Method and system for estimating motion within a video sequence

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is embodied in a Digital Signal Processor, DSP.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is embodied in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is embodied in a gate array.

Claim 6

The system for estimating motion according to claim 1, wherein: the preprocessor includes: an order statistics filter, coupled to receive the current intensity frame, for removing noise and small objects from the current intensity frame; and an object boundary estimator, coupled to the order statistics filter, for providing the object boundary estimate; the spatially adaptive motion estimator includes: a causal look-up table, coupled to receive the object boundary estimate, for providing at least one causal prediction coefficient and a causal uncertainty parameter based on the object boundary estimate; a causal local neighborhood for storing previously estimated DVFs, the causal local neighborhood is set to a predetermined initialization before DVF estimation; a DVF predictor, coupled to the causal look-up table and the causal local neighborhood, for providing a DVF prediction based on the previously estimated DVFs and at least one causal prediction coefficient; and a first DVF update determiner, coupled to receive the DVF prediction, the causal uncertainty parameter, the current intensity frame and the previous intensity frame, for providing the first DVF estimate, the first DVF estimate is an input to the causal local neighborhood where it is stored as a previously estimated DVF; the motion boundary estimator includes: a noncausal local neighborhood for storing previously estimated DVFs, the noncausal local neighborhood is initialized by the first DVF estimate; a moving object boundary unit for storing previously estimated moving object boundaries, the moving object boundary unit is initialized by the object boundary estimate; a moving object estimator, coupled to the noncausal local neighborhood and the moving object boundary unit, for providing a first moving object boundary estimate; a noncausal look-up table, coupled to the moving object estimator, for providing at least one noncausal prediction coefficient and a noncausal uncertainty parameter based on the first moving object boundary estimate; a DVF estimator, coupled to the moving object estimator and the noncausal look-up table, for providing the second DVF estimate; and an estimation terminator coupled to the moving object estimator and the DVF estimator, for passing the first moving object boundary estimate and the second DVF estimate upon termination; wherein the first moving object boundary estimate is an input to the moving object boundary unit and the second DVF estimate is an input to the noncausal local neighborhood.

Claim 7

The system for estimating motion according to claim 5, wherein: the object boundary estimator in the preprocessor includes a region grower that groups pixels into regions based on an adjustable window and a region merger that merges small regions based on a predetermined comparison test.

Claim 8

The system for estimating motion according to claim 1, further comprising: D) a motion analyzer, operably coupled to the motion boundary estimator, for providing a third DVF estimate and a second moving object boundary estimate based on the second DVF estimate and the first moving object boundary estimate.

Claim 9

The system for estimating motion according to claim 7, wherein: the motion analyzer includes: a center determiner, coupled to receive the first moving object boundary estimate, for providing a region location and a center point; a translational motion estimator, coupled to receive the second DVF estimate and the center point, for providing a translational motion estimate; a zoom estimator, coupled to receive the center point, the region location, and the translational motion estimate, for providing a zoom estimate; a rotation estimator, coupled to receive the center point, the region location, and the translational motion estimate, for providing a rotation estimate; and a model fitting unit, coupled to the translational motion estimator, the zoom estimator, and the rotation estimator, for providing the third DVF estimate and the second moving object boundary estimate based on the translational motion estimate, the zoom estimate, and the rotation estimate.

Claim 10

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is embodied in a tangible medium of/for a computer.

Claim 11

The system of claim 9 wherein the tangible medium is a computer diskette.

Claim 12

The system of claim 9 wherein the tangible medium is a memory unit of the computer.

Claim 15

The method for estimating motion according to claim 12, wherein: segmenting includes: filtering, using an order statistics filter, the current intensity frame to remove noise and small objects from the current intensity frame; region growing to group pixels into regions based on an adjustable window; and region merging to merge small regions based on a predetermined comparison test; adaptively estimating the motion includes: accessing a causal look-up table to provide at least one causal prediction coefficient and a causal uncertainty parameter based on the object boundary estimate; storing previously estimated DVFs in a causal local neighborhood, the causal local neighborhood is set to a predetermined initialization before DVF estimation; predicting a DVF based on the previously estimated DVFs and at least one causal prediction coefficient; and updating the predicted DVF to provide the first DVF estimate, the first DVF estimate is an input to the causal local neighborhood where it is stored as a previously estimated DVF; and estimating motion boundaries includes: storing previously estimated DVFs in a noncausal local neighborhood, the noncausal local neighborhood is initialized by the first DVF estimate; storing previously estimated moving object boundaries in a moving object boundary unit, the moving object boundary unit is initialized by the object boundary estimate; estimating moving objects to provide a first moving object boundary estimate; accessing a noncausal look-up table to provide at least one noncausal prediction coefficient and a noncausal uncertainty parameter based on the first moving object boundary estimate; and estimating a DVF to provide the second DVF estimate; terminating the estimating step when an entire frame has been estimated, and passing the first moving object boundary estimate and the second DVF estimate upon termination.

Claim 16

The method of claim 12 wherein the steps of the method are embodied in a tangible medium of/for a Digital Signal Processor, DSP.

Claim 17

The method of claim 12 wherein the steps of the method are embodied in a tangible medium of/for an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC.

Claim 18

The method of claim 12 wherein the steps of the method are embodied in a tangible medium of/for a gate array.

Claim 19

The method for estimating motion according to claim 12, further comprising: analyzing motion to provide a third DVF estimate and a second moving object boundary estimate based on the second DVF estimate and the first moving object boundary estimate.

Claim 20

The method for estimating motion according to claim 17, wherein: analyzing motion includes: determining a center to provide a region location and a center point; estimating translational motion to provide a translational motion estimate; estimating zoom to provide a zoom estimate; estimating rotation to provide a rotation estimate; and fitting the translational motion estimate, the zoom estimate, and the rotation estimate to a predetermined model.

Claim 21

The method of claim 12 wherein the steps of the method are embodied in a tangible medium of/for a computer.

Claim 22

The method of claim 19 wherein the tangible medium is a computer diskette.

Claim 23

The method of claim 19 wherein the tangible medium is a memory unit of the computer.

Claim 24

A computing device having a system for estimating motion, comprising: A) a preprocessor, operably coupled to receive a current intensity frame, for segmenting the current intensity frame to provide a first object boundary estimate; B) a spatially adaptive motion estimator, operably coupled to the proprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and a previous intensity frame, for providing a first DVF estimate, wherein DVF represents displacement vector field; and C) a motion boundary estimator operably coupled to the spatially adaptive motion estimator and preprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and the previous intensity frame, for providing a second DVF estimate and a first moving object boundary estimate.

Claim 25

A computing device having a system for estimating motion, comprising: A) a preprocessor, operably coupled to receive a current intensity frame, for segmenting the current intensity frame to provide a first object boundary estimate; B) a spatially adaptive motion estimator, operably coupled to the proprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and a previous intensity frame, for providing a first DVF estimate, wherein DVF represents displacement vector field; and C) a motion boundary estimator operably coupled to the spatially adaptive motion estimator and preprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and the previous intensity frame, for providing a second DVF estimate and a first moving object boundary estimate.

Claim 26

A video conferencing/video on demand device having a system for estimating motion, comprising: A) a preprocessor, operably coupled to receive a current intensity frame, for segmenting the current intensity frame to provide a first object boundary estimate; B) a spatially adaptive motion estimator, operably coupled to the proprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and a previous intensity frame, for providing a first DVF estimate, wherein DVF represents displacement vector field; and C) a motion boundary estimator operably coupled to the spatially adaptive motion estimator and preprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and the previous intensity frame, for providing a second DVF estimate and a first moving object boundary estimate.

Claim 27

A video conferencing/video on demand device having a system for estimating motion, comprising: A) a preprocessor, operably coupled to receive a current intensity frame, for segmenting the current intensity frame to provide a first object boundary estimate; B) a spatially adaptive motion estimator, operably coupled to the proprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and a previous intensity frame, for providing a first DVF estimate, wherein DVF represents displacement vector field; and C) a motion boundary estimator operably coupled to the spatially adaptive motion estimator and preprocessor and operably coupled to receive the current intensity frame and the previous intensity frame, for providing a second DVF estimate and a first moving object boundary estimate.