Advanced image processing package for FPGA-based re-programmable miniature electronics

Abstract

Nova Sensors produces miniature electronics for a variety of real-time digital video camera systems, including foveal sensors based on Nova's Variable Acuity Superpixel Imager (VASI™) technology. An advanced imageprocessing package has been designed at Nova Sensors to re-configure the FPGA-based co-processor board for numerous applications including motion detection, optical, background velocimetry and target tracking. Currently, the processing package consists of 14 processing operations that cover a broad range of point-and area-applied algorithms. Flexible FPGA designs of these operations and re-programmability of the processing board allows for easy updates of the VASI™ sensors, and for low-cost customization of VASI™ sensors taking into account specific customer requirements. This paper describes the image processing algorithms implemented and verified in Xilinx FPGAs and provides the major technical performances with figures illustrating practical applications of the processing package.

Thermal drift compensation method for microbolometer thermal cameras

“…It uses statistical algorithms and is based on analysis of scene changes. This approach, however, is not described in terms of application in cameras intended for measurement purposes [11][12][13][14].…”

FPGA-based processor for high framerate target detection on cluttered backgrounds using LVASITMsensors

“…Area-applied algorithms implemented in FPGA: -Image reconstruction from a compressed frame -One-and two-point non-uniformity correction including the median offset computation from the masked FPA-row data -Arbitrary pixel revectoring -Bad pixel replacement -Pixel-based mean and standard deviation computation -Spectral attenuation compensation -Atmospheric attenuation compensation The detailed analysis of the image-processing technique listed in Table 1 have been provided in our previous paper [4]. The processing package is being continually upgraded by new point-and area-applied algorithms [6]- [9].…”

“…Once a target is detected, the sensor detects the target in the foveae mode at the highest frame-rate of 450 Hz (see Figure 11). To suppress false alarms from cluttered background, the four-target tracker involves a morphological filter [4], [12] with adaptive threshold computation using Renyi's entropy [13], [14], as well as the optical flow algorithm [15], [16] computing velocities for the background and for each candidate to target. Figure 11 illustrates false alarm suppression as well as target detection at 450 frame-rate.…”

“…In our previous papers, the FPGA-based processing package [4] and the co-processor board [5] have been introduced for numerous commercial and military applications including motion detection, optical flow, background velocimetry, and target tracking. The processing package [4] is being continually upgraded by new point-and area-applied algorithms [6]- [9] for variety of real-time digital video camera systems including foveal sensors [1] - [3]. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the FPGA-based processing package for the high frame-rate target detection on a cluttered background using variable acuity sensors (see Section 3).…”

Implementation of a foveal vision mapping

“…Ovod et al [8] used an FPGA for real-time image processing with multiple fovea. The limitation of their system was that it allowed only two levels of resolution.…”