Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for multi-resolution image searching

US5933546A · kind A · utility

28Cited by
8References
34Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMay 6, 1996
Grant dateAug 3, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 6, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06V30/2504
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multiresolution method and apparatus for searching of a database of images where the search is performed on compressed images, without first decompressing them. The method searches the database of compressed images first at a low resolution to obtain the relative quality of a match between a search template and a candidate image. If the match is below a particular threshold, the search is terminated without committing any further computational resources to the search. Conversely, if the match is above a particular threshold, the method enhances the resolution of the candidate image and then performs another match. As long as the relative quality of the match is above the particular threshold, the resolution of the candidate image is successively enhanced, until a match determination is made at a full resolution of the candidate image.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.