Pattern matching utilizing discrete curve matching with multiple mapping operators

A carrier medium which stores program instructions for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target data set, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor to perform:

• determining an object of interest discrete curve from information regarding the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a first mapping operator configured according to a first set of terms;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a second mapping operator configured according to a second set of terms;
• acquiring the target data set;
• determining a target discrete curve from the target data set, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target data set;
• performing curve matching on the first mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first object of interest discrete curve;
• performing curve matching on the second mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

24 The carrier medium of claim 14,

• wherein the target data set comprises a target image;
• wherein the object of interest comprises an image object;
• and
• wherein the target discrete curve comprises a target image discrete curve.

A system for matching discrete curves, the system comprising:

• a computer system, comprising:
• a processor;
• and
• a memory medium coupled to the processor;
• and
• a data acquisition device coupled to the processor and the memory medium;
• wherein the data acquisition device is operable to:
• acquire a target data set;
• and
• wherein the memory medium stores program instructions which are executable by the processor to:
• determine an object of interest discrete curve from information regarding the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• map the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a first mapping operator configured according to a first set of terms;
• map the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a second mapping operator configured according to a second set of terms;
• determine a target discrete curve from the target data set, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target data set;
• perform curve matching on the first mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first object of interest discrete curve;
• perform curve matching on the second mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• generate pattern matching results based on the distances.

A system for matching discrete curves, the system comprising:

• a computer system, comprising:
• a processor;
• and
• a memory medium coupled to the processor;
• and
• an image acquisition device coupled to the processor and the memory medium;
• wherein the image acquisition device is operable to:
• acquire a target image;
• and
• wherein the memory medium stores program instructions which are executable by the processor to:
• determine an object of interest discrete curve from a template image containing an object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• map the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a first mapping operator;
• map the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a second mapping operator;
• determine a target discrete curve from the target image, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target image;
• perform curve matching on the first mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first object of interest discrete curve;
• perform curve matching on the second mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• generate pattern matching results based on the distances.

A method for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target data set, the method comprising:

• determining an object of interest discrete curve from information regarding the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a mapping operator configured according to a first parameter;
• and
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a mapping operator configured according to a second parameter.
• acquiring the target data set;
• determining a target discrete curve from the target data set, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target data set;
• performing curve matching on the target discrete curve and the first mapped object of interest discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• performing curve matching on the target discrete curve and the second mapped object of interest discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A method for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target image, the method comprising:

• determining an object of interest discrete curve from a template image containing the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a mapping operator configured according to a first parameter;
• and
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a mapping operator configured according to a second parameter.
• acquiring the target image;
• determining a target discrete curve from the target image, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target image;
• performing curve matching on the target discrete curve and the first mapped object of interest discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• performing curve matching on the target discrete curve and the second mapped object of interest discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A system for matching discrete curves, the system comprising:

• means for determining an object of interest discrete curve from information regarding the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• means for mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a first mapping operator configured according to a first set of terms, wherein the first set of terms is operable to enhance a distance between mapped discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to a first class of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• means for mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a second mapping operator configured according to a second set of terms, wherein the second set of terms is operable to enhance a distance between mapped discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to a second class of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• means for acquiring the target data set;
• means for determining a target discrete curve from the target data set, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target data set;
• means for performing curve matching on the first mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first object of interest discrete curve;
• means for performing curve matching on the second mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• means for generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A system for matching discrete curves, the system comprising:

• means for determining an object of interest discrete curve from a template image containing the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• means for mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a first mapped object of interest discrete curve using a first mapping operator configured according to a first set of terms, wherein the first set of terms is operable to enhance a distance between mapped discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to a first class of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• means for mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a second mapped object of interest discrete curve using a second mapping operator configured according to a second set of terms, wherein the second set of terms is operable to enhance a distance between mapped discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to a second class of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• means for acquiring the target image;
• means for determining a target discrete curve from the target image, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target image;
• means for performing curve matching on the first mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the first object of interest discrete curse;
• means for performing curve matching on the second mapped object of interest discrete curve and the target discrete curve, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to the second mapped object of interest discrete curve;
• and
• means for generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A method for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target data set, the method comprising:

• determining an object of interest discrete curve from information regarding the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a plurality of mapped object of interest discrete curves using a respective plurality of mapping operators, wherein the respective mapping operators are each operable to enhance respective distances between discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to respective classes of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• acquiring the target data set;
• determining a target discrete curve from the target data set, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target data set;
• performing curve matching between the target discrete curve and each of the plurality of mapped object of interest discrete curves, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to each of the plurality of object of interest discrete curves;
• and
• generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A method for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target image, the method comprising:

• determining an object of interest discrete curve from a template image containing the object of interest, wherein the object of interest discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• mapping the object of interest discrete curve to a plurality of mapped object of interest discrete curves using a respective plurality of mapping operators, wherein the respective mapping operators are each operable to enhance respective distances between discrete curves corresponding to the object of interest and mapped discrete curves corresponding to respective classes of one or more objects that are not of interest;
• acquiring the target image;
• determining a target discrete curve from the target image, wherein the target discrete curve corresponds to a respective object in the target image;
• performing curve matching between the target discrete curve and each of the plurality of mapped object of interest discrete curves, wherein said performing curve matching computes a distance for the target discrete curve relative to each of the plurality of object of interest discrete curves;
• and
• generating pattern matching results based on the distances.

A method for characterizing an object of interest for a pattern matching application, the method comprising:

• receiving a first data set, wherein the first data set includes the object of interest;
• determining a template discrete curve from the first data set, wherein the template discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• receiving a second data set, wherein the second data set includes one or more objects not of interest;
• determining one or more background object discrete curves from the second data set, wherein the one or more background object discrete curves correspond to the one or more objects not of interest;
• and
• computing a plurality of respective mapping operators based on the template discrete curves and each of the one or more background object discrete curves;
• and
• mapping the template discrete curve to one or more mapped template discrete curves using the plurality of respective mapping operators;
• wherein the one or more mapped template discrete curves are useable to perform pattern matching to locate instances of the object of interest in acquired target data.

A method for characterizing an object of interest for a pattern matching application, the method comprising:

• receiving a first image, wherein the first image includes the object of interest;
• determining a template discrete curve from the first image, wherein the template discrete curve corresponds to the object of interest;
• receiving a second image, wherein the second image includes one or more objects not of interest;
• determining one or more background object discrete curves from the second image, wherein the one or more background object discrete curves correspond to the one or more objects not of interest;
• and
• computing a plurality of respective mapping operators based on the template discrete curves and each of the one or more background object discrete curves;
• and
• mapping the template discrete curve to one or more mapped template discrete curves using the plurality of respective mapping operators;
• wherein the one or more mapped template discrete curves are useable to perform pattern matching to locate instances of the object of interest in acquired target images.