Scene tracker using multiple independent correlators
First Claim
1. A scene tracker system adapted for responding to sequentially applied fields of data each of which are definitive of a scene within a field of view, so as to provide global correlation coordinate signals which are indicative of the relative spatial displacement between scenes defined by different fields of data, said system comprising:
- reference date storage means for storing reference cell data from a preselected plurality of portions of one field of data;
means for correlating the data for each reference cell against data for an associated search cell, with the data for each associated search cell being derived from a portion of a subsequent field of data which encompasses the relative position of the associated reference cell; and
for providing local correlation coordinate signals indicative of the relative location within each search cell of the correlation match between each search cell and its respective reference cell; and
processor means for processing said plurality of local correlation coordinate signals so as to produce as a function thereof global correlation coordinate signals which are indicative of the relative spatial displacement between the scenes defined by said one field of data and said subsequent field of data.
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Abstract
A scene tracker for use with imaging or quasi-imaging sensors such as TV cameras, FLIRS, millimeter-wave scanners, or the like is disclosed. Specifically, the invention is concerned with a form of correlation tracking. At the start of a track mode, part or parts of a scene are stored in a memory. Every subsequent video scan is then compared with the scene or parts of the scene stored in memory to find the "best match" between live data and stored data. This process generates signal output proportional to horizontal and/or vertical translations of the scene. Besides pure translation, the disclosed scene tracker is capable of tracking an original aim point in the presence of scene rotation, scene growth (zooming), scene reduction (dezooming), distortion, and/or partial scene obscuration. Special novel features of the invention include a multi-cell correlation principle; a novel method of computing and storing correlation functions for each cell; a method to derive weighted average displacements for the entities of all cell correlations; and a novel video signal processing technique.
43 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A scene tracker system adapted for responding to sequentially applied fields of data each of which are definitive of a scene within a field of view, so as to provide global correlation coordinate signals which are indicative of the relative spatial displacement between scenes defined by different fields of data, said system comprising:
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reference date storage means for storing reference cell data from a preselected plurality of portions of one field of data; means for correlating the data for each reference cell against data for an associated search cell, with the data for each associated search cell being derived from a portion of a subsequent field of data which encompasses the relative position of the associated reference cell; and
for providing local correlation coordinate signals indicative of the relative location within each search cell of the correlation match between each search cell and its respective reference cell; andprocessor means for processing said plurality of local correlation coordinate signals so as to produce as a function thereof global correlation coordinate signals which are indicative of the relative spatial displacement between the scenes defined by said one field of data and said subsequent field of data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification