For digital imagery, face detection and identification are functions of great importance in wide-ranging applications, including full facial recognition systems. The development and evaluation of unique and existing face detection and face identification applications require a significant amount of data. Increased availability of such data volumes could benefit the formulation and advancement of many biometric algorithms. Here, the utility of using synthetically generated face data to evaluate facial biometry methodologies to a precision that would be unrealistic for a parametrically uncontrolled dataset, is demonstrated. Particular attention is given to similarity metrics, symmetry within and between recognition algorithms, discriminatory power and optimality of pan and/or tilt in reference images or libraries, susceptibilities to variations, identification confidence, meaningful identification mislabelings, sensitivity, specificity, and threshold values. The face identification results, in particular, could be generalized to address shortcomings in various applications and help to inform the design of future strategies.
An efficient parallel architecture design for the iris unwrapping process in a real-time iris recognition system using the
Bresenham Circle Algorithm is presented in this paper. Based on the characteristics of the model parameters this
algorithm was chosen over the widely used polar conversion technique as the iris unwrapping model. The architecture
design is parallelized to increase the throughput of the system and is suitable for processing an inputted image size of
320 × 240 pixels in real-time using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. Quartus software is used to
implement, verify, and analyze the design’s performance using the VHSIC Hardware Description Language. The
system’s predicted processing time is faster than the modern iris unwrapping technique used today∗.
Improvements in face detection performance would benefit many applications. The OpenCV library implements a standard solution, the Viola-Jones detector, with a statistically boosted rejection cascade of binary classifiers. Empirical evidence has shown that Viola-Jones underdetects in some instances. This research shows that a truncated cascade augmented by a neural network could recover these undetected faces. A hybrid framework is constructed, with a truncated Viola-Jones cascade followed by an artificial neural network, used to refine the face decision. Optimally, a truncation stage that captured all faces and allowed the neural network to remove the false alarms is selected. A feedforward backpropagation network with one hidden layer is trained to discriminate faces based upon the thresholding (detection) values of intermediate stages of the full rejection cascade. A clustering algorithm is used as a precursor to the neural network, to group significant overlappings. Evaluated on the CMU/VASC Image Database, comparison with an unmodified OpenCV approach shows: (1) a 37% increase in detection rates if constrained by the requirement of no increase in false alarms, (2) a 48% increase in detection rates if some additional false alarms are tolerated, and (3) an 82% reduction in false alarms with no reduction in detection rates. These results demonstrate improved face detection and could address the need for such improvement in various applications.
KEYWORDS: Convolution, Lab on a chip, Chemical mechanical planarization, Java, Biometrics, Detection and tracking algorithms, Oscilloscopes, Iris recognition, Resistors, Energy efficiency
With improved smartphone and tablet technology, it is becoming increasingly feasible to implement powerful biometric
recognition algorithms on portable devices. Typical iris recognition algorithms, such as Ridge Energy Direction (RED),
utilize two-dimensional convolution in their implementation. This paper explores the energy consumption implications
of 12 different methods of implementing two-dimensional convolution on a portable device. Typically, convolution is
implemented using floating point operations. If a given algorithm implemented integer convolution vice floating point
convolution, it could drastically reduce the energy consumed by the processor. The 12 methods compared include 4
major categories: Integer C, Integer Java, Floating Point C, and Floating Point Java. Each major category is further
divided into 3 implementations: variable size looped convolution, static size looped convolution, and unrolled looped
convolution. All testing was performed using the HTC Thunderbolt with energy measured directly using a Tektronix
TDS5104B Digital Phosphor oscilloscope. Results indicate that energy savings as high as 75% are possible by using
Integer C versus Floating Point C. Considering the relative proportion of processing time that convolution is responsible
for in a typical algorithm, the savings in energy would likely result in significantly greater time between battery charges.
KEYWORDS: Video surveillance, Video, Video processing, Field programmable gate arrays, Image processing, Prototyping, Embedded systems, Parallel processing, Digital signal processing, Standards development
FPGA devices with embedded DSP and memory blocks, and high-speed interfaces are ideal for real-time video
processing applications. In this work, a hardware-software co-design approach is proposed to effectively utilize FPGA
features for a prototype of an automated video surveillance system. Time-critical steps of the video surveillance
algorithm are designed and implemented in the FPGAs logic elements to maximize parallel processing. Other non timecritical
tasks are achieved by executing a high level language program on an embedded Nios-II processor. Pre-tested and
verified video and interface functions from a standard video framework are utilized to significantly reduce development
and verification time. Custom and parallel processing modules are integrated into the video processing chain by Altera's
Avalon Streaming video protocol. Other data control interfaces are achieved by connecting hardware controllers to a
Nios-II processor using Altera's Avalon Memory Mapped protocol.
