Vector Quantization Patents (Class 382/253)
  • Patent number: 6970268
    Abstract: A color image processing method and apparatus thereof are provided. The color image processing method includes the steps of (a) sorting image pixels according to the color distance between the image pixels and a central pixel, (b) grouping the sorted pixels into groups in which the difference in the intragroup color distance is minimum and the difference in the intergroup color difference is maximum, and (c) performing filtering by replacing a central pixel value with a predetermined pixel value determined by pixel values of pixels in the groups. The color image processing method can reduce the generation of edge blurring of the image in removing impulse noise from an image and filtering the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hyun-doo Shin, Yang-lim Choi, Yining Deng, Bangalore S. Manjunath
  • Patent number: 6968092
    Abstract: The present invention extends the generalized Lloyd algorithm (GLA) for vector quantizer (VQ) codebook improvement and codebook design to a new linearly-constrained generalized Lloyd algorithm (LCGLA). The LCGLA improves the quality of VQ codebooks, by forming the codebooks from linear combinations of a reduced set of base codevectors. The present invention enables a principled approach for compressing texture images in formats compatible with various industry standards. New, more flexible compressed texture image formats are also made possible with the present invention. The present invention enhances signal compression by improving traditional VQ approaches through the integrated application of linear constraints on the multiple pattern and signal prototypes that represent a single pattern or block of signal samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: Cisco Systems Canada Co.
    Inventor: Lowell Winger
  • Patent number: 6947944
    Abstract: A database managing apparatus, which can immediately obtain desired data from a database. A database managing apparatus includes a CPU, an input/output device, a main memory and an external memory. The CPU has a controller that initially obtains one article record from stored records via the input/output device. The controller reads out definition data in a database definition file. Then, the controller classifies the obtained records according to attributions based on the definition data. The controller does not compress the data regarding the record group belonging to the attribution A, which is the record group to be searched, but compresses data regarding the record groups belonging to the attributions B-E, which are the record groups other than the record group to be searched. As a result, the controller can reduce the unnecessary decompression of record data belonging to other attributions than the attribution to be searched. As a result, the controller can quickly retrieve the requested record.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2005
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshimasa Furuike
  • Patent number: 6944350
    Abstract: Methods and systems for encoding, transmitting and decoding digital images by rate-distortion adaptive zerotree-based residual vector quantization are disclosed. A method of the invention includes receiving a digital image, transforming the digital image into the wavelet domain generating a pyramid hierarchy, losslessly encoding a top LL subband from the pyramid hierarchy, encoding other subbands by vector quantization based on a zerotree insignificance prediction, generating an encoded image from the lossless encoding and vector quantization encoding, transmitting the encoded image along a communications channel, receiving the encoded image transmitted along the communications channel, reconstructing a zerotree from the encoded image, vector quantization decoding subbands from the encoded image other than a top LL subband, losslessly decoding the top LL subband from the encoded image, reverse wavelet transforming the top LL subband and the vector quantization decoded subbands and outputting a decoded image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Utah State University
    Inventors: Scott E. Budge, Qun Gu
  • Patent number: 6944347
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the image compression and restoring method for binary images that can be used in binary image equipment including printers. In the present invention, an image is not compressed by each pixel but by cell that combines four pixels. And each cell is compressed in two steps. In the first step, the number of black pixels contained in the cell is compressed. And in the second step, using the number of pixels the information compressed in the previous step, the exact location of pixels that constitute the cell is compressed. By doing this, the compression rate can be increased. And even when the compressed bit rows are restored in the first step, image restoration is available with just a small degradation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
    Inventors: Chul Soo Lee, Hyun Wook Park
  • Patent number: 6931067
    Abstract: An apparatus for image coding using tree-structured vector quantization based on a wavelet transform and a method therefor are provided. The apparatus for image coding using a tree-structured vector quantization based on wavelet transform has a wavelet transform unit, a vector construct unit, an error vector unit, a scan unit, a first quantization unit and a second quantization unit. The wavelet transform unit wavelet transforms an input image signal. The vector construct unit constructs vectors, each having a tree structure in a different direction, using the wavelet transformed result. The error vector generation unit generates a plurality of error vectors by setting one of the vectors as a basic vector and performing a calculation on each of the vectors remaining with respect to the basic vector. The scan unit scans the coefficients of each of the basic vector and error vectors in a different direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Woo-young Jang
  • Patent number: 6915020
    Abstract: Systems and methods for generating graphical bar codes (i.e., images that contain inconspicuous graphical modulations that encode embedded information) by halftoning with embedded graphical encoding are described. In one aspect, a graphical bar code is generated by halftoning regions of an original image. The original image regions incorporate errors diffused among regions of the original image and computed based at least in part upon modulations in the graphical bar code corresponding to a graphical encoding of a message. In another aspect, a graphical bar code is decoded by generating a base image having halftone regions representative of an original image. Regions of the base image are compared probabilistically to a set of graphical code words to obtain a sequence of graphical code words corresponding to a graphical encoding of a message. The sequence of graphical code words is decoded to produce a decoded message.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Niranjan Damera-Venkata, Jonathan Yen
  • Patent number: 6915019
    Abstract: A method of decompressing image data, includes reception of a VQ encoded image. The received image is decoded. Output image color space processing is performed in combination with the decoding as one process. Output image color space processing may include color transformation, half-toning or both. The resulting output image has been both decoded and transformed in color space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventors: Shawmin Lei, Renjit Tom Thomas, Uoc Nguyen, Chingwei Chang
  • Patent number: 6915024
    Abstract: Image sharpening is performed by applying variable contrast stretching to pixels of interest in a digital image. For each pixel of interest, the amount of contrast stretching is a function of minimum and maximum intensity values in a local pixel neighborhood.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Ron P. Maurer
  • Patent number: 6907527
    Abstract: A method (and system) for generating an output file from a source file where benign modifications to a content of the output file still render the output file authentic, includes constructing an index vector from the source file, quantizing the source file, generating an authentication mark from the quantized source file and the index vector, generating an authentication tag by appending the index vector to the authentication mark, and generating the output file by appending the authentication tag to the source file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Chai Wah Wu
  • Patent number: 6898326
    Abstract: A transformation unit 102 transforms an entered image to multi-resolution space. A quantizer 105 performs vector quantization on a local pattern of an image of a multi-resolution representation. A perspective-order calculating unit 107 extracts a plurality of code words, positions corresponding thereto and/or angle of rotation and/or scale, and the perspective-order relationship of a plurality of these representative vectors, from the quantized image. An algebraic encoder 108 encodes the input image based upon the extracted information. As a result, there are provided an image processing apparatus and method for asymmetric encoding without motion in three dimensions and extraction of a three-dimensional structure. Further, a transformation unit 1103 transforms an entered image to vector field, and a singularity detector 1104 detects a singularity in the transformed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Teruyoshi Washizawa
  • Patent number: 6891974
    Abstract: A data compression system is provided in accordance with the present invention. The system includes a scanning component which scans at least a portion of a transformed image. The scan is performed substantially in a horizontal direction on a first section of the portion and in a vertical direction on a second section of the portion to enable improved data compression of the transformed image. The horizontal and vertical scan directions are performed via a contiguous scan of the respective sections to further enable improved data compression of the transformed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Henrique S. Malvar, Patrice Y. Simard
  • Patent number: 6888967
    Abstract: A picture target amount-of-code calculating unit calculates a target amount of codes for each picture type that corresponds to an encoding rate that has been determined by an audio/video encoding rate determining unit. An amount-of-code controlling unit controls the quantizing scale of a quantizing unit so as to make the target amount of codes for each picture type match with a total amount of codes of a unit as a whole. A unit address calculating unit calculates the addresses used when a search is made, as navigation data, on the basis of the target amount of codes for each picture type and the encoding rate. A unifying unit makes a construction of the unit while, on the other hand, a navigation data producing unit depicts navigation data at a foremost position of the unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: Victor Company of Japan, Limited
    Inventors: Takayuki Sugahara, Junzo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6865291
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for image data compression performs a modified zero-tree coding on a range of image bit plane values from the largest to a defined smaller value, and a vector quantizer codes the remaining values and lossless coding is performed on the results of the two coding steps. The defined smaller value can be adjusted iteratively to meet a preselected compressed image size criterion or to meet a predefined level of image quality, as determined by any suitable metric. If the image to be compressed is in RGB color space, the apparatus converts the RGB image to a less redundant color space before commencing further processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2005
    Inventor: Andrew Michael Zador
  • Patent number: 6864997
    Abstract: A picture encoding apparatus and the method in which the quantization step width of the lower hierarchy data having a resolution higher than that of the upper hierarchy data is determined for each predetermined block of respective hierarchy data based on the quantization step width determined by the upper hierarchy data having a low resolution, so that the additional code indicating the characteristics of quantizer can be omitted thereby the compression efficiency can be improved and the deterioration of picture quality can be reduced when picture data is hierarchical-encoded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2005
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsujiro Kondo, Yasuhiro Fujimori, Kunio Kawaguchi
  • Patent number: 6859204
    Abstract: A method and a system for dynamically thresholding an image signal. The system comprises a computing block. The computing block receives the image signal and a minimum and a maximum within each of a set of windows centered on the current pixel in the image signal, and computes, for each of the windows, based on the current pixel and the respective minimum and maximum, a respective indicator representing the distance and direction of the current pixel relative to a respective threshold plane, and outputs a control signal based on the indicators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2005
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Donald J. Curry, Doron Kletter, Asghar Nafarieh
  • Publication number: 20040258322
    Abstract: An image processing system including an image encoder and image decoding system is provided. The image encoder system includes an image decomposer, a block encoder, and an encoded image composer. The image decomposer decomposes the image into blocks. The block encoder, which includes a selection module, a codeword generation module and a construction module, processes the blocks. Specifically, the selection module computes a set of parameters from image data values of a set of image elements in the image block. The codeword generation module generates codewords, which the construction module uses to derive a set of quantized image data values. The construction module then maps each of the image element's original image data values to an index to one of the derived image data values. The image decoding system reverses this process to reorder decompressed image blocks in an output data file.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2004
    Publication date: December 23, 2004
    Inventors: Zhou Hong, Konstantine I. Iourcha, Krishna S. Nayak
  • Publication number: 20040258321
    Abstract: An image processing system including an image encoder and image decoding system is provided. The image encoder system includes an image decomposer, a block encoder, and an encoded image composer. The image decomposer decomposes the image into blocks. The block encoder, which includes a selection module, a codeword generation module and a construction module, processes the blocks. Specifically, the selection module computes a set of parameters from image data values of a set of image elements in the image block. The codeword generation module generates codewords, which the construction module uses to derive a set of quantized image data values. The construction module then maps each of the image element's original image data values to an index to one of the derived image data values. The image decoding system reverses this process to reorder decompressed image blocks in an output data file.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2004
    Publication date: December 23, 2004
    Inventors: Zhou Hong, Konstantine I. Iourcha, Krishna S. Nayak
  • Publication number: 20040252904
    Abstract: A technique wherein the number and position of a quantization parameter node is determined in response to the quantization parameters and a preselected error. The size of scene graph and the corresponding amount of memory required to store the scene graph can be reduced by selective placement of quantization parameter nodes in a scene graph. The scene graph is traversed depth first to establish an order and then traversed in reverse. At each node, a calculation relating to (1) the relative cost of inserting a quantization parameter node and (2) the relative savings that result from insertion of a quantization node is performed. Quantization parameter nodes are selectively placed in response to a result of these calculations. The maximum degree of acceptable error value is chosen for each quantization type. This error value limits the number of quantization parameter nodes that can be placed in a scene graph.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2004
    Publication date: December 16, 2004
    Applicant: Envivio, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuval Fisher, Julien Signes, Eric Deniau
  • Patent number: 6807312
    Abstract: A method for data compression. An encoder receives data vectors from an original data set. The encoder uses a vector quantization codebook to encode the data vectors into encoded vectors. The codebook is constructed from a compound data set, where the compound data set includes real data vectors and artificial data vectors. The encoded vectors are indexed in the codebook and the indexes are transmitted across communication channels or transmitted to storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventors: Renjit Tom Thomas, Shawmin Lei
  • Patent number: 6798543
    Abstract: A method for compression and decompression of halftoned images using the halftone screen. The method reduces an input binary image into a mean image, uses the halftone screen in combination with the mean image to produce a predicted image. The predicted image is then compared to the original image to produce a residue image. The residue image and the mean image are then compressed and either stored or transmitted. For decompression, the mean image and residue image are decompressed and then used with the halftone screen to arrive at a reconstructed binary image. A prediction process uses the mean image and scales it to a full-size image that has substantially similar dimensions as the original image. It then applies the halftone screen to the full-size image and produces a predicted image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Inc.
    Inventor: Xiao-fan Feng
  • Patent number: 6775417
    Abstract: An image processing system including an image encoder and image decoding system is provided. The image encoder system includes an image decomposer, a block encoder, and an encoded image composer. The image decomposer decomposes the image into blocks. The block encoder which includes a selection module, a codeword generation module and a construction module, processes the blocks. Specifically, the selection module computes a set of parameters from image data values of a set of image elements in the image block. The codeword generation module generates codewords which the construction module uses to derive a set of quantized image data values. The construction module then maps each of the image element's original image data values to an index to one of the derived image data values. The image decoding system reverses this process to reorder decompressed image blocks in an output data file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2004
    Assignee: S3 Graphics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhou Hong, Konstantine I. Iourcha, Krishna S. Nayak
  • Patent number: 6751355
    Abstract: Input data, distributed along a space axis, is converted into data distributed along a frequency axis by the use of a frequency range dividing filter, and is subjected to scalar quantization performed by a compression circuit with different step numbers for different frequency ranges, so that data in a plurality of frequency ranges along the frequency axis is compressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2004
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Okamoto
  • Patent number: 6744928
    Abstract: The present invention includes methods and apparatus for attaining high speed coding and decoding. A first method decreases the number of memory access times by performing signal format conversion, orthogonal transform and continuous variable-length coding with predetermined small areas in a frame used as units. A second method omits orthogonal transform computation by using orthogonal transform coefficients to shorten the processing time. A third method uses additions and subtractions for orthogonal transform thereby decreasing the number of registers used and reducing the number of memory access times. The present invention further includes a decoding method for variable-length decoding wherein table size is not made larger because the number of table access times per code word is set to a maximum of 2, and plural code words are decoded by one tale access operation to attain high-speed decoding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuro Juri, Tadashi Ono
  • Publication number: 20040096117
    Abstract: A method of compressing an image is described in which digital data signals in a 2-dimensional images are formed into an image data pyramid with a number of layers and each layer is processed to give a compressed encoding in an ordered list The encoding with the largest quality gain factor is selected first and added to a compressed representation of the data array. This is repeated for the next largest gain factor and so on until a predetermined maximum is reached. Each layer of the image data pyramid corresponds to different frequency bands, the vector quantizations of these layers will only minimally interfere with one another. This allows a simple ordering of all possible gain contributions made by the compressed encodings, to the compressed representation. This in turn allows a straightforward selection of the compressed encodings having the largest quality gain factors, for compiling the compressed representation of the image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Publication date: May 20, 2004
    Inventor: William Paul Cockshott
  • Patent number: 6731810
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for coding a moving image, capable of obtaining high image quality and high rate of data compression, are provided. The method compares a pixel block of current image to be coded and a pixel block of preceding image within a predetermined region of preceding frame, one after another. The method seeks a specific preceding-image pixel block minimizing matching error. If the matching error relative to the specific preceding-image pixel block exceeds an acceptable value, than the method obtains one or more of orthogonal base systems for approximating AC component vector in the current-image pixel block by inter-frame adaptive orthogonal transformation having, as nest thereof, preceding image data within a predetermined region including the specific preceding-image pixel block. The method thereby codes the moving image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2004
    Assignee: Hudson Soft Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Miura, Fumihiko Itagaki, Miyuki Kawashima
  • Patent number: 6731807
    Abstract: Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment on the invention, a method of compressing a data set includes the following. In multiple passes, each data signal in the data set is categorized into a category of a predetermined set, and, for selected categories of the predetermined set, the data signals for that category are coded using a codebook for that category. Briefly, in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method of decompressing a compressed data set includes the following. For compressed data signals in the data set in one category of a predetermined set of categories, a signal associated with the particular category is employed for the compressed data signal, and, for selected categories of the predetermined set, the compressed data signals for that category are decoded using a codebook for that category.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2004
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Edward A. Pazmino, Tinku Acharya
  • Patent number: 6728413
    Abstract: The invention proposes a method of determining an index of a code vector (VCk) belonging to a predetermined lattice, characterised in that it includes the steps of: determining (E47) a leader vector (Y, VLk) for the code vector (VCk), seeking (E50, E51) a permutation number (NP) between the code vector and the leader vector, determining (E51) the index (Ik) for the code vector according to the permutation number. The invention makes it possible to code a code vector, for example in the context of the lattice vector quantization of a digital signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Patrice Onno
  • Patent number: 6724940
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of encoding a hyper-spectral image datacube using vector quantization. According to the invention, a temporary codebook having a small number, n, of codevectors is generated from the datacube. The datacube is processed using the temporary codebook to form n clusters (subsets) of vectors. A codevector corresponds to a cluster and is the centre of gravity for the cluster. In the compression process, vectors in each cluster are encoded by the corresponding codevector. Then the reconstruction fidelity of the encoded cluster is evaluated. When the fidelity of an encoded cluster is better than a predetermined fidelity, the codevector relating to that cluster is stored in a final codebook and the vectors in the cluster are expressed with the index (address) of the codevector in the final codebook. When the fidelity of an encoded cluster is not suitable, the cluster is reencoded with a new temporary codebook generated from this cluster, and the same process is repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: Canadian Space Agency
    Inventors: Shen-En Qian, Allan B. Hollinger
  • Publication number: 20040071358
    Abstract: An image distribution system has a source that encodes digital images and transmits them over an error-prone channel to a destination. The source has an image coder that processes the digital images using vector transformation followed by vector quantization. This produces groups of vectors and quantized values that are representative of the images. The image coder orders the vectors in the codebooks and assigns vector indexes to the vectors such that a bit error occurring at a less significant bit in a vector index results in less distortion than a bit error occurring at a more significant bit. Depending upon the format and the capabilities of the source and destination, the image coder may allocate different numbers of bits to different groups of vectors according to a bit allocation map for this allocation process. The source also has a UEP (Unequal Error Protection) coder that layers the vector indexes according to their significance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2003
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Inventors: Jun Xin, Shipeng Li, Ya-Qin Zhang
  • Patent number: 6711300
    Abstract: A technique wherein the number and position of a quantization parameter node is determined in response to the quantization parameters and a preselected error. The size of scene graph and the corresponding amount of memory required to store the scene graph can be reduced by selective placement of quantization parameter nodes in a scene graph. The scene graph is traversed depth first to establish an order and then traversed in reverse. At each node, a calculation relating to (1) the relative cost of inserting a quantization parameter node and (2) the relative savings that result from insertion of a quantization node is performed. Quantization parameter nodes are selectively placed in response to a result of these calculations. The maximum degree of acceptable error value is chosen for each quantization type. This error value limits the number of quantization parameter nodes that can be placed in a scene graph.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Assignee: Envivio, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuval Fisher, Julien Signes, Eric Deniau
