Image Mapping Tree Storage for Similar Images With Duplicate Parts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for managing image storage space are inefficient in reducing the storage requirements for images with duplicate parts, as deduplication techniques do not adequately address the storage needs in scenarios like cloud storage and social networking platforms.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method using an image mapping tree is employed, where a benchmark image is identified, and similar images are stored as portions based on their differences from the benchmark, with metadata describing the paths to the root block, reducing storage needs by storing only the differing blocks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If deduplication is performed to remove duplicate copies of images, then storage space is reduced, but the reduction is not sufficient when images have similar but not identical content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides images into multiple blocks at different resolution levels, creating a pyramid structure where each level subdivides the previous level. This segmentation allows the system to compare and store only the specific blocks that differ between similar images, rather than treating entire images as single units. The multi-level block division enables fine-grained differential storage of similar images.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an additional dimension by creating multiple resolution levels (pyramid levels) beyond the single image plane. Each level represents a different scale of the same image content, allowing the system to find matching blocks across different resolutions. This dimensional extension enables more flexible matching and storage of similar images with varying resolutions or slight transformations.
2Quantity of substance
If compression techniques are applied to images, then storage space is reduced, but lossless compression may not achieve desired compression ratios
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting images into blocks and organizing them in a pyramid structure, the system can apply differential storage at the block level rather than compressing entire images. This allows for more targeted storage of only the unique portions of similar images, achieving better space utilization without relying solely on traditional compression algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a reference copy (benchmark image) at each pyramid level and stores differential information for similar images relative to this benchmark. Instead of storing complete copies of similar images, the system stores only the differences from the benchmark, significantly reducing storage requirements while maintaining image quality.
3Reliability
If all blocks of similar images are stored, then image quality is preserved, but storage space is not optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a benchmark image copy for each pyramid level and stores differential blocks for similar images relative to this benchmark. The benchmark serves as a reference that preserves the common content, while only the unique differences are stored separately. This approach maintains complete image quality when reconstructing by combining the benchmark with differential blocks, while significantly reducing storage space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-processes images into a pyramid structure and identifies benchmark images in advance before storing similar images. This preliminary organization allows the system to efficiently determine which blocks differ from the benchmark and store only those differences, rather than storing all blocks of all images. The pre-established pyramid structure enables rapid identification and storage of minimal necessary data.
Data Source
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AI summary
Managing an image storage space is provided. A number of processor units identifies a benchmark image in a similar images group. A number of other images not identified in the similar images group as the benchmark image is a set of similar images. The number of processor units creates an image mapping tree. The image mapping tree has a root block for the benchmark image and blocks arranged in a set of layers below the root block based on the set of similar images; the blocks represent portions of the benchmark image; and a plurality of lower blocks in the blocks in a lower layer correspond to subdivisions in an upper block in the blocks in an upper layer. The number of processor units stores a set of selected blocks in the set of similar images that have differences from a set of corresponding blocks in image mapping tree for the benchmark image. The number of processor units store metadata for the set of selected blocks that describes set of paths in the image mapping tree from the set of corresponding blocks in the image mapping tree to the root block.