Aircraft-based infrared image recognition device for ground moving target

• US 9,286,651 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2015
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huazhong University of Science & Technology
• Original Assignee: Huazhong University of Science & Technology
• Inventors: Zhang, Tianxu, Li, Hao, Gao, Shiying, Wang, Yuehuan, Zhong, Sheng, Yan, Luxin, Yu, Pengxian, Lu, Bin
• Primary Examiner(s): Nakhjavan, Shervin
• Application Number:
  US14/693,847
• Publication Number:
  US 20150227776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 328 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/14 Transformations for image registration, e.g. adjusting or mapping for alignment of images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/60 Rotation of whole images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/955 using specific electronic processors
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/00 Scenes; Scene-specific elements control of digital cameras H04N23/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

An aircraft-based infrared image recognition device for a ground moving target, including an infrared non-uniformity correction module, an image rotation module, an image registration module, a multi-level filtering module, a connected domain labeling module, a target detection and feature recognition module, a process control module, and a FPGA-based interconnection module. The invention uses an ASIC/SoC chip for image processing and target recognition, the DSP processor and the FPGA processor, it is possible to enable a multi-level image processing and target recognition algorithm, to improve system parallel, and to facilitate an aircraft-based infrared image recognition method for a ground moving target. Meanwhile, embodiments of the invention effectively reduce power consumption of the device.

Claims

1. An aircraft-based infrared image recognition device for a ground moving target, comprising:

an infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip, an image rotation ASIC chip, a multi-level filtering ASIC chip, a connected domain labeling and profile tracing ASIC chip, a main DSP processor, an auxiliary DSP processor, a main FPGA processor, and an auxiliary FPGA processor, wherein

said main DSP processor operates to control whole target detection and recognition, to enable target detection and feature recognition, to communicate with external interfaces, to receive imaging parameters from an aircraft, and to output results of detection, tracing and recognition;

said auxiliary DSP processor operates to enable SIFT feature extraction and image registration with said auxiliary FPGA processor, comprising calculating a keypoint descriptor and image registration, and transmitting a keypoint descriptor vector (namely a SIFT feature that is obtained) to said main DSP processor as a target feature for target recognition;

said main FPGA processor operates to form data transmission channels for each ASIC/SoC chip, said main DSP processor and said auxiliary FPGA processor, to conduct image pretreatment comprising perspective transformation and window setting, and to assist said main DSP processor in controlling each ASIC/SoC chip;

said auxiliary FPGA processor operates to enable SIFT feature extraction and image registration with said auxiliary DSP processor, comprising scale space extrema detection, keypoint positioning, and orientation determination;

said infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip comprises an embedded CPU and a correction ASIC core, said embedded CPU operates to enable calibration and updating of gain calibration parameters, and said correction ASIC core operates to enable real-time correction;

said image rotation ASIC chip operates to transform two-dimensional rotation into three-time one-dimensional translation, and to enable image rotation via a cubic convolution interpolation (namely bicubic interpolation) algorithm;

said multi-level filtering ASIC chip operates to provide a band-pass filter for suppress background and noise based on spectral analysis on small targets, background and noise, and to adjust a bandwidth of said filter via a cascaded filtering module based on a multilevel filter algorithm thereby extracting targets with different size in the case that said targets exist; and

said connected domain labeling and profile tracing ASIC chip operates to uniformly and uniquely label connected pixels having the same gray value in an input multi-level segmented image, based on an eight-neighborhood relationship, with natural numbers in an appearance order of said connected domain in said image from the left to the right, and from the top to the bottom, and to output a labeled image.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein

said main FPGA processor comprises an image correction control module, an image receiving module, an image rotation control module, a perspective transformation module, an image cutting (namely window setting) module, a dynamic interconnection module, and an EMIFA (external memory interface A) address decoding module of said main DSP processor;

said image correction control module operates to configure operation parameters, bad pixel templates, background frames, and pretreatment programs of said infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip via an asynchronous serial interface, and to parse a control instruction from said main DSP processor into a control signal required by said infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip by controlling a state machine, thereby enabling said infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip to enter a corresponding processing procedure;

said image receiving module operates to receive an infrared image corrected and then output by said infrared non-uniformity correction SoC chip;

said image rotation control module operates to control operation of said image rotation ASIC chip, to transform said control signal of said main DSP processor into a reset and start signal during power-on, to control input of image data and parameters after said image rotation ASIC chip is enabled, and to enable said perspective transformation module after operation of said image rotation ASIC chip is complete;

said perspective transformation module operates to enable a perspective transformation algorithm, in which trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric functions are obtained via a table lookup method;

said image cutting module operates to conduct window setting according to size of a window provided by said main DSP processor and a target position of a previous frame of image under short-distance and medium-distance imaging;

said dynamic interconnection module operates to dynamically allocate internal FIFO interfaces according to imaging distances provided by said main DSP processor, thereby switching between different input and output interfaces under different imaging distances; and

said EMIFA address decoding module operates to cooperate with said main DSP processor for address allocation, thereby enabling data writing and reading, and parameter configuration.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein

said dynamic interconnection module outputs image after perspective transformation to said auxiliary FPGA processor for registration, and said auxiliary FPGA processor outputs an image obtained after registration to said multi-level filtering ASIC chip under long-distance imaging;

said dynamic interconnection module outputs a cut image to said auxiliary FPGA processor for registration, and said auxiliary FPGA processor outputs an image obtained after registration to said multi-level filtering ASIC chip under medium-distance imaging; and

said dynamic interconnection module outputs a cut image to said auxiliary FPGA processor for registration, and said auxiliary FPGA processor outputs an image obtained after registration to said connected domain labeling and profile tracing ASIC chip and said main DSP processor under short-distance imaging.