Switched resistive neural network for sensor fusion
First Claim
1. An electronic processing system, comprising:
- a processor having a resistive network, said network comprising a plurality of nodes;
each of said nodes connected to a neighboring node by a resistive component and a switch connected in electrical series;
at least one sensor connected to said network;
a first output of said at least one sensor directed to said nodes to control said switches and thereby set boundaries within said network; and
a second output of said at least one sensor directed to said nodes for resistive smoothing within said boundaries of said network set by said switches.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic image processing system uses data provided by one or more sensors to perform cooperative computations and improve image recognition performance. A smoothing resistive network, which may comprise an integrated circuit chip, has switching elements connected to each node. The system uses a first sensory output comprising primitives, such as discontinuities or object boundaries, detected by at least a first sensor to define a region for smoothing of a second sensory output comprising at least a second, distinct output of the first sensor or a distinct output of at least a second sensor. A bit pattern for controlling the switches is generated from the detected image discontinuities in the first sensory output. The second sensory output is applied to the resistive network for data smoothing. The switches turned off by the data from the first sensory output define regional boundaries for smoothing of the data provided by the second sensory output. Smoothing operations based on this sensor fusion can proceed without spreading object characteristics beyond the object boundaries.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An electronic processing system, comprising:
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a processor having a resistive network, said network comprising a plurality of nodes; each of said nodes connected to a neighboring node by a resistive component and a switch connected in electrical series; at least one sensor connected to said network; a first output of said at least one sensor directed to said nodes to control said switches and thereby set boundaries within said network; and a second output of said at least one sensor directed to said nodes for resistive smoothing within said boundaries of said network set by said switches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An electronic image processing system, comprising:
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a processor having a resistive network, said network comprising a plurality of nodes; each of said nodes connected to a neighboring node by a resistive component and a switch connected in electrical series; one or more sensors connected to said network, said one or more sensors generating at least two distinct sensor images of an object field; at least a first of said sensor images directed to said nodes to set said switches, said switch settings forming boundaries within said network corresponding to discontinuities detected in said at least a first of said sensor images; at least a second of said sensor images directed to said nodes for resistive image smoothing within said boundaries of said network set by said switches; and output means connected to said processor for providing a bounded, smoothed output image. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of electronic image processing, comprising the steps of:
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providing a processor with a resistive network having a plurality of nodes; connecting each of said nodes to a neighboring node with a resistive component and a switch in electrical series; connecting at least one sensor to said network; generating a plurality of sensor images of an object field; detecting discontinuities in at least a first of said sensor images; directing data representing said detected discontinuities to said nodes for setting said switches; forming boundaries within said network, said boundaries defined by said switch settings corresponding to said detected discontinuities; directing data representing at least a second of said sensor images to said nodes for resistive image smoothing within said boundaries formed in said network; and providing a bounded, smoothed output image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification