Digital FPGA Circuits Design for Real-Time Video Processing with Reference to Two Application Scenarios

In the present days of digital revolution, image and/or video processing has become a ubiquitous task: from mobile devices to special environments, the need for a real-time approach is everyday more and more evident. Whatever the reason, either for user experience in recreational or internet-based applications or for safety related timeliness in hard-real-time scenarios, the exploration of technologies and techniques which allow for this requirement to be satisfied is a crucial point. General purpose CPU or GPU software implementations of these applications are quite simple and widespread, but commonly do not allow high performance because of the high layering that separates high level languages and libraries, which enforce complicated procedures and algorithms, from the base architecture of the CPUs that offers only limited and basic (although rapidly executed) arithmetic operations. The most practised approach nowadays is based on the use of Very-Large-Scale Integrated (VLSI) digital electronic circuits. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are integrated digital circuits designed to be configured after manufacturing, "on the field". They typically provide lower performance levels when compared to Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), but at a lower cost, especially when dealing with limited production volumes. Of course, on-the-field programmability itself (and re-programmability, in the vast majority of cases) is also a characteristic feature that makes FPGA more suitable for applications with changing specifications where an update of capabilities may be a desirable benefit. Moreover, the time needed to fulfill the design cycle for FPGA-based circuits (including of course testing and debug speed) is much reduced when compared to the design flow and time-to-market of ASICs. In this thesis work, we will see (Chapter 1) some common problems and strategies involved with the use of FPGAs and FPGA-based systems for Real Time Image Processing and Real Time Video Processing (in the following alsoindicated interchangeably with the acronym RTVP); we will then focus, in particular, on two applications. Firstly, Chapter 2 will cover the implementation of a novel algorithm for Visual Search, known as CDVS, which has been recently standardised as part of the MPEG-7 standard. Visual search is an emerging field in mobile applications which is rapidly becoming ubiquitous. However, typically, algorithms for this kind of applications are connected with a high leverage on computational power and complex elaborations: as a consequence, implementation efficiency is a crucial point, and this generally results in the need for custom designed hardware. Chapter 3 will cover the implementation of an algorithm for the compression of hyperspectral images which is bit-true compatible with the CCSDS-123.0 standard algorithm. Hyperspectral images are three dimensional matrices in which each 2D plane represents the image, as captured by the sensor, in a given spectral band: their size may range from several millions of pixels up to billions of pixels. Typical scenarios of use of hyperspectral images include airborne and satellite-borne remote sensing. As a consequence, major concerns are the limitedness of both processing power and communication links bandwidth: thus, a proper compression algorithm, as well as the efficiency of its implementation, is crucial. In both cases we will first of all examine the scope of the work with reference to current state-of-the-art. We will then see the proposed implementations in their main characteristics and, to conclude, we will consider the primary experimental results

Object Duplicate Detection

With the technological evolution of digital acquisition and storage technologies, millions of images and video sequences are captured every day and shared in online services. One way of exploring this huge volume of images and videos is through searching a particular object depicted in images or videos by making use of object duplicate detection. Therefore, need of research on object duplicate detection is validated by several image and video retrieval applications, such as tag propagation, augmented reality, surveillance, mobile visual search, and television statistic measurement. Object duplicate detection is detecting visually same or very similar object to a query. Input is not restricted to an image, it can be several images from an object or even it can be a video. This dissertation describes the author's contribution to solve problems on object duplicate detection in computer vision. A novel graph-based approach is introduced for 2D and 3D object duplicate detection in still images. Graph model is used to represent the 3D spatial information of the object based on the local features extracted from training images so that an explicit and complex 3D object modeling is avoided. Therefore, improved performance can be achieved in comparison to existing methods in terms of both robustness and computational complexity. Our method is shown to be robust in detecting the same objects even when images containing the objects are taken from very different viewpoints or distances. Furthermore, we apply our object duplicate detection method to video, where the training images are added iteratively to the video sequence in order to compensate for 3D view variations, illumination changes and partial occlusions. Finally, we show several mobile applications for object duplicate detection, such as object recognition based museum guide, money recognition or flower recognition. General object duplicate detection may fail to detection chess figures, however considering context, like chess board position and height of the chess figure, detection can be more accurate. We show that user interaction further improves image retrieval compared to pure content-based methods through a game, called Epitome

The Victorian Preacher’s Malady: The Metaphorical Usage of Gout in the Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Title based on PDF of title page, viewed November 2, 2017Dissertation advisors: Gary L. Ebersole and Lynda PayneVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 351-373)Thesis (Ph.D.)--Center for Religious Studies and Department of History. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2017This dissertation examines the use of the gout metaphor in the life and writings of one of Victorian England’s most eminent preachers and gout sufferers, the Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Careful scrutiny of his sermons, articles, and personal correspondence reveals both theological continuity with the seventeenth-century English Puritans as well as contemporaneous cultural currents, such as the Victorian ideal of Christian manliness and the presence of persistent tropes from England’s Georgian period. This study highlights the dramatic presentation and use of Spurgeon’s body in his preaching performances, especially in his early ministry. Spurgeon’s dramatic style, which was often pejoratively labeled as “theatrical,” and his phenomenal success, led to the construction of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Completed in 1861, this mammoth structure had a capacity to seat six thousand congregants. The architecture of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, as it was also known, contained a protruding platform and was devoid of a traditional pulpit and organ. It was truly a “preacher’s hall.” These features focused the hearers’ attention on the body of Spurgeon. Spurgeon’s platform became the scene of another drama, one that took years to play out. Gout, along with Bright’s Disease (chronic inflammation of the kidneys) took its toll on the body of Spurgeon, transforming the once youthful, energetic preacher into a soft and bloated figure that struggled, at times, even to stand through the sermon. This very public transformation was also chronicled in Victorian material culture through cartes-de visite, Cabinet cards, cartoons, and caricatures. The dissertation concludes with an analysis of gout and the contested body of Spurgeon. Particular attention is paid to the cartoon, “Parsons in the Pulpit.” The cartoon, like Spurgeon’s life, does not become intelligible unless read with gout and the notion of Christian manliness in mind.Introduction -- Spurgeon's life and the influence of the puritans -- Spurgeon and the presentation of his body -- Gout's cultural metaphors and the Seventeenth Century Puritans -- Spurgeon's use of the gout metaphor and its meanings and significances -- Appendix A. Chronology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon -- Appendix B. Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Life Through the Photographer’s Lens -- Appendic C. The Contested Body of Spurgeon from Satire to Solemn Processio