Method for outlining and filling regions in multi-dimensional arrays

• US 20040190779A1
• Filed: 04/08/2004
• Published: 09/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MK Systems USA Inc.
• Original Assignee: GoldPocket Interactive, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Dakss, Jon, Sarachik, Karen, Bove, V. Michael Jr., Wachman, Josh
• Granted Patent: US 6,879,720 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/199
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/64 Systems for the transmission or the storage of the colour picture signal; Details therefor, e.g. coding or decoding means therefor H04N19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/93 Run-length coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234318 by decomposing into objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/854 Content authoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8583 by creating hot-spots
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02

Abstract

A system and method of adding hyperlinked information to a television broadcast. The broadcast material is analyzed and one or more regions within a frame are identified. Additional information can be associated with a region, and can be transmitted in encoded form, using timing information to identify the frame with which the information is associated. The system comprising a video source and an encoder that produces a transport stream in communication with the video source, an annotation source, a data packet stream generator that produces encoded annotation data packets in communication with the annotation source and the encoder, and a multiplexer system in communication with the encoder and the data packet stream generator. The encoder provides timestamp information to the data packet stream generator and the data packet stream generator synchronizes annotation data from the annotation source with a video signal from the video source in response to the timestamp information. The multiplexer generates a digital broadcast signal that includes an augmented transport stream from the transport stream and the encoded data packets. A receiver displays the annotation information associated with the video signal in response to a viewer request on a frame by frame basis. A viewer can respond interactively to the material, including performing commercial transactions, by using a backchannel that is provided for interactive communication.

Claims

1. A method of generating an outline of a two-dimensional region, comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a two-dimensional region within a two dimensional array containing elements represented by a first axis and a second axis that is non-collinear with said first axis;

(b) defining a morphological mask having at least two dimensions and having at least one element, said morphological mask having at least one set element and at least one test element;

(c) defining a two-dimensional output array corresponding to said two-dimensional array containing said region;

(d) orienting said morphological mask with respect to said two-dimensional array containing said region;

(e) computing a result based on the properties of said at least one set element of said morphological mask and the corresponding elements of said two-dimensional array containing said region, the result being to turn off the test elements of said morphological mask if and only if a condition selected from the group of conditions consisting of all of the set elements of the mask are in positions corresponding to elements of the region and none of the set elements of the mask are in positions corresponding to elements of the region is true, and the result being to set the test elements of the morphological mask otherwise;

(f) plotting the computed result in the two-dimensional output array at one or more elements corresponding to said at least one test element of said morphological mask; and

(g) repeating steps (e) and (f) while moving said morphological mask stepwise along said first axis and said second axis over the portion of the two-dimensional array containing said region until every element of said region has been analyzed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first axis and said second axis representing elements within the two-dimensional arrays are rows and columns.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said two-dimensional arrays are video frames.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the plotted result as a computer-readable file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the morphological mask comprises a square having an odd number of elements, and the test element is the center element.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the elements of the morphological mask are pixels.

7. A method of generating an outline of at least one two-dimensional region, comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a plurality of two-dimensional regions within a two dimensional array containing elements represented by a first axis and a second axis that is non-collinear with said first axis;

(b) defining a morphological mask having at least two dimensions and having at least one element, said morphological mask having at least one set element and at least one test element;

(c) defining a two-dimensional output array corresponding to said two-dimensional array containing said plurality of regions;

(d) selecting at least one of said plurality of regions, each of said selected regions to have an outline generated therefor;

(e) orienting said morphological mask with respect to said two-dimensional array containing said plurality of regions;

(f) computing a result based on the properties of said at least one set element of said morphological mask and the corresponding elements of said two-dimensional array containing said plurality of regions, the result being to turn off the test elements of said morphological mask if and only if a condition selected from the group of conditions consisting of all of the set elements of the mask are in positions corresponding to elements of said at least one selected region and none of the set elements of the mask are in positions corresponding to elements of said at least one selected region is true, and the result being to set the test elements of the morphological mask otherwise;

(g) plotting the computed result in the two-dimensional output array at one or more elements corresponding to said at least one test element of said morphological mask; and

(h) repeating steps (f) and (g) while moving said morphological mask stepwise along said first axis and said second axis over the portion of the two-dimensional array containing said at least one selected region until every element of said at least one selected region has been analyzed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said first axis and said second axis representing elements within the two-dimensional arrays are rows and columns.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said two-dimensional arrays are video frames.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising recording the plotted result as a computer-readable file.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the morphological mask comprises a square array having an odd number of elements, and the test element is the center element.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the elements of the morphological mask are pixels.