A novel vision chip for high-speed target tracking

This paper presents a novel vision chip for high-speed target tracking. Two concise algorithms for high-speed target tracking are developed. The algorithms include some basic operations that can be used to process the real-time image information during target tracking. The vision chip is implemented that is based on the algorithms and a row-parallel architecture. A prototype chip has 64 x 64 pixels is fabricated by 0.35 pm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (CMOS) process with 4.5 x 2.5 mm(2) area. It operates at a rate of 1000 frames per second with 10 MHz chip main clock. The experiment results demonstrate that a high-speed target can be tracked in complex static background and a high-speed target among other high-speed objects can be tracked in clean background.

A programmable SIMD vision chip for real-time vision applications

A programmable vision chip for real-time vision applications is presented. The chip architecture is a combination of a SIMD processing element array and row-parallel processors, which can perform pixel-parallel and row-parallel operations at high speed. It implements the mathematical morphology method to carry out low-level and mid-level image processing and sends out image features for high-level image processing without I/O bottleneck. The chip can perform many algorithms through software control. The simulated maximum frequency of the vision chip is 300 MHz with 16 x 16 pixels resolution. It achieves the rate of 1000 frames per second in real-time vision. A prototype chip with a 16 x 16 PE array is fabricated by the 0.18 mu m standard CMOS process. It has a pixel size of 30 mu m x 40 mu m and 8.72 mW power consumption with a 1.8 V power supply. Experiments including the mathematical morphology method and target tracking application demonstrated that the chip is fully functional and can be applied in real-time vision applications.

A 1,000 Frames/s Programmable Vision Chip with Variable Resolution and Row-Pixel-Mixed Parallel Image Processors

A programmable vision chip with variable resolution and row-pixel-mixed parallel image processors is presented. The chip consists of a CMOS sensor array, with row-parallel 6-bit Algorithmic ADCs, row-parallel gray-scale image processors, pixel-parallel SIMD Processing Element (PE) array, and instruction controller. The resolution of the image in the chip is variable: high resolution for a focused area and low resolution for general view. It implements gray-scale and binary mathematical morphology algorithms in series to carry out low-level and mid-level image processing and sends out features of the image for various applications. It can perform image processing at over 1,000 frames/s (fps). A prototype chip with 64 x 64 pixels resolution and 6-bit gray-scale image is fabricated in 0.18 mu m Standard CMOS process. The area size of chip is 1.5 mm x 3.5 mm. Each pixel size is 9.5 mu m x 9.5 mu m and each processing element size is 23 mu m x 29 mu m. The experiment results demonstrate that the chip can perform low-level and mid-level image processing and it can be applied in the real-time vision applications, such as high speed target tracking.

Simulations to design an online motion compensation system for scanned particle beams

Respiration-induced target motion is a major problem in intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Beam segments are delivered serially to form the total dose distribution. In the presence of motion, the spatial relation between dose deposition from different segments will be lost. Usually, this results in over-and underdosage. Besides such interplay effects between target motion and dynamic beam delivery as known from photon therapy, changes in internal density have an impact on delivered dose for intensity-modulated charged particle therapy. In this study, we have analysed interplay effects between raster scanned carbon ion beams and target motion. Furthermore, the potential of an online motion strategy was assessed in several simulations. An extended version of the clinical treatment planning software was used to calculate dose distributions to moving targets with and without motion compensation. For motion compensation, each individual ion pencil beam tracked the planned target position in the lateral aswell as longitudinal direction. Target translations and rotations, including changes in internal density, were simulated. Target motion simulating breathing resulted in severe degradation of delivered dose distributions. For example, for motion amplitudes of +/- 15 mm, only 47% of the target volume received 80% of the planned dose. Unpredictability of resulting dose distributions was demonstrated by varying motion parameters. On the other hand, motion compensation allowed for dose distributions for moving targets comparable to those for static targets. Even limited compensation precision (standard deviation similar to 2 mm), introduced to simulate possible limitations of real-time target tracking, resulted in less than 3% loss in dose homogeneity.

