Dominant motion estimation for image sequence processing

Abstract

Herein is described a method of estimating dominant motion between a current frame n and another frame m of an image sequence having a plurality of frames, the method comprising generating integral projections of the images and using gradients of those projections and using differences between the projections. The input may be any sequence of image frames from an image source, such as a video camera, an IR or X-ray imagery, radar, or from a storage medium such as computer disk memory, video tape or a computer graphics generator.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of estimating a dominant motion between a current frame n and another frame m of an image sequence having a plurality of frames, each of the frames having a plurality of pixels, the method comprising:
 generating integral projections of the current frame n and the other frame m; and   estimating the dominant motion with a processor by matching the generated integral projections, the dominant motion being a motion associated with most of the pixels of current frame n.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein matching the generated integral projections includes directly matching the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the direct matching is performed using a coarse version of the current frame n and other frame m. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein matching the generated integral projections further includes refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections using gradients of the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections is performed at successively higher frame resolutions of the current frame n and other frame m. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining two or more projection angles for generating the integral projections of the current frame n and the other frame m.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 normalizing at least one of the generated integral projections before estimating the dominant motion.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein matching the generated integral projections is performed using an initial estimate and gradients of the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 applying a weight to of at least one of pixels of the current frame n or the other frame m or to the integral projections to suppress an effect of local motion when estimating the dominant motion.   
     
     
         30 . An apparatus for estimating a dominant motion between a current frame n and another frame m of an image sequence having a plurality of frames, each of the frames having a plurality of pixels, the apparatus comprising:
 a memory; and   one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to:
 generate integral projections of the current frame n and the other frame m, and 
 estimate the dominant motion by matching the generated integral projections, the dominant motion being a motion associated with most of the pixels of current frame n. 
   
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein matching the generated integral projections includes directly matching the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein the direct matching is performed using a coarse version of the current frame n and other frame m. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein matching the generated integral projections further includes refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections using gradients of the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections is performed at successively higher frame resolutions of the current frame n and other frame m. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to:
 normalize at least one of the generated integral projections before estimating the dominant motion.   
     
     
         36 . A non-transitory computer readable medium including program instructions executable by one or more processors that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for estimating a dominant motion between a current frame n and another frame m of an image sequence having a plurality of frames, each of the frames having a plurality of pixels, the operations comprising:
 generating integral projections of the current frame n and the other frame m; and   estimating the dominant motion by matching the generated integral projections, the dominant motion being a motion associated with most of the pixels of current frame n.   
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 36 , wherein matching the generated integral projections includes directly matching the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 37 , wherein matching the generated integral projections further includes refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections using gradients of the generated integral projections. 
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 38 , wherein the direct matching is performed using a coarse version of the current frame n and other frame m and refining the direct matching of the generated integral projections is performed at successively higher frame resolutions of the current frame n and other frame m. 
     
     
         40 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 36 , wherein the operations further include:
 normalizing at least one of the generated integral projections before estimating the dominant motion.