Lucent Technologies Inc.

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pittsburgh

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

At&t Ipm Corp.

Jelena Kovacevic

Vivek K Goyal

Robert J Safranek

Wim Sweldens

Jianying Hu

Aleksandra Mojsilovic

S Kicha Ganapathy

Anupama Kuruvilla

Martin Vetterli

Alejandro Hoberman

Francis Man Lung Ng

Nader Shaikh

Riccardo Bernardini

Kathrin Berkner

Ivana Tosic

James H Garrett, Jr

Hae Young Noh

Jonathan Adam Kelner

Laurent Lorenzo Balmelli-Quadranti

Ramon Arean

George Lederman

Edmund Meng Yeh

Jacobo Bielak

Siheng Chen

Francois Masson

This invention relates to a vehicle-based infrastructure diagnostic apparatus to assist in the maintenance of rail networks. This is a complete system&#x2014;from the acquisition of vibration signals in a moving vehicle, to the presentation of the infrastructure changes to the maintenance workers. This apparatus relies on novel techniques to account for the variable speed of the train (making it useful even on non-dedicated rail vehicles) and novel techniques to normalize for various environmental conditions. This system could help maintenance departments identify and remediate anomalies more rapidly, as well as trace network deterioration over time. The apparatus consists of low-cost unobtrusive sensors, software for data analysis, and hardware that makes it easy to deploy widely even on existing rail networks.

System to enable rail infrastructure monitoring through the dynamic response of an operational train

A method of aiding the diagnosis of otitis media in a patient includes obtaining image data in a processor apparatus of a computing device, the image data being associated with at least one electronic image of a tympanic membrane of the patient, calculating, a plurality of image features, each image feature being calculated based on at least a portion of the image data, classifying the at least one electronic image as a particular type of otitis media using the plurality of image features, and outputting an indication of the particular type of otitis media. Also, a system for implementing such a method that includes an output device and a computing device.

Method and apparatus for aiding in the diagnosis of otitis media by classifying tympanic membrane images

A scene is segmented into objects based on light field data for the scene, including based on image pixel values (e.g., intensity) and disparity map(s). In one aspect, the light field data is used to estimate one or more disparity maps for the scene taken from different viewpoints. The scene is then segmented into a plurality of regions that correspond to objects in the scene. Unlike other approaches, the regions can be variable-depth. In one approach, the regions are defined by boundaries. The boundaries are determined by varying the boundary to optimize an objective function for the region defined by the boundary. The objective function is based in part on a similarity function that measures a similarity of image pixel values for pixels within the boundary and also measures a similarity of disparities for pixels within the boundary.

Object segmentation from light field data

A method of aiding the diagnosis of otitis media in a patient includes obtaining image data in a processor apparatus of a computing device, the image data being associated with at least one electronic image of a tympanic membrane of the patient, calculating a plurality of image features, each image feature being calculated based on at least a portion of the image data, classifying the at least one electronic image as a particular type of otitis media using the plurality of image features, and outputting an indication of the particular type of otitis media. Also, a system for implementing such a method that includes an output device and a computing device.

A multiple description coder generates a number of different descriptions of a given portion of a signal in a wireless communication system, using multiple description scalar quantization (MDSQ) or another type of multiple description coding. The different descriptions of the given portion of the signal are then arranged into packets such that at least a first description of the given portion is placed in a first packet and a second description is placed in a second packet. Each of the packets are then transmitted using a frequency hopping modulator, and the hopping rate of the modulator is selected or otherwise configured based at least in part on the number of descriptions generated for the different portions of the signal. For example, in an embodiment in which two descriptions are generated for each portion of the signal, a first description for a current one of the portions of the signal is placed in a current packet along with a second one of the descriptions for a previous portion of the signal, and the frequency hopping rate of the modulator is doubled relative to a hopping rate used for single description transmission.

Methods and apparatus for wireless transmission using multiple description coding

Interpolating filter banks are constructed for use with signals which may be represented as a lattice of arbitrary dimension d. The filter banks include M channels, where M is greater than or equal to two. A given filter bank is built by first computing a set of shifts &#x3c4;as Dt, i=1, 2, . . . M&#x2212;1, where tis a set of coset representatives taken from a unit cell of the input signal lattice, and D is a dilation matrix having a determinant equal to M. A polynomial interpolation algorithm is then applied to determine weights for a set of M&#x2212;1 predict filters Phaving the shifts &#x3c4;. A corresponding set of update filters Uare then selected as U=P*/M, where P*is the adjoint of the predict filter P. The resulting predict and update filters are arranged in a lifting structure such that each of the predict and update filters are associated with a pair of the M channels of the filter bank. The input signal applied to the filter bank is downsampled in each of the M channels, and then interpolated using the M&#x2212;1 predict filters and the M&#x2212;1 update filters. The downsampled and interpolated signal may be reconstructed using complementary interpolation and upsampling operations.

Interpolating filter banks in arbitrary dimensions

The invention provides a perceptually-based system for pattern retrieval and matching, suitable for use in a wide variety of information processing applications. An illustrative embodiment of the system uses a predetermined vocabulary comprising one or more dimensions to extract color and texture information from an information signal, e.g., an image, selected by a user. The system then generates a distance measure characterizing the relationship of the selected image to another image stored in a database, by applying a grammar, comprising a set of predetermined rules, to the color and texture information extracted from the selected image and corresponding color and texture information associated with the stored image. The vocabulary may include dimensions such as overall color, directionality and orientation, regularity and placement, color purity, and pattern complexity and heaviness. The rules in the grammar may include equal pattern, overall appearance, similar pattern, and dominant color and general impression, with each of the rules expressed as a logical combination of values generated for one or more of the dimensions. The distance measure may include separate color and texture metrics characterizing the similarity of the respective color and texture of the two images being compared. The invention is also applicable to other types of information signals, such as sequences of video frames.