Fast monostatic GPR modeling

We propose the exploding-reflector method to simulate a monostatic survey with a single simulation. The exploding reflector, used in seismic modeling, is adapted for ground-penetrating radar (GPR) modeling by using the analogy between acoustic and electromagnetic waves. The method can be used with ray tracing to obtain the location of the interfaces and estimate the properties of the medium on the basis of the traveltimes and reflection amplitudes. In particular, these can provide a better estimation of the conductivity and geometrical details. The modeling methodology is complemented with the use of the plane-wave method. The technique is illustrated with GPR data from an excavated tomb of the nineteenth century.

基于直方图插值的均值移动小尺寸目标跟踪算法

小尺寸目标跟踪是视觉跟踪中的难题。该文首先指出了均值移动小尺寸目标跟踪算法中的两个主要问题:算法跟踪中断和丢失跟踪目标。然后,论文给出了相应的解决方法。对传统Parzen窗密度估计法加以改进,并用于对候选目标区域的直方图进行插值处理,较好地解决了算法跟踪中断问题。论文采用Kullback-Leibler距离作为目标模型和候选目标之间的新型相似性度量函数,并推导了其相应的权值和新位置计算公式,提高了算法的跟踪精度。多段视频序列的跟踪实验表明,该文提出的算法可以有效地跟踪小尺寸目标,能够成功跟踪只有6×12个像素的小目标,跟踪精度也有一定提高。

基于直方图处理和新型相似性度量函数的小尺寸目标跟踪算法

小尺寸目标跟踪是视觉跟踪中的难题。本文使用均值移动算法跟踪小尺寸目标。论文首先分析了基于均值移动的小尺寸目标跟踪算法的两个主要问题:跟踪算法中断和跟踪目标丢失。然后,论文在这两个方面对小尺寸目标跟踪算法进行改进。给出了一种新的直方图单元编号方法,使包含目标颜色分量的直方图单元分布得更为集中紧凑。当候选目标与目标模型不匹配时,给出一种平滑算法来处理候选目标的直方图。论文提出一种新的相似性度量函数,推导了相应的权值计算公式,在此基础上建立了基于均值移动的目标跟踪算法。多段真实场景视频序列的跟踪实验表明,本文提出的算法可以有效地跟踪小尺寸目标,跟踪精度也有一定提高。

目标跟踪算法及其实时实现技术研究

实时目标跟踪是模式识别、图像处理、计算机视觉、武器制导等领域的重要课题，而且在工业、军事和科学研究方面都具有广泛的应用。相关跟踪是目前使用最广泛的跟踪算法。但传统相关跟踪方法以假设目标仅发生平移运动为前提，当目标仅发生平移时能够获得理想的跟踪效果。但当目标尺度和灰度变化时，这种算法往往表现出一定的不适应性。 差值分解(Difference Decomposition)最早于1997年Michael Gleicher提出，并被应用于目标跟踪，图像配准等领域。由于具有计算速度快，对目标变化适应性好等特点，被认为是目标跟踪中的一种有效的方法。本文在跟踪算法中引入了这种方法，力图解决传统相关跟踪所出现的上述问题。在研究差值分解(Difference Decomposition)理论的同时，对使用该方法在实际应用中遇到的问题进行了深入的分析和大量的实验。主要包括：算法应用中一些参数的选择对算法的影响，算法迭代中参数更新的方法等。并在应用中发现了算法的不足之处，提出了相应的改进方法。 同时，介绍了TI DM642硬件处理平台的基本构成和性能指标。作为正常算法分析的重要组成部分，对差值分解算法在该硬件处理平台上通过软件编程方式实现的复杂度进行了详细的分析与论证。 最后本文构建了一个比较完整的跟踪流程，将改进后的跟踪算法应用到所建立的跟踪流程中。采用工具对算法进行了开发，并使用序列图像对算法进行了跟踪仿真实验，为算法将来的实际应用奠定了良好的基础。

