Method and system for enhanced image alignment

1. A method for analyzing fingerprint image slices, comprising:

determining at least one dimension for a first sub-slice and for a second sub-slice;

extracting, using a computer processor, the first and second sub-slices from first and second image slices, respectively, wherein the first and second sub-slices overlap in a first overlapping region and wherein the first and second image slices overlap in a second overlapping region; and

computing a shift between the first and second image slices based on information included in the first overlapping region while ignoring at least a portion of information included in the second overlapping region that is outside of the first overlapping region.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shift is a first shift, the method further comprising:

extracting third and fourth sub-slices from the first and second image slices, respectively, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices overlap, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices each have a dimension different from a dimension of the first sub-slice;

computing a second shift between the first and second image slices based on the third and fourth sub-slices; and

determining a third shift between the first and second image slices based at least on the first and second shifts, wherein the third shift is used to align the first and second image slices.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

identifying an optimal dimension, wherein the third shift is equal to the second shift, wherein the dimension of the third sub-slice and the dimension of the fourth sub-slice match the optimal dimension;

extracting first and second sub-slices from third and fourth image slices, respectively, the first and second sub-slices of the third and fourth image slices each having a dimension that matches the optimal dimension; and

computing a shift between the third and fourth image slices based on the first and second sub-slices of the third and fourth image slices, respectively.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

computing a shift between each pair of image slices of a plurality of pairs of image slices;

determining an expected shift based on the shifts computed between each pair of image slices of the plurality of image slices; and

determining an optimal dimension based on the expected shift;

wherein each of the first and second sub-slices have a dimension that matches the optimal dimension.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining an expected shift comprises:

computing a mean or median of the shifts.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing a shift between the first and second image slices comprises:

computing, a PHAse Transform of the first and second sub-slices.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing a shift between the first and second image slices comprises:

computing a correlation between the first and second sub-slices.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

aligning the first and second slices based on the shift.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second sub-slices occupy substantially the same region in the first and second image slices, respectively, in an X direction; and

wherein the first and second sub-slices occupy different regions in the first and second image slices, respectively, in a Y direction.

10. A system for analyzing fingerprint image slices, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute a plurality of modules, wherein the modules include:

a control module configured to determine at least one dimension for a first sub-slice and for a second sub slice;

an extraction module configured to extract first and second sub-slices from first and second image slices, respectively, wherein the first and second sub-slices overlap in a first overlapping region and wherein the first and second image slices overlap in a second overlapping region; and

a shift computation module configured to compute a shift between the first and second image slices based on information included in the first overlapping region while ignoring at least a portion of information included in the second overlapping region that is outside of the first overlapping region the first and second sub-slices.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

an alignment module configured to align the first and second image slices based on the shift computed by the shift computation module.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the shift is a first shift, the system further comprising:

a second extraction module configured to extract third and fourth sub-slices from the first and second image slices, respectively, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices overlap, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices each have a dimension different from a dimension of the first sub-slice;

a second shift computation module configured to compute a second shift between the first and second image slices based on the third and fourth sub-slices; and

wherein the control module configured to determine a third shift between the first and second image slices based at least on the first and second shifts, wherein the third shift is used to align the first and second image slices.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the shift is a first shift and wherein:

the shift determining module is configured to receive third and fourth sub-slices from the first and second image slices, respectively, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices overlap, wherein the third and fourth sub-slices each have a dimension different from a dimension of the first sub-slice, and

compute a second shift between the first and second image slices based on the third and fourth sub-slices;

wherein the control module configured to determine a third shift between the first and second image slices based at least on the first and second shifts, wherein the third shift is used to align the first and second image slices.

14. The system of claim 10 ,

wherein the control module configured to determine an expected shift based on a plurality of received shifts;

wherein the extraction module is configured to determine a dimension of the first sub-slice and a dimension of the second sub-slice based at least on the expected shift.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the shift computation module is configured to determine a shift between the first and second image slices by computing a PHAse Transform of the first and second sub-slices.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the shift computation module is configured to determine a shift between first and second image slices by computing a correlation technique between first and second sub-slices.