System and method for identification of multimedia content elements

Abstract

A system and method for identifying multimedia content elements are presented. The method includes generating a signature for an unknown multimedia content element (MMCE), wherein the unknown MMCE is a portion of a multimedia content item; comparing a signature of the unknown MMCE to a signature cluster of at least one concept to determine whether each of the at least one concepts is proximate to the unknown MMCE; for each proximate concept, determining a probability that the at least one proximate concept identifies the unknown MMCE; and identifying the MMCE based on the determined probabilities of the at least one proximate concept.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computerized method for identifying multimedia content elements, comprising:
 generating a signature for an unknown multimedia content element (MMCE), wherein the unknown MMCE is a portion of a multimedia content item;   comparing the signature for the unknown MMCE to signatures of at least one concept to determine whether each of the at least one concept is proximate to the unknown MMCE, wherein each of the at least one concept is a collection of signatures representing a plurality of multimedia elements and metadata describing the at least one concept;   for each proximate concept according to the comparing, determining a probability that the proximate concept identifies the unknown MMCE; and   identifying the unknown MMCE based on determined probabilities of the at least one proximate concept, wherein the determined probabilities are in accordance with the determining.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: determining
 whether a highest probability of the determined probabilities is above an identification threshold; and   upon determining that the highest probability is above the identification threshold, identifying the unknown MMCE as known.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the unknown MMCE further comprises: determining a plurality of proximate concepts having the highest probabilities among the at least one proximate concept, wherein the unknown MMCE is identified as potentially being related to each of the at least one proximate concept having the highest probabilities. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein each of the at least one proximate concept is determined respective of other known MMCEs included in the multimedia content item. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the comparing yields a matching score, wherein the probability is equal to the matching score. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: generating a new concept using an identified MMCE according to the identifying. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multimedia content item is any of: an image, a graphic, a video stream, a video clip, a video frame, an audio clip, or a photograph. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing at least one processing unit to execute method steps comprising:
 generating a signature for an unknown multimedia content element (MMCE), wherein the unknown MMCE is a portion of a multimedia content item;   comparing the signature for the unknown MMCE to signatures of at least one concept to determine whether each of the at least one concepts is proximate to the unknown MMCE, wherein each of the at least one concept is a collection of signatures representing a plurality of multimedia elements and metadata describing the at least one concept;   for each proximate concept according to the comparing, determining a probability that the proximate concept identifies the unknown MMCE; and   identifying the unknown MMCE based on determined probabilities of the at least one proximate concept, wherein the determined probabilities are in accordance with the determining.   
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein identifying the unknown MMCE further comprises:
 determining whether a highest probability among the determined probabilities is below a predefined identification threshold; and   upon determining that the highest probability is below the predefined identification threshold, identifying the unknown MMCE as unknown.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein identifying the unknown MMCE further comprises: determining a plurality of proximate concepts having the highest probabilities among the at least one proximate concept, wherein the unknown MMCE is identified as potentially being related to each of the plurality of proximate concepts. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein each probability is determined to be equal to a proportion between a: number of signatures of the proximate concept that match the signature of the unknown MMCE and a total number of signatures in the proximate concept. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the multimedia content item is any of: image, a graphic, a video stream, a video clip, a video frame, or a photograph. 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A system for identifying multimedia content elements, comprising:
 a processing unit; and   a memory connected to the processing unit, the memory containing instructions that when executed by the processing unit, configure the system to:
 generate a signature for an unknown multimedia content element (MMCE), wherein the unknown MMCE is a portion of a multimedia content item; 
 perform a comparison of the signature of the unknown MMCE to signatures of at least one concept to determine whether each of the at least one concepts is proximate to the unknown MMCE, wherein the each of the least one concept is a collection of signatures representing a plurality of multimedia elements and metadata describing the at least one concept; 
 for each proximate concept according to the comparison, determine a probability that the at least one proximate concept identifies the unknown MMCE; and 
 identify the unknown MMCE based on determined probabilities of the at least one proximate concept, wherein the determined probabilities are in accordance with the probability for each proximate concept. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , further configured to: determine whether a highest probability of the determined probabilities is above an identification threshold; and
 upon determining that the highest probability is above the identification threshold, identify the unknown MMCE as known.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein identifying the unknown MMCE further comprises: determining a plurality of proximate concepts having the highest probabilities among the at least one proximate concept, wherein the unknown MMCE is identified as potentially being related to each of the at least one proximate concept. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein each of the at least one proximate concept is determined respective of other known MMCEs included in the multimedia content item. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the comparison yields a matching score, wherein the probability is equal to the matching score. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein an identified MMCE is utilized to create a new concept, wherein the identified MMCE is identified based on the determined probabilities of the at least one proximate concept. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the multimedia content item is any of: an image, a graphic, a video stream, a video clip, a video frame, an audio clip, or a photograph. 
     
     
         22 - 31 . (canceled)