Using index keys extracted from JPEG-compressed images for image retrieval

Claim 1

An apparatus comprising: a source providing still images, said source comprising: a JPEG server providing the still images encoded using a JPEG encoding standard, a live image source providing the still images, and a network source providing the still images encoded using an encoding standard; an image information retrieval system, coupled to the source, extracting index keys from the still images and comparing an index key extracted from a query image to the index keys, said image information retrieval system comprising: an index key extraction and archival section one of encoding and partially-re-encoding using the JPEG encoding standard the still images if the still images are not encoded using the JPEG encoding standard, and extracting the index keys from the still images if the still images are encoded using the JPEG encoding standard, a database, coupled to the index key extraction and archival section, storing the index keys, along with identifying data of the respective still images corresponding to the index keys, and a retrieval subsystem, coupled to the database, comparing the index key of a query image with the index keys stored in the database, and determining difference between the index key of the query image and each of the index keys stored in the database, said retrieval subsystem comprising: a difference calculator calculating the difference, an ordering unit, coupled to the difference calculator, ordering the index keys based on the difference, and a fetch and display unit, coupled to the ordering unit, for retrieving still images corresponding to the index keys; and a user interface, coupled to the image retrieval subsystem, displaying the still images.

Claim 2

An apparatus comprising: a source providing still images, said source comprising: a JPEG server providing the still images encoded using a JPEG encoding standard, a live image source providing the still images, and a network source providing the still images encoded using an encoding standard; an image information retrieval system, coupled to the source, extracting index keys from the still images and comparing an index key extracted from a query image to the index keys, said image information retrieval system comprising: an index key extraction and archival section one of encoding and partially-re-encoding using the JPEG encoding standard the still images if the still images are not encoded using the JPEG encoding standard, and extracting the index keys from the still images if the still images are encoded using the JPEG encoding standard, a database, coupled to the index key extraction and archival section, storing the index keys, along with identifying data of the respective still images corresponding to the index keys, and a retrieval subsystem, coupled to the database, comparing the index key of a query image with the index keys stored in the database, and determining difference between the index key of the query image and each of the index keys stored in the database, said retrieval subsystem comprising: a difference calculator calculating the difference, an ordering unit, coupled to the difference calculator, ordering the index keys based on the difference, and a fetch and display unit, coupled to the ordering unit, for retrieving still images corresponding to the index keys; and a user interface, coupled to the image retrieval subsystem, displaying the still images.

Claim 3

A method for classifying image data, the method comprising executing the following steps in a digital data processing device: recognizing an even number of windows that are subsets of the image; applying a mathematical function to image data in each of the windows to yield a respective numerical value for each of the windows; pairwise associating the windows to define at least one pair of windows; comparing the respective numerical values within each of the at least one pair to yield a respective comparison value for each of the at least one pair; forming an index key from the respective comparison value; and embodying the index key in a medium readable by the digital data processing device.

Claim 4

A method for classifying image data, the method comprising executing the following steps in a digital data processing device: recognizing an even number of windows that are subsets of the image; applying a mathematical function to image data in each of the windows to yield a respective numerical value for each of the windows; pairwise associating the windows to define at least one pair of windows; comparing the respective numerical values within each of the at least one pair to yield a respective comparison value for each of the at least one pair; forming an index key from the respective comparison value; and embodying the index key in a medium readable by the digital data processing device.