  • Patent number: 6701021
    Abstract: The present method relates to a method for encoding image data using vector quantization. According to the invention, a small first codebook is determined. Each image vector of the image data is then encoded by determining a codevector within the first codebook that best approximates the image vector within the image data. A first index map is generated by replacing each image vector with an index indicative of the codevector's location within the first codebook. Then difference data are evaluated based on the original image data and the encoded image data. Each error vector of the difference data is then encoded using another small codebook. In another index map the error vectors are then replaced with an index indicative of the codevector's location within the other codebook. Evaluation of the error based on the difference data and the encoded difference data provides new difference data which is used to evaluate the fidelity of the approximation process performed for compression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: Canadian Space Agency
    Inventors: Shen-En Qian, Allan B. Hollinger
  • Patent number: 6701022
    Abstract: A pattern matching coding device for conducting coding of a unit pattern based on pattern matching with a library pattern, which device, as to a mark pattern determined to be matching, when the number of match error pixels of the pattern is not more than a prescribed value, codes, without coding the bit map, an identification ID of a matching bit map in a library and an identification flag indicating that the number of match error pixels is not more than the prescribed value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Kouichiro Hirao, Takahiro Hongu
  • Patent number: 6697529
    Abstract: A data compression method includes: a quantization trial step in which input data are quantized using an initial quantization table set in advance; a coding trial step in which a code volume achieved when data that have undergone quantization in the quantization trial step are coded is determined; a relationship ascertaining step in which a scale factor in the initial quantization table and the code volume are substituted in “a relational expression representing a relationship between a code volume and a scale factor” containing two undetermined parameters “a” and “b” and the undetermined parameters in the relational expression are ascertained based upon “the relational expression after substitution” and “a statistical relationship between the undetermined parameters “a” and “b” determined through a previous quantization operation;” a scale factor determining step in which a target scale factor corresponding to a target code v
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2004
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventor: Hideyasu Kuniba
  • Patent number: 6694059
    Abstract: A method for recognition of features appearing in an input image includes upsampling the input image to generate an enlarged image including an increased number of pixels relative to the input image. The enlarged image is decimated to generate a plurality of intermediate images, each of the intermediate images including a different subset of the pixels in the enlarged image. An image recognition algorithm is applied to the intermediate images so as to generate respective recognition results, which are compared to generate an identification of the features appearing in the input image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Aviad Zlotnick
  • Patent number: 6683994
    Abstract: A method for filtering digital data using techniques normally utilized for data compression prior to transmission or storage. These techniques include codebooks and codewords as found with vector quantization and the approach of using look-up tables as found in hierarchical vector quantization. The method described herein achieves exemplary filtering results by using the above techniques in an overlapping fashion rather than being directed in the usual manner so as to achieve data compression. The codewords thus generated by this series of overlapping look-up stages are approximations of the input data neighborhoods. The method achieves filtering by the processing and applying of a mapping function to these output codewords, thereby associating filter output values to the input digital data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Ricardo L. de Queiroz, Patrick A. Fleckenstein
  • Patent number: 6683993
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for transferring a data signal includes a transmitter having an encoder and a receiver having a decoder. The encoder includes a segment selector for identifying a signal segment from a group of speech, audio, video and graphic signals, each selected segment comprising a representation of an information quantity. The encoder includes a plurality of encoder libraries, one of the libraries containing a generic representation corresponding to the information quantity and a symbolic code corresponding to the object. The decoder has a second plurality of libraries corresponding to the plurality of encoder libraries, and one of the decoder libraries generates the information quantity as output in response to matching of the symbolic code transmitted from the encoder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Donald C. Mead