小波多尺度跟踪技术研究

本论文研究的主要内容为基于小波多尺度特性的序列图像目标跟踪技术。目标跟踪作为一个在军事、工业和科学研究方面有着广泛应用背景的研究领域，一直以来吸引了大批国内外学者。由于小波变换具有多分辨率分析的特点，而且在时频两域都具有表征信号局部特征的能力，使得基于小波变换的目标跟踪算法具有传统算法无法比拟的优势。针对目标跟踪技术的研究现状和存在问题，本文着重从目标分割和特征检测与匹配两个角度对基于小波变换的几种新的目标跟踪方法进行了研究。 1. 采用基于多尺度Gabor小波的特征点检测算法对序列图像进行跟踪。借助图像的金字塔变换得到多尺度的Gabor小波特征图像，并对特征图像进行特征点检测，提取对图像变换具有鲁棒性的特征。针对两种特征检测方案，提出不同的特征匹配准则，按照分层匹配的策略由粗到精逐步定位目标的准确位置，具有较快的搜索速度。 2. 采用多尺度小波函数所提取的相位一致性特征进行基于目标分割和基于角点特征的跟踪。 对目标图像进行相位一致性检测，得到一个具有光照不变性的无量纲特征量—相位一致系数。利用相位一致性检测的这种特性，针对孤立目标的情况，提出了两种自适应目标分割和跟踪的算法。基于区域增长的目标分割算法利用从相位一致图像中找到的对比度最大点及其法线方向两边的灰度分布确定目标和背景的种子像素，进行自适应目标分割。基于相位一致性检测的目标分割算法只需确定一个阈值即可利用相位一致特征图像的方向性，依据目标在不同方向响应的不同将目标和背景区分开，适应于复杂纹理背景中的目标分割。最后，分别将两种算法所得的分割结果向水平和垂直方向投影即可确定各自的质心位置，实现自适应的质心跟踪。 进一步提取相位一致性图像的最小矩特征就能得到目标的角点信息。文中用实验验证了此方法检测到角点的综合性能。在此基础上，提出了利用单演相位差进行角点匹配跟踪的算法，并将其同基于灰度相关的匹配算法进行了对比，证明了本算法能够检测出更多准确匹配的角点、减少误匹配，同时具有较小的匹配运算量。 对以上提出的几种目标跟踪算法进行了大量的仿真实验，实验结果表明，这几种方法均取得了较好的跟踪效果，能够实现稳定、精确的跟踪。

双模式相关技术研究与实现

文中研究的相关跟踪技术主要应用于飞航导弹的末制导。现阶段，激光制导技术、GPS制导技术、合成孔径雷达（SAR）制导技术在我国的实际应用还不成熟，传统的电视、红外制导技术仍然具有很强的生命力，因而，基于可见光的视频相关跟踪技术具有重要的研究价值。本文主要论述的两种相关算法是：多灰度点相关（MPC）、区域模板相关（RTC）。其中多点相关（MPC）算法的跟踪灵敏度高，定位精度好，硬件实现比较方便，实时性能好；区域模板相关算法（RTC），在图像的匹配过程中，不仅考虑了目标区域的灰度特征，而且兼顾了区域里多灰度层次的位置特征、面积特征，算法具有很好的鲁棒性。文中深入研究了两种相关跟踪算法，并针对它们在实际应用中的不足，提出了有效的改善措施。最后，本文对两种相关跟踪算法进行了初步融合，一是：通过粗匹配、精匹配过程来选取目标跟踪点；二是：提出了一种度量模板更新的能量准则函数。大量的仿真实验结果表明：改进后的两种相关跟踪技术可以较好地完成一些复杂背景下的目标跟踪任务，两种算法的有效结合又进一步提高了目标跟踪的稳定性能和可靠性能。本文研究的一些相关跟踪技术已经运用到实际工程项目中。