KEYWORDS: Field programmable gate arrays, Iris, Iris recognition, Databases, Clocks, Image processing, Signal processing, Personal protective equipment, C++, Computing systems
General purpose computer designers have recently begun adding cores to their processors in order to increase performance. For example, Intel has adopted a homogeneous quad-core processor as a base for general purpose computing. PlayStation3 (PS3) game consoles contain a multicore heterogeneous processor known as the Cell, which is designed to perform complex image processing algorithms at a high level. Can modern image-processing algorithms utilize these additional cores? On the other hand, modern advancements in configurable hardware, most notably field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have created an interesting question for general purpose computer designers. Is there a reason to combine FPGAs with multicore processors to create an FPGA multicore hybrid general purpose computer? Iris matching, a repeatedly executed portion of a modern iris-recognition algorithm, is parallelized on an Intel-based homogeneous multicore Xeon system, a heterogeneous multicore Cell system, and an FPGA multicore hybrid system. Surprisingly, the cheaper PS3 slightly outperforms the Intel-based multicore on a core-for-core basis. However, both multicore systems are beaten by the FPGA multicore hybrid system by >50%.
Iris recognition algorithms depend on image processing techniques for proper segmentation of the iris. In the Ridge
Energy Direction (RED) iris recognition algorithm, the initial step in the segmentation process searches for the pupil by
thresholding and using binary morphology functions to rectify artifacts obfuscating the pupil. These functions take
substantial processing time in software on the order of a few hundred million operations. Alternatively, a hardware
version of the binary morphology functions is implemented to assist in the segmentation process. The hardware binary
morphology functions have negligible hardware footprint and power consumption while achieving speed up of 200 times
compared to the original software functions.
KEYWORDS: Facial recognition systems, Field programmable gate arrays, Video, Sensors, Detection and tracking algorithms, Statistical analysis, Image processing, Video surveillance, Digital signal processing, Computer simulations
The first step in a facial recognition system is to find and extract human faces in a static image or video frame. Most face
detection methods are based on statistical models that can be trained and then used to classify faces. These methods are
effective but the main drawback is speed because a massive number of sub-windows at different image scales are
considered in the detection procedure. A robust face detection technique based on an encoded image known as an
"integral image" has been proposed by Viola and Jones. The use of an integral image helps to reduce the number of
operations to access a sub-image to a relatively small and fixed number. Additional speedup is achieved by incorporating
a cascade of simple classifiers to quickly eliminate non-face sub-windows. Even with the reduced number of accesses to
image data to extract features in Viola-Jones algorithm, the number of memory accesses is still too high to support realtime
operations for high resolution images or video frames. The proposed hardware design in this research work
employs a modular approach to represent the "integral image" for this memory-intensive application. An efficient
memory manage strategy is also proposed to aggressively utilize embedded memory modules to reduce interaction with
external memory chips. The proposed design is targeted for a low-cost FPGA prototype board for a cost-effective face
detection/recognition system.
Iris recognition systems have recently become an attractive identification method because of their extremely high
accuracy. Most modern iris recognition systems are currently deployed on traditional sequential digital systems, such as
a computer. However, modern advancements in configurable hardware, most notably Field-Programmable Gate Arrays
(FPGAs) have provided an exciting opportunity to discover the parallel nature of modern image processing algorithms.
In this study, iris matching, a repeatedly executed portion of a modern iris recognition algorithm is parallelized on an
FPGA system. We demonstrate a 19 times speedup of the parallelized algorithm on the FPGA system when compared to
a state-of-the-art CPU-based version.
The iris is currently believed to be the most accurate biometric for human identification. The majority of fielded iris
identification systems are based on the highly accurate wavelet-based Daugman algorithm. Another promising
recognition algorithm by Ives et al uses Directional Energy features to create the iris template. Both algorithms use
Hamming distance to compare a new template to a stored database. Hamming distance is an extremely fast computation,
but weights all regions of the iris equally. Work from multiple authors has shown that different regions of the iris contain
varying levels of discriminatory information. This research evaluates four post-processing similarity metrics for
accuracy impacts on the Directional Energy and wavelets based algorithms. Each metric builds on the Hamming distance
method in an attempt to use the template information in a more salient manner. A similarity metric extracted from the
output stage of a feed-forward multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network demonstrated the most promise. Accuracy
tables and ROC curves of tests performed on the publicly available Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of
Automation database show that the neural network based distance achieves greater accuracy than Hamming distance at
every operating point, while adding less than one percent computational overhead.
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