Large scale image recognition using global signatures and local feature information

A system for conducting an image recognition search, comprising:

• a processor;
• a main memory device;
• a persistent storage device;
• and
• a recognition engine executable on the processor according to software instructions stored in one of the main memory device and the persistent storage device, the recognition engine being configured to:
• obtain one or more global signatures for a query image;
• receive document signatures corresponding to a plurality of document images from the main memory device;
• determine a ranking order for the plurality of document images based on nearest neighbor relations between the document signatures and each one of the one or more global signatures for the query image;
• select a subset of the plurality of document images based on the determined ranking order;
• load into the main memory device additional document data corresponding to the selected subset of the plurality of document images from the persistent storage device;
• and
• generate a search result based on a geometric verification between the additional document data and the query image.

A computer program product embedded in a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computer processor for conducting an image recognition search, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform one or more steps comprising:

• obtaining one or more global signatures for a query image;
• determining a ranking order for a plurality of document images based on nearest neighbor relations between document signatures corresponding to the plurality of document images and each one of the one or more global signatures for the query image;
• selecting a subset of the plurality of document images based on the determined ranking order;
• obtaining additional document data corresponding to the selected subset of the plurality of document images;
• and
• generating a search result based on a geometric verification between the additional document data corresponding to the selected subset of the plurality of document images and the query image.

A system for conducting an image recognition search, comprising:

• means for obtaining one or more global signatures for a query image;
• means for determining a ranking order for a plurality of document images based on nearest neighbor relations between document signatures corresponding to the plurality of document images and each one of the one or more global signatures for the query image;
• means for selecting a subset of the plurality of document images based on the determined ranking order;
• means for obtaining additional document data corresponding to the selected subset of the plurality of document images;
• and
• means for generating a search result based on a geometric verification between the additional document data corresponding to the selected subset of the plurality of document images and the query image.