Dynamically reconfigurable vision system
First Claim
1. A vision system for imaging a scene using a dynamically reconfigurable photodetector array comprising:
- a video camera having at least one reconfigurable photodetector array capable of imaging a scene;
means for controlling characteristics of imaging by said photodetector array; and
a computer system for receiving signals from said photodetector array representing the scene imaged by said photodetector array and sending signals to said controlling means to configure the characteristics of imaging by said photodetector, wherein said photodetector array simultaneously provides signals representing a frame with one or more windows having pixels in which said signals are simultaneously readout from the photodetector array, and two or more of said windows are capable of overlapping in said frame.
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Abstract
A closed-loop vision system is disclosed that utilizes a concept known as Dynamically Reconfigurable Vision (DRV), which is adaptive image sensing driven by a computer or human operator'"'"'s response to changing scenery. The system reduces the amount of irrelevant video information sensed and thus achieves more effective bandwidth and computational resource utilization, as compared to traditional vision systems. One or more reconfigurable photodetector arrays sensitive to either visible, infrared or ultraviolet radiation are present in the DRV system. These photodetector arrays feature on-chip means for spatial and temporal data reduction implemented through multiple independently controllable, time-correlated, frequently overlapping windows on the photodetector array that may be programmed according to their size, location, resolution, integration time, and frame rate. All photodetector array windows are dynamically reconfigurable in real time on a frame-by-frame basis. Furthermore, a DRV system is constructed in a client-server architecture in which a vision processor client passes window request command messages to the reconfigurable photodetector array server, which in turn delivers the requested video back to the client processor. The ability to simultaneously reconfigure, integrate, process, and readout multiple photodetector array video windows is an important characteristic of the DRV system.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A vision system for imaging a scene using a dynamically reconfigurable photodetector array comprising:
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a video camera having at least one reconfigurable photodetector array capable of imaging a scene; means for controlling characteristics of imaging by said photodetector array; and a computer system for receiving signals from said photodetector array representing the scene imaged by said photodetector array and sending signals to said controlling means to configure the characteristics of imaging by said photodetector, wherein said photodetector array simultaneously provides signals representing a frame with one or more windows having pixels in which said signals are simultaneously readout from the photodetector array, and two or more of said windows are capable of overlapping in said frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of tracking objects in a scene comprising a frame of windows comprising the steps of:
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locating at least one object to be tracked in one of said windows in a low resolution; forming one or more windows having said object in a high resolution which are capable of overlapping each other and overlapping said one or more of said windows at said low resolution in the frame in which said overlapping windows are simultaneously provided in the frame from signals simultaneously outputted from a photodetector array; and identifying said object in said windows of said high resolution. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A system for imaging comprising:
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at least one photodetector array capable of imaging successive frames in which each frame has windows of pixels at a low resolution; and means for controlling the resolution of one or more windows of the frames to enable tracking of one or more objects at higher resolution windows in successive ones of said frames in which said windows are dynamically reconfigurable in real time between successive frames to facilitate said tracking, and said windows at said higher resolution non-destructively overlap one or more of said lower-resolution windows in the frame which are in the local of said higher resolution windows and at least one of said higher resolution windows are imaged simultaneously with at least one of said lower resolution windows being overlapped, and the pixels of the overlapping windows that are simultaneously imaged in the frame are simultaneously readout from the photodetector array. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A video imaging apparatus comprising:
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at least one detector array for imaging a scene capable of simultaneous readout of multiple windows; and a controller for controlling characteristics of imaging by said detector array to simultaneously output one or more windows in which two or more of the windows when simultaneously readout by said detector array are capable of overlapping. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification