Message Passing Network Object Signature Tracking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current object tracking systems, particularly in autonomous vehicles, face challenges in maintaining robustness and invariance across multiple cameras and heavy occlusion scenarios, relying heavily on data availability and model capacity, which limits their efficiency in generating consistent object signatures.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a message passing network-based approach that computes initial embeddings from images, constructs a graph to perform successive message passing steps, and uses a classification engine to generate final embeddings for improved object tracking, enabling more robust and consistent signatures through fusion of embeddings from different sensor modalities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If deep learning systems generate unique signatures for all objects using CNNs or transformer-based architectures, then tracking capability is improved, but computational complexity and data requirements increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetracking capabilityVSAvoidmodel complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the object signature generation process into multiple components: initial embedding extraction from individual images, graph construction based on spatial-temporal relationships, and message passing operations to aggregate information from neighboring objects. This segmentation allows the system to achieve reliable tracking through coordinated simple operations rather than a single complex model.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces graph-based embeddings as an intermediary representation between raw image data and final object signatures. The graph structure mediates the aggregation of information from multiple sources (different cameras, time frames, neighboring objects) and transforms it into robust signatures through message passing, avoiding the need for directly training complex deep learning models for signature generation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Stability of the object's composition

If naive methods are used to maintain robustness and invariance to occlusion and camera variations, then tracking stability is improved, but efficiency and adaptability deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetracking stabilityVSAvoidtracking efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic graph construction where the graph structure and message passing relationships are continuously updated based on current scene geometry, object positions, and camera configurations. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain tracking stability across varying conditions while efficiently responding to new situations without requiring retraining or complex pre-computation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameters of the embedding representation by performing message passing operations that transform initial embeddings into final signatures through learned aggregation functions. This parameter transformation enables the system to adapt to different occlusion levels, camera views, and object configurations while maintaining computational efficiency compared to retraining entire deep learning models.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If heavy reliance on data availability and model capacity is used for robust tracking, then signature consistency is improved, but system resource requirements and computational cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesignature consistencyVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies partial action by performing message passing only between relevant neighboring objects in the graph rather than computing all possible pairwise relationships. The message passing operates on a subset of critical interactions that provide sufficient information for robust signature generation, achieving consistent tracking without the computational overhead of exhaustive processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses copying by replicating the message passing network architecture across different graph nodes and layers, allowing each object to generate its signature through identical processing operations on its local neighborhood. This copying approach enables parallel computation and efficient resource utilization while maintaining consistent signature quality across all tracked objects.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS20240233331A1Message passing network based object signature for object tracking
Publication Date: 2024.07.11 QUALCOMM INC
  • US20240233331A1 patent drawing
  • US20240233331A1 patent drawing
  • US20240233331A1 patent drawing

AI summary

Disclosed are systems, apparatuses, processes, and computer-readable media for processing image data. For example, an apparatus can compute initial embeddings from a plurality of images. The apparatus can construct a graph comprising nodes representing the initial embeddings. The apparatus can further perform, based on the graph, a plurality of message passing steps successively to generate final embeddings. The apparatus can classify, using a classification engine, one or more objects in each of the plurality of images based on the final embeddings. The apparatus can further compute a classification loss based on the classifying of the one or more objects.