Patents by Inventor Norifumi Yoshiwara

Norifumi Yoshiwara 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: 8385602
    Abstract: An image processing device and method, a program, and a recording medium whereby the detection precision of a motion vector by the gradient method is further improved. A counter value computing unit acquires the number of valid pixels, the number of pixels having no gradient in the horizontal direction, and the number of pixels having no gradient in the vertical direction from a valid pixel number counter, a no-horizontal-gradient counter, and a no-vertical-gradient counter, computes the ratio between valid pixels within a computation block and one-sided gradient pixels among the valid pixels, and controls the value of a flag which a flag setting unit sets in accordance with the computation results. The flag setting unit sets the value of a gradient flag, and outputs the gradient flag to the subsequent stage. At the subsequent stage, gradient method computation and vector evaluation processing are executed based on the gradient flag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiko Kaino, Takashi Horishi, Yukihiro Nakamura, Kunio Kawaguchi, Yasuaki Takahashi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Takafumi Morifuji, Yuta Choki
  • Patent number: 7848427
    Abstract: For each pixel in an operation block, an effective pixel determining unit sets a predetermined pixel difference (threshold value) on a time-base pixel difference. When the time-base pixel difference is less than the set predetermined pixel difference, it is determined that the pixel contributes to (or are effective in) motion vector detection, and uses the pixel in the gradient method in the case of performing motion vector detection. When the time-base pixel difference is not less than the set predetermined pixel difference, it is determined that the pixel is regarded as having a possibility to generate irregularity in movement, and the pixel is excluded from the gradient operation in the case of performing motion vector detection. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24 P signal to a 60 P signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Horishi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Yukihiro Nakamura, Akihiko Kaino, Kunio Kawaguchi, Yasuaki Takahashi, Yuta Choki, Tetsujiro Kondo
  • Patent number: 7826334
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 7738556
    Abstract: A past frame at a past time has a motion vector in a block, and a reference frame at a reference time has a different block which is a motion-compensated block identical in position to a terminal point of a motion vector in the block. When a gradient method is used to detect a motion vector in the different block in the reference frame, a motion vector which is identical in magnitude and orientation to a motion vector and whose initial point is the different block in the reference frame is used as a candidate vector for initial vectors. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24P signal to a 60P signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yukihiro Nakamura, Yasuaki Takahashi, Takashi Horishi, Kunio Kawaguchi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Akihiko Kaino, Yuta Choki
  • Patent number: 7680019
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 7680006
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 7667778
    Abstract: For a pixel of interest whose motion vector is not acquired in processing in the subsequent stage, motion vectors found for peripheral pixels around the pixel of interest in the processing in the subsequent stage, and evaluated values which represent the reliabilities of compensating candidate vectors, each consisting of a zero vector or the like, are calculated. The calculated evaluated values are compared, and a compensating candidate vector determined to have the highest probability is selectively acquired as the motion vector of the pixel of interest. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24P signal to a 60P signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20090167959
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an image processing device and method, a program, and a recording medium whereby the evaluation regarding the reliability of a motion vector can be performed even in the case of an average brightness level between frames changing greatly. On a frame t+1, a block B1 at the position shifted from a pixel p1 to which a pixel p0 on a frame t corresponds by the vector quantity of a correct motion vector v1, and a block B2 at the position shifted from the pixel p1 to which the pixel p0 corresponds by the vector quantity of an incorrect motion vector v2 are shown.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2006
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yukihiro Nakamura, Yasuaki Takahashi, Kunio Kawaguchi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Akihiko Kaino, Yuta Choki, Takashi Horishi, Takafumi Morifuji
  • Publication number: 20090136146
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an image processing device and method, a program, and a recording medium whereby the detection precision of a motion vector by the gradient method can be further improved. A counter value computing unit 451 acquires the number of valid pixels, the number of pixels having no gradient in the horizontal direction, and the number of pixels having no gradient in the vertical direction from a valid pixel number counter 441, a no-horizontal-gradient counter 442, and a no-vertical-gradient counter 443, computes the ratio between valid pixels within a computation block and one-sided gradient pixels among the valid pixels, and controls the value of a flag which a flag setting unit 452 sets in accordance with the computation results. The flag setting unit 452 sets the value of a gradient flag, and outputs the gradient flag to the subsequent stage. At the subsequent stage, gradient method computation and vector evaluation processing are executed based on the gradient flag.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Publication date: May 28, 2009
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiko Kaino, Takashi Horishi, Yukihiro Nakamura, Kunio Kawaguchi, Yasuaki Takahashi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Takafumi Morifuji, Yuta Choki
  • Publication number: 20080273443
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Publication date: November 6, 2008