Retrieval and matching of color patterns based on a predetermined vocabulary and grammar

A lattice-structured multiple description vector quantization (LSMDVQ) encoder generates M descriptions of a signal to be encoded, each of the descriptions being transmittable over a corresponding one of M channels. The encoder is configured based at least in part on a distortion measure which is a function of a central distortion and at least one side distortion. For example, if M&equals;2, the distortion measure may be an average mean-squared error (AMSE) function of the form &fnof;(D , D , D ), where D is a central distortion resulting from reconstruction based on receipt of both a first and a second description, and D and D are side distortions resulting from reconstruction using only a first description and a second description, respectively. Further performance improvements may be obtained through perturbation of the lattice points. The LSMDVQ techniques of the invention can also be extended to cases of M greater than two, for which the encoder may utilize an ordered set of M codebooks &Lgr; , &Lgr; , . . . , &Lgr; of increasing size, with the coarsest codebook corresponding to a lattice. In such cases, for each number k of descriptions received, there may be a single decoding function that maps the received vector to a corresponding one of the codebooks &Lgr; , such that reconstruction of the signal requires no more than M such decoding functions.

Methods and apparatus for lattice-structured multiple description vector quantization coding

Processing of quadtree data structures is significantly improved with the use of an indexing that is arranged to insure that the index value of a node in column/row i and column/row j differs from the index value of a node in column/row k and row/column i by a value that is constant. With such an indexing arrangement, no indexing information, or pointer information, needs to be stored. Moreover, traversal from any node to any other node can be accomplished with a single calculation followed by a single traversal which, in the context of this disclosure, is considered to be a single step.

Efficient processing of quadtree data

A multiple description (MD) joint source-channel (JSC) encoder in accordance with the invention encodes n components of a signal for transmission over in channels of a communication medium. In illustrative embodiments, the invention provides optimal or near-optimal transforms for applications in which at least one of n and m is greater than two, and applications in which the failure probabilities of the m channels are non-independent and non-equivalent. The signal to be encoded may be a data signal, a speech signal, an audio signal, an image signal, a video signal or other type of signal, and each of the m channels may correspond to a packet or a group of packets to be transmitted over the medium. A given n&times;m transform implemented by the MD JSC encoder may be in the form of a cascade structure of several transforms each having dimension less than n&times;m. The transform may also be configured to provide a substantially equivalent rate for each of the m channels.

Multiple description transform coding using optimal transforms of arbitrary dimension

A multiple description (MD) joint source-channel (JSC) encoder in accordance with the invention encodes n components of an image signal for transmission over m channels of a communication medium. In an illustrative embodiment which uses statistical redundancy between the different descriptions of the image signal, the encoder forms vectors from transform coefficients of the image signal separated both in frequency and in space. The vectors may be formed such that the spatial separation between the transform coefficients is maximized. A correlating transform is then applied, followed by entropy coding, grouping as a function of frequency, and application of a cascade transform. In an illustrative embodiment which uses deterministic redundancy between the different descriptions of the image signal, the encoder may apply a linear transform, followed by quantization, to generate the multiple descriptions of the image signal. For example, vectors may be formed from transform coefficients of the image signal so as to include coefficients of like frequency separated in space. The vectors are expanded by multiplication with a frame operator, and then quantized using a step size which may be a function of frequency.

Multiple description transform coding of images using optimal transforms of arbitrary dimension

A signal transmission system assigns portions of an image or other type of signal to packets so as to provide an approximate equalization of the signal energy across the packets. As a result, the quality of a reconstructed signal in the presence of a given amount of packet loss is substantially the same regardless of the particular packets which are lost. In one possible implementation, the signal is separated into subbands using a cosine-modulated orthonormal filter bank. The subbands are then assigned to packets in accordance with an energy equalization algorithm such that the cumulative energies of the packets are approximately equal. In another implementation, an image signal is scrambled such that pixels in the image are mapped to different spatial positions, thereby producing a whitened image. The whitened image is then separated into subbands, and the subbands are assigned deterministically to the packets. Similar whitening techniques can be also used with non-image signals. These and other implementations of the invention provide graceful degradation in reconstructed signal quality in the presence of packet loss during transmission.

Signal data transmission over lossy packet networks

A multiple description (MD) joint source-channel (JSC) encoder in accordance with the invention encodes n components of an audio signal for transmission over m channels of a communication medium, where n and m may take on any desired values. In an illustrative embodiment, the encoder combines a multiple description transform coder with elements of a perceptual audio coder (PAC). The encoder is configured to select one or more transform parameters for a multiple description transform, based on a characteristic of the audio signal to be encoded. For example, the transform parameters may be selected such that the resulting transformed coefficients have a variance distribution of a type expected by a subsequent entropy coding operation. The components of the audio signal may be quantized coefficients separated into a number of factor bands, and the transform parameter for a given factor band may be set to a value determined based on a transform parameter from at least one other factor band, e.g., the previous factor band. As another example, the transform parameter for one or more of the factor bands may be selected based on a determination as to whether the audio signal to be encoded is of a particular predetermined type. A desired variance distribution may also be obtained for the transformed coefficients by, e.g., pairing or otherwise grouping coefficients such that the coefficients of each pair or group are required to be in the same factor band.

Growing community of inventors

New York, NY, United States of America

Jelena Kovacevic