. This is accomplished with the use of weighting coefficients. Weighting coefficients are variable as a function of the quantity of information to be transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Patent number: 6661844
    Abstract: A method and a device for coding and decoding a sequence of images or pictures is disclosed. One exemplary embodiment disclosed codes by dividing each picture into blocks of picture elements. Each element of a block being represented by a digital value. Two types of coding are utilized in order to reduce the amount of data; inter-coding, which takes into account a corresponding block in a previous picture and intra coding, which is independent from a previous picture. Blocks being thus coded so that a further reduction of data is obtained by transmitting high spatial frequencies with less weight than low spatial frequencies. This is accomplished with the use of weighting coefficients. Weighting coefficients are variable as a function of the quantity of information to be transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing S.A.
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Patent number: 6563875
    Abstract: A method and a device for coding and decoding a sequence of images or pictures is disclosed. One exemplary embodiment disclosed codes by dividing each picture into blocks of picture elements. Each element of a block being represented by a digital value. Two types of coding are utilized in order to reduce the amount of data; inter-coding, which takes into account a corresponding block in a previous picture and intra coding, which is independent from a previous picture. Blocks being thus coded so that a further reduction of data is obtained by transmitting high spatial frequencies with less weight than low spatial frequencies. This is accomplished with the use of weighting coefficients. Weighting coefficients are variable as a function of the quantity of information to be transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing S.A.
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Publication number: 20020110195
    Abstract: A method and a device for coding and decoding a sequence of images or pictures is disclosed. One exemplary embodiment disclosed codes by dividing each picture into blocks of picture elements. Each element of a block being represented by a digital value. Two types of coding are utilized in order to reduce the amount of data; inter-coding, which takes into account a corresponding block in a previous picture and intra coding, which is independent from a previous picture. Blocks being thus coded so that a further reduction of data is obtained by transmitting high spatial frequencies with less weight than low spatial frequencies. This is accomplished with the use of weighting coefficients. Weighting coefficients are variable as a function of the quantity of information to be transmitted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2002
    Publication date: August 15, 2002
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Publication number: 20020101928
    Abstract: A method and a device for coding and decoding a sequence of images or pictures is disclosed. One exemplary embodiment disclosed codes by dividing each picture into blocks of picture elements. Each element of a block being represented by a digital value. Two types of coding are utilized in order to reduce the amount of data; inter-coding, which takes into account a corresponding block in a previous picture and intra coding, which is independent from a previous picture. Blocks being thus coded so that a further reduction of data is obtained by transmitting high spatial frequencies with less weight than low spatial frequencies. This is accomplished with the use of weighting coefficients. Weighting coefficients are variable as a function of the quantity of information to be transmitted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2002
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Publication number: 20020039387
    Abstract: The invention relates to an adaptive method of encoding and decoding of a series of pictures by transformation, the encoding consisting in:
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2001
    Publication date: April 4, 2002
    Inventors: Eric Auvray, Claude Perron, Alain Ferre
  • Patent number: 5245675
    Abstract: The disclosed method comprises a learning phase, during which the object zone to be recognized, selected in a learning image, is modelized, and a recognition phase during which the modelized zone is compared with image zones of a same size taken taken from the images to be processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1993
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventors: Alain Ferre, Yannick Villalon
  • Patent number: 5063524
    Abstract: The disclosed method consists in:method for estimating the motion of at least one target in a sequence of images, including: coefficients transformed by the Fourier transform;computing a matrix called a phase correlation matrix, each coefficient of which is equal to the product of a transformed coefficient of a first image, by the conjugate of a homologous transformed coefficient of a second image, divided by the square of the modulus of this product;computing an inverse transformed matrix of the phase correlation matrix, in applying the inverse Fourier transform;searching, among the coefficients of the inverse transformed matrix, for those coefficients having the greatest moduli;then estimating a translation vector for each target and a translation vector of the image background, on the basis of the order of the row and of the order of the column in which there are respectively located the coefficients having these greatest moduli.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1991
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventors: Alain Ferre, Christophe Chevance, Jean Quignon
  • Patent number: 4912668
    Abstract: A device for computing 16 mono-dimensional direct cosine transforms from 16 luminance values having an input memory. A first computing device delivers respectively two values of the form A+B and (A-B).times.D, where A and B are two values applied respectively to two inputs of the first computing device and where D is a predetermined coefficient. A first intermediate value storage device uses the first computing device for 32 similar operations. A second computing device delivers a value of the form E+G, where E and G are two values applied consecutively to the input of the second computing device. A second intermediate value storage device reuses the second computing device for 17 additional operations. Finally, a device changes the order of the transformed values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 1987
    Date of Patent: March 27, 1990
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventors: Jean Y. Aubie, Yves M. Le Pannerer, Alain Ferre, Yannick Villalon
  • Patent number: 4707738
    Abstract: This process uses a bidirectional transformation by blocks for images representing highly animated scenes and also uses a differential coding of the transformation coefficients when the pictures show slightly animated scenes. The coding device mainly comprises a cosine transformation device, a subtractor, and inter-image decoding device, a multiplexer, a device for discriminating the blocks showing highly animated scenes and blocks showing slightly animated scenes. The latter device controls the multiplexer. The subtractor and the decoding device make it possible to calculate the difference between each transformation coefficient and the homologous coefficient of the homologous block in the preceding picture. Moreover, a weighting device makes it possible to transmit with a larger number of bits the coefficients or coefficient differences corresponding to the low spatial frequencies of the images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1985
    Date of Patent: November 17, 1987
    Assignee: Thomson Grand Public
    Inventors: Alain Ferre, Yannick Villalon