  • Patent number: 6671416
    Abstract: A transmission method for video image data using an embedded bit stream in a hierarchical table-lookup vector quantizer comprises the steps encoding an image using hierarchical vector quantization and an embedding process to obtain an embedded bit stream for lossless transmission. The bit stream is selectively truncated and decoded to obtain a reconstructed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Mohan Vishwanath, Philip A. Chou, Navin Chaddha
  • Publication number: 20030219167
    Abstract: The invention relates to encoding and decoding images. According to an aspect of the invention HCVQ codevectors are formed in a receiving terminal. A group of codevectors forms a codebook, and a group of codebooks forms a codebook library. Only a VQ codebook and a certain number of modification vectors are sent to the receiving terminal. The compressed HCVQ vectors are formed using the received VQ and modification vectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2002
    Publication date: November 27, 2003
    Inventors: Petri Pikkarainen, Martti Kesaniemi
  • Patent number: 6647143
    Abstract: A method and device of compressing a digital image are provided. The method firstly divide pixels in the image into entries, then representative color information of the entries are determined and the entries are rearranged in order of the information. Herein, the rearranged entries are grouped into some group entries, and average color information is determined for each group entry. Finally, location information and the average color information of the entries are stored as compressed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Shoji Nakashima
  • Patent number: 6633675
    Abstract: A compression apparatus transforms original image data partitioned into first blocks, each of which is composed of a plurality of pixels, to reduced-image data composed of a smaller number of pixels than that of the original image data. The reduced-image data is subjected to a fluency transform to generate expanded-image data partitioned into second blocks corresponding to the first blocks. The fluency transform has a plurality of modes, and one mode is selected from the plurality of modes, thus the expanded-image data is generated in accordance with the selected one mode. An error, which represents a difference between the original image data and the expanded-image data, is calculated in each of the plurality of modes. Then, an optimum mode, by which the error becomes a minimum value, is determined among the plurality of modes. On the other hand, an expansion apparatus generates the expanded-image data by applying the fluency transform using the optimum mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: Pentax Corporation
    Inventor: Nobuaki Abe
  • Publication number: 20030189714
    Abstract: A document is reproduced by capturing an image of the document, generating a set of vector commands, and creating a duplicate document from the vector commands. The image is captured by scanning or other suitable means. The set of vector commands is generated by identifying vectors within the raster image and for each vector identified within the raster image, generating at least one vector command for replicating the identified vector. The duplicate document is created by executing the set of vector commands on an output device. The set of vector is either delivered directly to the output device or stored to a file and the file delivered to the output device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2002
    Publication date: October 9, 2003
    Inventor: Charles Eric Cantwell
  • Patent number: 6625323
    Abstract: A method for compressing a digital image having both saturated text and/or line art and pictorial imagery, the method comprises the steps of: receiving the digital image as blocks of pixels; analyzing the block content to determine if all or any combination of the saturated text and/or line art, pictorial imagery or other types of image data are present; assigning the saturated text and/or line art, the pictorial imagery, the other types of image data to one of a plurality of categories; compressing the block of saturated text and/or line art, if any, according to a first predetermined compression method; compressing the pictorial imagery, if any, according to a second predetermined compression method; compressing the other types of imagery, if any, according to other predetermined compression methods; and providing means of conveying the image categories to a decoder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Thomas A. Henderson, Majid Rabbani
  • Patent number: 6621935
    Abstract: An image distribution system has a source that encodes digital images and transmits them over an error-prone channel to a destination. The source has an image coder that processes the digital images using vector transformation followed by vector quantization. This produces groups of vectors and quantized values that are representative of the images. The image coder orders the vectors in the codebooks and assigns vector indexes to the vectors such that a bit error occurring at a less significant bit in a vector index results in less distortion than a bit error occurring at a more significant bit. Depending upon the format and the capabilities of the source and destination, the image coder may allocate different numbers of bits to different groups of vectors according to a bit allocation map for this allocation process. The source also has a UEP (Unequal Error Protection) coder that layers the vector indexes according to their significance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jun Xin, Shipeng Li, Ya-Qin Zhang