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20080247286
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Publication date: October 9, 2008
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 7328447
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2008
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20080005758
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n?1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Publication date: January 3, 2008
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 7072829
    Abstract: With respect to each of codes corresponding to code vectors in a code book stored in a code book storage section, an expectation degree storage section stores an expectation degree at which observation is expected when an integrated parameter with respect to a word as a recognition target is inputted. A vector quantization section vector-quantizes the integrated parameter and outputs a series of codes of a code vector which has a shortest distance to the integrated parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2006
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20050271144
    Abstract: For a pixel of interest whose motion vector is not acquired in processing in the subsequent stage, motion vectors found for peripheral pixels around the pixel of interest in the processing in the subsequent stage, and evaluated values which represent the reliabilities of compensating candidate vectors, each consisting of a zero vector or the like, are calculated. The calculated evaluated values are compared, and a compensating candidate vector determined to have the highest probability is selectively acquired as the motion vector of the pixel of interest. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24P signal to a 60P signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Publication date: December 8, 2005
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20050259738
    Abstract: For each pixel in an operation block, an effective pixel determining unit sets a predetermined pixel difference (threshold value) on a time-base pixel difference. When the time-base pixel difference is less than the set predetermined pixel difference, it is determined that the pixel contributes to (or are effective in) motion vector detection, and uses the pixel in the gradient method in the case of performing motion vector detection. When the time-base pixel difference is not less than the set predetermined pixel difference, it is determined that the pixel is regarded as having a possibility to generate irregularity in movement, and the pixel is excluded from the gradient operation in the case of performing motion vector detection. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24 P signal to a 60 P signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Publication date: November 24, 2005
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Horishi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Yukihiro Nakamura, Akihiko Kaino, Kunio Kawaguchi, Yasuaki Takahashi, Yuta Choki, Tetsujiro Kondo
  • Publication number: 20050259739
    Abstract: A past frame at a past time has a motion vector in a block, and a reference frame at a reference time has a different block which is a motion-compensated block identical in position to a terminal point of a motion vector in the block. When a gradient method is used to detect a motion vector in the different block in the reference frame, a motion vector which is identical in magnitude and orientation to a motion vector and whose initial point is the different block in the reference frame is used as a candidate vector for initial vectors. The present invention is applicable to a signal processing apparatus for performing frame frequency conversion from a 24P signal to a 60P signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2005
    Publication date: November 24, 2005
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yukihiro Nakamura, Yasuaki Takahashi, Takashi Horishi, Kunio Kawaguchi, Norifumi Yoshiwara, Akihiko Kaino, Yuta Choki
  • Publication number: 20050096902
    Abstract: With respect to each of codes corresponding to code vectors in a code book stored in a code book storage section, an expectation degree storage section stores an expectation degree at which observation is expected when an integrated parameter with respect to a word as a recognition target is inputted. A vector quantization section vector-quantizes the integrated parameter and outputs a series of codes of a code vector which has a shortest distance to the integrated parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2004
    Publication date: May 5, 2005
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Publication number: 20040268378
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having a plural number of recording layers includes a n-th recording layer (23) (n≧1), made up by a substrate (20) and a semi-reflective layer (21) carried by the substrate (20) and adapted for partially reflecting and partially transmitting the incident light, a (n+1)th recording layer (28), made up by another substrate (25) and a reflecting layer (26) carried by the substrate (25) and adapted for reflecting the incident light, and a light condensing layer (24) for condensing the light incident via the n-th recording layer (23) on the (n+1)th recording layer (28).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2004
    Publication date: December 30, 2004
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara
  • Patent number: 6718299
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a feature parameter detector for detecting feature parameters based on a plurality of input data, a normalizer for normalizing the feature parameters detected by the feature parameter detector while maintaining their feature components, and an integration unit for integrating the feature parameters normalized by the normalizer. In the information processing apparatus, feature parameters from a plurality of input data are normalized based on learning normalization coefficients, and distances from each of the normalized feature parameters and to a normal parameter are calculated. Based on the calculated distances, time-series normalization coefficients for performing speech recognition are determined for the feature parameters. Therefore, optimal normalization coefficients for recognizing the feature parameters at each point of time can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Norifumi Yoshiwara