一种面向无线传感器网络协同任务分配的动态联盟更新机制

在面向目标追踪等应用的无线传感器网络研究中,协同任务分配机制的研究是很重要的。基于动态联盟机制的协同任务分配方法是事件触发的,适用于任务出现频率相对较低的大规模无线传感器网络。本文在基于动态联盟机制研究的基础上,首先引入了联盟覆盖范围和休眠盟员的概念,进一步消除针对同一任务的检测传感器节点的冗余,降低系统的能量消耗;而后又给出了一种动态联盟的更新机制,以保证动态联盟执行任务时的连续性,在一定程度上保证网络的检测性能。最后通过仿真,从系统总能耗、目标捕获率和检测误差标准差等方面检验了算法的性能,并给出了缓冲带宽度等参数对能耗和网络检测性能的影响。

面向目标跟踪的无线传感器网络部署与定位问题研究

微机电系统、先进传感器、无线通信及现代网络等技术的进步，推动了无线传感器网络的产生和发展。集数据采集、处理、无线传输等功能于一体的无线传感器网络扩展了人们的信息获取能力，将逻辑上的信息世界与真实物理世界融合在一起，将改变人类与物理世界的交互方式。 无线传感器网络具有许多挑战性的研究课题，其中部署与定位是无线传感器网络应用的基础问题。部署就是在一定区域内通过适当的策略放置传感器节点以满足某种特定需求，它决定了网络对目标的检测能力。定位在无线传感器网络中包括两层含义：节点定位和目标定位。节点定位是目标定位的前提，会影响目标跟踪的精度。论文面向应用于目标跟踪的无线传感器网络，围绕部署与定位问题展开研究。 论文分别综述了无线传感器网络部署问题、定位问题和目标跟踪问题的研究内容、评价标准、算法分类和研究现状。 从信息覆盖的角度研究满足给定指标的确定性部署问题，提出一种基于检测融合的确定性部署策略。首先采用奈曼-皮尔逊准则融合单元网格内所有传感器节点的检测信息，实现正方形和正三角形两种单元网格的高效覆盖。然后分别给出对应的监测区域网格划分方法，从而确定监测区域需要的传感器节点数量以及放置的具体位置。使用相同数量的传感器节点，基于检测融合的部署策略可以获得更大的覆盖范围，也就是在保证一定感知性能的情况下减少了成本。 针对无线电干涉定位系统的多径效应抑制问题，分别从理论和实验的角度分析多径效应对无线电干涉测距的影响，然后根据多径信号的物理特性，从理论上推导了镜反射的多径误差数学模型，在此基础之上进行无线电干涉定位系统的多径误差分析，讨论了衰减因子、传感器节点天线高度和水平距离等多径参数对多径误差的影响。通过仿真计算和分析可知，衰减因子对多径误差的大小起着决定性作用，而多径误差在定位空间上分布的复杂程度，随着天线高度的增加而增加，同衰减因子无关。 无线电干涉测距技术获取的干涉距离是两个发送节点和两个接收节点间距离的线性组合值。针对以节点间距离作为输入的传统定位算法，无法直接利用上述干涉距离进行定位的问题，提出一种基于改进粒子群优化的定位方法。借鉴遗传算法中变异的思想，在每次迭代时对更新过的粒子位置进行微扰，以维持种群的活性。利用干涉距离的实验数据，分析比较了遗传算法和改进粒子群优化在无线电干涉定位系统节点定位问题中的性能。实验结果表明，两种定位方法都能在有限的进化代数内找到节点坐标的近似值，但是基于改进粒子群优化的定位方法的平均耗费时间，远远小于基于遗传算法的定位方法，具有更高的优化效率。 针对具有簇-树型网络拓扑结构的无线传感器网络，首先给出集中式粒子滤波跟踪算法实现的具体步骤，然后提出两种分布式粒子滤波跟踪算法。综合考虑信息收益和参与协作的资源消耗，两种分布式算法分别采用不同的准则来选择参与跟踪的传感器节点。为了系统地比较跟踪算法的性能，给出跟踪精度、通信开销、能量开销和跟踪反应时间等各项指标的定义，进而构建了综合性能评价体系。通过仿真，量化比较了三种跟踪算法的性能。结果表明，两种分布式算法能够在损失很少跟踪精度的同时，大幅度减少通信开销、能量开销和跟踪反应时间。最后，仿真分析了传感器节点覆盖密度和检测阈值对跟踪算法性能的影响。 总之，论文对无线传感器网络的部署问题、定位问题和目标跟踪问题进行了研究和探讨，旨在对无线传感器网络的应用起到一定的促进作用。

Influence of thermal annealing on optical properties and surface morphology of NiOx thin films

NiOx thin films were deposited by reactive DC-magnetron sputtering from a nickel metal target in Ar + O-2 with the relative O-2 content of 5%. Thermal annealing effects on optical properties and surface morphology of NiOx, films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscope and optical measurement. The results showed that the changes in optical properties and surface morphology depended on the temperature. The surface morphology of the films changed obviously as the annealing temperature increased due to the reaction NiOx -> NiO + O-2 releasing O-2. The surface morphology change was responsible for the variation of the optical properties of the films. The optical contrast between the as-deposited films and 400 degrees C annealed films was about 52%. In addition, the relationship of the optical energy band gap with the variation of annealing temperature was studied. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pipeline Architecture and Parallel Computation-Based Real-Time Stereovision Tracking System for Surgical Navigation

This paper studies the development of a real-time stereovision system to track multiple infrared markers attached to a surgical instrument. Multiple stages of pipeline in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) are developed to recognize the targets in both left and right image planes and to give each target a unique label. The pipeline architecture includes a smoothing filter, an adaptive threshold module, a connected component labeling operation, and a centroid extraction process. A parallel distortion correction method is proposed and implemented in a dual-core DSP. A suitable kinematic model is established for the moving targets, and a novel set of parallel and interactive computation mechanisms is proposed to position and track the targets, which are carried out by a cross-computation method in a dual-core DSP. The proposed tracking system can track the 3-D coordinate, velocity, and acceleration of four infrared markers with a delay of 9.18 ms. Furthermore, it is capable of tracking a maximum of 110 infrared markers without frame dropping at a frame rate of 60 f/s. The accuracy of the proposed system can reach the scale of 0.37 mm RMS along the x- and y-directions and 0.45 mm RMS along the depth direction (the depth is from 0.8 to 0.45 m). The performance of the proposed system can meet the requirements of applications such as surgical navigation, which needs high real time and accuracy capability.

Pipeline Architecture and Parallel Computation-Based Real-Time Stereovision Tracking System for Surgical Navigation

This paper studies the development of a real-time stereovision system to track multiple infrared markers attached to a surgical instrument. Multiple stages of pipeline in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) are developed to recognize the targets in both left and right image planes and to give each target a unique label. The pipeline architecture includes a smoothing filter, an adaptive threshold module, a connected component labeling operation, and a centroid extraction process. A parallel distortion correction method is proposed and implemented in a dual-core DSP. A suitable kinematic model is established for the moving targets, and a novel set of parallel and interactive computation mechanisms is proposed to position and track the targets, which are carried out by a cross-computation method in a dual-core DSP. The proposed tracking system can track the 3-D coordinate, velocity, and acceleration of four infrared markers with a delay of 9.18 ms. Furthermore, it is capable of tracking a maximum of 110 infrared markers without frame dropping at a frame rate of 60 f/s. The accuracy of the proposed system can reach the scale of 0.37 mm RMS along the x- and y-directions and 0.45 mm RMS along the depth direction (the depth is from 0.8 to 0.45 m). The performance of the proposed system can meet the requirements of applications such as surgical navigation, which needs high real time and accuracy capability.