California Institute of Technology

The United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of the

Jeffrey W Yu

Tien-Hsin Chao

Demetri Psaltis

James L Lambert

Li-Jen Cheng Cheng

Wai-Chi Fang

Timothy J Shaw

Li J Cheng

The array processor includes a grid of individual morphological processing elements formed on a VLSI chip. Each element of the grid includes a photo-detector for directly sensing a pixel of an image projected upon the chip. A signal generated by the photo-detector is sensed by a threshold circuit which outputs a binary value having a value depending upon the intensity of the light detector by the photo-detector. Each element also includes morphological processing circuitry for manipulating the binary value received from the threshold detector in accordance with predetermined morphological processing operations and in accordance with binary values received from adjacent processing elements. After modification of the binary value by application of one or more morphological processing operations, the binary value of each processing element is used to control a respective LCD element for displaying a pixel of a modified image. In this manner, all pixels of a modified image are output in parallel. By implementing the photo-detector, morphological processing circuitry and LCD output all on a VLSI chip, the array processor is capable is achieving real-time processing of two-dimensional images. An embodiment is also described wherein electrical output, rather than an LCD output, is provided.

Array processor for morphological image processing

The opto-electronic morphological processor of the present invention is capable of receiving optical inputs and emitting optical outputs. The use of optics allows implementation of parallel input/output, thereby overcoming a major bottleneck in prior art image processing systems. The processor consists of three components, namely, detectors, morphological operators and modulators. The detectors and operators are fabricated on a silicon VLSI chip and implement the optical input and morphological operations. A layer of ferro-electric liquid crystals is integrated with a silicon chip to provide the optical modulation. The implementation of the image processing operators in electronics leads to a wide range of applications and the use of optical connections allows cascadability of these parallel opto-electronic image processing components and high speed operation. Such an opto-electronic morphological processor may be used as the pre-processing stage in an image recognition system. In one example disclosed herein, the optical input/optical output morphological processor of the invention is interfaced with a binary phase-only correlator to produce an image recognition system.

Opto-electronic morphological processor

An improved AOTF-based imaging spectrometer that has ability to electronically set the bandpass wavelength of an AOTF to any desired value in its wide tuning range, provides significant observational flexibility. This allows observations to be tailored in real-time and enables the spectrometer to address a wide range of objectives and permits real-time modification of the observational parameters, such as in flight or in other situations in which only remote control is possible. Various improvements in optical architecture provide simplified magnification variability, improved image resolution and light throughput efficiency and reduced sensitivity to ambient light. A preferred embodiment employs a camera zoom lens as the input lens. A TeO.sub.2 AOTF and a relay lens are placed at selected distances behind the back focal plane of the input lens, respectively. A charge coupled device (CCD) camera, which comprises a camera, camera zoom lens and a CCD detector is placed at a selected distance behind the relay lens. An RF signal generator is used to drive the AOTF. Two embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein. One operates in the visible/near-infrared domain, in the wavelength range of 0.48 to 0.76 microns. The other operates in the infrared wavelength range of 1.2 to 2.5 microns.

Real-time imaging spectrometer

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Granada Hills, CA, United States of America

Jeffrey W Yu