Cloud-Based Image Processing for Portable Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable computing devices, such as mobile phones, lack the processing power and storage capacity to adequately handle computationally intensive image processing tasks, necessitating the use of remote servers for enhanced image processing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A system and method where a portable computing device captures a set of images, including a reference image and additional images, which are then processed on a remote server to determine similarity, align, and combine pixel values to improve image quality, enabling features like panoramic image creation and storage on both the device and cloud-based services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If images are processed on portable computing devices, then processing speed is improved, but device complexity and processing power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts computationally intensive image processing tasks from the portable device and relocates them to remote cloud servers. The portable device only captures images and transmits them to the cloud, where sophisticated processing algorithms analyze multiple images and generate enhanced results. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining fast processing speed through cloud computing while avoiding the complexity of implementing powerful processing capabilities locally on the portable device.
2Measurement precision
If multiple images are captured and processed to improve quality, then image quality is improved, but storage capacity requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the storage burden from the portable device by uploading multiple captured images to remote cloud servers for processing. The cloud server stores and manages the image datasets, allowing the portable device to maintain only minimal local storage for recent images. This extraction enables high image quality through multi-image processing while significantly reducing the storage capacity requirements on the portable device.
Solution Approach 2:
The cloud server provides universal storage and processing capabilities for multiple images, serving various functions including quality enhancement, panoramic image generation, and data management. This multi-functional cloud-based system allows the portable device to access sophisticated processing and storage resources without needing to implement them locally, resolving the contradiction between image quality improvement and storage capacity requirements.
3Measurement precision
If computationally intensive image processing is performed, then image processing capabilities are improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud server as an intermediary between the portable device and the image processing system. The portable device captures images and transmits them to the cloud server, which performs sophisticated processing using its computational resources. This intermediary approach enables advanced image processing capabilities while managing processing time through efficient cloud-based computation, resolving the contradiction between processing capabilities and processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
Approaches are described for managing the processing of image or video data captured by a portable computing device. The device provides a set of images to a remote server executing “in the cloud”. The set of images can include a reference image and at least one other image captured subsequent or prior to the reference. Upon receiving the set of images at the remote server operating, the remote server can process the images to determine a similarity between the reference image and each of the other images. Thereafter, each image having a similarity value above a similarity value threshold can be aligned with the reference image, and the pixel values for corresponding locations in each of the images can be combined to create a processed image. The processed images can be provided to the computing device from the remote server, where the user can decide to accept or discard the image.