  • Patent number: 6614938
    Abstract: An image coding system that codes a map signal indicative of the position and shape of a content in a screen inputted for every block of picture signals to be coded; performs the orthogonal transform of the picture signals in accordance with the map signal to output an orthogonal transform coefficient; and codes the orthogonal transform coefficient. The coding system may perform the two-dimensional orthogonal transform of the picture signals of all the pixels with respect to the blocks located inside of the content, and may perform the orthogonal transform of only the signals of the pixels contained in the content with respect to the blocks containing the boundary portion of the content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Noboru Yamaguchi, Toshiaki Watanabe, Kenshi Dachiku, Yoshihiro Kikuchi, Takashi Ida, Takeshi Chujoh
  • Patent number: 6614932
    Abstract: An information code converting apparatus converts object information acquired with respect to an object into a registered information code in association with the object, and transmits or outputs the information code in combination with a configuration code. A reproduced information converting apparatus converts the information code transmitted or inputted from the information code converting apparatus into registered reproduced object information in association with the information code, configuring and reproducing an image of the object. The information code converting apparatus has a parts warehouse database storing object data generated in association various objects, and the reproduced information converting apparatus has a reproduced parts warehouse database storing object data generated in association with the various objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: Iwane Laboratories Ltd.
    Inventor: Waro Iwane
  • Publication number: 20030138159
    Abstract: A method of compressing an image frame composed of an array of pixels in the form of digital signals comprises a two stage codebook search. In the first stage the pixelated image frame and the pixelated codebook patches are transformed to frequency domain coefficients and a pattern comparison is made between the coefficients of the image patch and the codebook patches to identify a short list of possible match codebook patches by discarding incorrectly matching patterns. In the second stage the image frame is compared with the short list of codebook patches by any desired method, e.g. by pixel comparisons, to select the best matching codebook patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Inventors: Richard John Fryer, Robert Bartholemew Lambert, David James Breslin, Paul Edward George Devlin
  • Patent number: 6584230
    Abstract: Methods and systems decode an image content. Such methods and systems decode a coded map signal indicative of the position and shape of a content in a screen inputted for every block of picture signals, perform the resolution transform of the map signal decoded, decode coded orthogonal transform coefficients, perform the inverse orthogonal transform of the orthogonal transform coefficients, and derive a regenerative picture signal resolution transformed from the results in the inverse orthogonal transform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Noboru Yamaguchi, Toshiaki Watanabe, Kenshi Dachiku, Yoshihiro Kikuchi, Takashi Ida, Takeshi Chujoh
  • Publication number: 20030103667
    Abstract: A new neural model for direct classification, DC, is introduced for acoustic/pictorial data compression. It is based on the Adaptive Resonance Theorem and Kohonen Self Organizing Feature Map neural models. In the adaptive training of the DC model, an input data file is vectorized into a domain of same size vector subunits. The result of the training (step 10 to 34) is to cluster the input vector domain into classes of similar subunits, and develop a center of mass called a centroid for each class to be stored in a codebook (CB) table. In the compression process, which is parallel to the training (step 33), for each input subunit, we obtain the index of the closest centroid in the CB. All indices and the CB will form the compressed file, CF. In the decompression phase (steps 42 to 52), for each index in the CF, a lookup process is performed into the CB to obtain the centroid representative of the original subunit. The obtained centroid is placed in the decompressed file.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2001
    Publication date: June 5, 2003
    Applicant: New Mexico Technical Research Foundation
    Inventor: Hamdy S. Soliman
  • Patent number: 6570926
    Abstract: Encoding a real-time and non-real-time video stream, encapsulating the encoded video stream along with the decoding software corresponding to the encoding program into active packets at the Application and Services layer, and transmitting active the packets to the receiving terminal, which then supplies the receiver with the necessary decoding software to play any type of encoded video stream without having the associated decoding software pre-loaded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Telcordia Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Prathima Agrawal, Jyh-Cheng Chen