Keypoint detection circuit for processing image pyramid in recursive manner

A method, comprising:

• at a first keypoint generation circuit:
• generating a first set of keypoints from a first response map generated by blurring image data to a first blue level in a first octave of an image pyramid, and
• generating a second set of keypoints from a second response map generated by blurring a downscaled version of the image data to a second blur level in a second octave of the image pyramid subsequent to the first octave;
• at a second keypoint generation circuit:
• generating a third set of keypoints from a third response map generated by blurring the image data to a third blur level in the first octave, and
• generating a fourth set of keypoints from a fourth response map generated by blurring the downscaled version of the image data to a fourth blur level in the second octave;
• and
• at a filter and decimation circuit, generating the downscaled version of the image data from the image data.

A system, comprising:

• a storage component configured to receive and store image data corresponding to an image frame;
• a keypoint detection circuit configured to receive image data from the storage component and determine keypoints for the image frame based upon the received image data, comprising:
• a first keypoint generation circuit configured to:
• generate a first set of keypoints from a first response map generated by blurring image data to a first blue level in a first octave of an image pyramid, and
• generate a second set of keypoints from a second response map generated by blurring a downscaled version of the image data to a second blur level in a second octave of the image pyramid subsequent to the first octave;
• a second keypoint generation circuit configured to:
• generate a third set of keypoints from a third response map generated by blurring the image data to a third blur level in the first octave, and
• generate a fourth set of keypoints from a fourth response map generated by blurring the downscaled version of the image data to a fourth blur level in the second octave;
• and
• a filter and decimation circuit configured to generate the downscaled version of the image data from the image data;
• and
• a memory configured to store the first, second, third, and fourth sets of keypoints.