US5913205A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Query optimization for visual information retrieval system
Assignee: Micro Focus LLC
•
Filing: 1997-03-28
•
Granted: 1999-06-15
•
Expires: 2017-03-28
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for content-based search and retrieval of visual objects. A base visual information retrieval (VIR) engine utilizes a set of universal primitives to operate on the visual objects. An extensible VIR engine allows custom, modular primitives to be defined and registered. A custom primitive addresses domain specific problems and can utilize any image understanding technique. Object attributes can be extracted over the entire image or over only a portion of the object. A schema is defined as a specific collection of primitives. A specific schema implies a specific set of visual features to be processed and a corresponding feature vector to be used for content-based similarity scoring. A primitive registration interface registers custom primitives and facilitates storing of an analysis function and a comparison function to a schema table. A heterogeneous comparison allows objects analyzed by different schemas to be compared if at least one primitive is in common between the schemas. A threshold-based comparison is utilized to improve performance of the VIR engine. A distance between two feature vectors is computed in any of the comparison processes so as to generate a similarity score.
Inventors
- 👤 Ramesh Jain
- 👤 Bradley Horowitz
- 👤 Charles E. Fuller
- 👤 Amarnath Gupta
- 👤 Jeffrey R. Bach
- 👤 Chiao-fe Shu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 09:15
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/50; G06F16/53; G06F16/532; G06F16/58; G06F16/583; G06F16/5838; G06F16/5854; G06F16/5862; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99932; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944; Y10S707/99945
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
76 words
A method of optimization of object comparisons for a database query, wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects and associated feature vectors, the method comprising: providing a cost for executing a comparison process for each of a plurality of visual primitives of any one of the feature vectors; and applying the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
76 words
A method of optimization of object comparisons for a database query, wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects and associated feature vectors, the method comprising: providing a cost for executing a comparison process for each of a plurality of visual primitives of any one of the feature vectors; and applying the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method defined in claim 1, additionally comprising the step of providing the comparison process for each of the plurality of visual primitives.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method defined in claim 1, wherein the function orders the visual primitives from least to greatest cost.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method defined in claim 3, additionally comprising the step of further ordering the primitives by a set of primitive weights.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method defined in claim 1, wherein the step of providing a cost, comprises the steps of: assigning a computation cost of a predetermined value to a selected primitive; and assigning a computation cost for each of a set of target primitives relative to the cost of the selected primitive.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
78 words
The method defined in claim 5, wherein the step of assigning a cost for the target primitives comprises the steps of: a) executing the selected primitive to establish a timing baseline; b) executing one of the target primitives; c) determining a ratio of the time of execution for the target primitive to the time of execution for the selected primitive as the cost of the target primitive; and d) repeating steps b-c for each of the target primitives.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method defined in claim 5, wherein the target primitives are the non-selected primitives in a predefined schema of primitives.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method defined in claim 1, additionally comprising the step of registering the visual primitives and the associated costs with a search engine.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
88 words
A similarity engine for content-based retrieval of images having the capability of optimizing object comparisons for a database query wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects and associated feature vectors, the engine comprising: means for providing a cost for executing a comparison process for each of a plurality of visual primitives of any one of the feature vectors; and means for employing the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
88 words
A similarity engine for content-based retrieval of images having the capability of optimizing object comparisons for a database query wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects and associated feature vectors, the engine comprising: means for providing a cost for executing a comparison process for each of a plurality of visual primitives of any one of the feature vectors; and means for employing the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
19 words
The engine of claim 10, wherein the means for applying orders the visual primitives from least to greatest cost.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
The engine of claim 10, wherein the means for applying further includes means for ordering the primitives by a set of primitive weights.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
86 words
A method of optimization of object comparisons for a database query utilizing visual primitives each of which includes a comparison function and wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects, the method comprising: determining a cost for executing a comparison function for each of a plurality of visual primitives belonging to a feature vector representative of a visual object; and applying the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
86 words
A method of optimization of object comparisons for a database query utilizing visual primitives each of which includes a comparison function and wherein the database includes a plurality of visual objects, the method comprising: determining a cost for executing a comparison function for each of a plurality of visual primitives belonging to a feature vector representative of a visual object; and applying the comparison process for each visual primitive as between any selected at least two of the feature vectors as a function of the cost.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method defined in claim 12, additionally comprising providing the comparison function for each of the plurality of visual primitives.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method defined in claim 12, wherein the function orders the visual primitives from least to greatest cost.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method defined in claim 14, additionally comprising further ordering the primitives by a set of primitive weights.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method defined in claim 12, wherein determining a cost, comprises: assigning a computation cost of a predetermined value to a selected primitive; and assigning a computation cost for each of a set of target primitives relative to the cost of the selected primitive.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4531186A
Cited
US4769772A
Cited
US5148522A
Cited
US5579444A
Cited
US5091852A
Cited
US5043872A
Cited
US5412806A
Cited
US5579471A
Cited
US5758144A
Cited
US5671403A
Cited
US5687362A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-06-14 | 2002-12-14 | 2003-06-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-06-14 | 2006-12-14 | 2007-06-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-06-14 | 2010-12-14 | 2011-06-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |