IP Library › Granted Patent US 7,340,458
Granted Patent B2
US 7,340,458 · App. 10/139,177 · Granted Mar 4, 2008

Meta-descriptor for multimedia information

Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,340,458
App. No.
10/139,177
Granted
Mar 4, 2008
Kind
B2
Abstract

Multimedia information retrieval is performed using meta-descriptors in addition to descriptors. A “descriptor” is a representation of a feature, a “feature” being a distinctive characteristic of multimedia information, while a “meta-descriptor” is information about the descriptor. Meta-descriptors are generated for multimedia information in a repository ( 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 ) by extracting the descriptors from the multimedia information ( 111 ), clustering the multimedia information based on the descriptors ( 112 ), assigning meta-descriptors to each cluster ( 113 ), and attaching the meta-descriptors to the multimedia information in the repository ( 114 ). The multimedia repository is queried by formulating a query using query-by-example ( 131 ), acquiring the descriptor/s and meta-descriptor/s for a repository multimedia item ( 132 ), generating a query descriptor/s if none of the same type has been previously generated ( 133, 134 ), comparing the descriptors of the repository multimedia item and the query multimedia item ( 135 ), and ranking and displaying the results ( 136, 137 ).

Claims (59)

1. A method of searching multimedia information in a repository described by descriptors using a query multimedia information item, comprising executing operations in a data processing device, the operations comprising acts of:

acquiring meta-descriptors of repository descriptors;

selecting query multimedia information;

extracting at least one query descriptor from the query multimedia information based on the meta-descriptors;

comparing the query descriptor with the repository descriptors;

ranking at least some of the multimedia information in the repository in accordance with the comparing act; and

providing an output indicating the ranking, wherein the repository descriptors are instances of a plurality of different descriptor types, and where the act of extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information comprises extracting a plurality of descriptors based on the meta-descriptors to obtain a plurality of query descriptors, the query descriptors being respective instances of the descriptor types; and the comparing act comprises comparing the query descriptors with respective repository descriptors having same descriptor types.

2. The method of claim. 1 , wherein at least one of the query descriptors is a value repreuentng a descriptor type.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein meta-descriptors are included in the repository descriptors.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the comparing act ccanpz ices comparing query descriptors to stored meta-descriptors.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the query descriptors is a value representing a descriptor type.

6. A method of retrieving multimedia information from a repository, comprising executing operations in a data processing device, the operations comprising acts of:

extracting repository descriptors from the multimedia information in the repository;

generating clusters of the repository descriptors;

indexing the repository descriptors to the multimedia information in the repository;

generating meta-descriptors for the clusters;

attaching the meta-descriptors for the clusters to respective multimedia information in the clusters;

selecting query multimedia information;

extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information based on the meta-descriptors to obtain at least one query descriptor;

comparing the query descriptor with the repository descriptors;

ranking at least some of the multimedia information in the repository in accordance with the comparing act; and

providing an output indicating the ranking.

7. A method as in claim 6 wherein the repository descriptors are instances of a plurality of different descriptor types, and wherein:

the act of extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information comprises extracting a plurality of descriptors based on the meta-descriptors to obtain a plurality of query descriptors, the query descriptors being respective instances of the descriptor types; and

the comparing act comprises comparing the query descriptors with respective repository descriptors having same descriptor types.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein meta-descriptors are included in the repository descriptors.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the comparing act comprises comparing query descriptors to stored meta-descriptors.

10. A method comprising executing operations in at least one data processing device, the operations comprising acts of:

maintaining a database of multimedia information, the database comprising at least one respective descriptor and at least one respective meta-descriptor attached to each piece of the multimedia information;

extracting at least one query descriptor from query multimedia information based on meta-descriptors of the multimedia information; and

comparing the query descriptor with descriptors of the multimedia information in said database;

ranking at least some of the multimedia information in the database in accordance with the comparing act; and

providing an output indicating the ranking, wherein the repository descriptors are instances of a plurality of different descriptor types, and where the act of extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information comprises extracting a plurality of descriptors based on the meta-descriptors to obtain a plurality of query descriptors, the query descriptors being respective instances of the descriptor types;

and the comparing act comprises comparing the query descriptors with respective repository descriptors having same descriptor types.

11. Apparatus for searching a database of multimedia information in a repository, the apparatus comprising:

means for storing the database; and

at least one data processing device performs operations comprising the acts of:

acquiring meta-descriptors of repository descriptors;

selecting query multimedia information;

extracting at least one query descriptor from the query multimedia information based on the meta-descriptors to obtain at least one query descriptor;

comparing the query descriptor with the repository descriptors;

ranking at least some of the multimedia information in the repository in accordance with the comparing act; and

providing an output indicating the ranking, wherein the repository descriptors are instances of a plurality of different descriptor types, and where the act of extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information comprises extracting a plurality of descriptors based on the meta-descriptors to obtain a plurality of query descriptors, the query descriptors being respective instances of the descriptor types;

and the comparing act comprises comparing the query descriptors with respective repository descriptors having same descriptor types.

12. Apparatus for retrieving information from a database of multimedia information, the apparatus comprising:

means for storing the database; and

at least one data processing device performs operations comprising acts of:

extracting repository descriptors from the multimedia information in the repository;

generating clusters of the repository descriptors;

indexing the repository descriptors to the multimedia information in the repository;

generating meta-descriptors for the clusters;

attaching the meta-descriptors for the clusters to the respective multimedia information in the clusters;

selecting query multimedia information;

extracting at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information based on the meta-descriptors to obtain at least one query descriptor;

comparing the query descriptor with the repository descriptors; and

ranking at least some of the multimedia information in the repository in accordance with the comparing act; and

providing an output indicating the ranking.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the act of extracting the at least one descriptor from the query multimedia information comprises extracting a plurality of descriptors based on the meta-descriptors to obtain a plurality of query descriptors, the query descriptors being respective instances of the descriptor types;

and the comparing act comprises comparing the query descriptors with respective repository descriptors having same descriptor types.

Continuity (2)
Continuation 0934721400 · Jul 2, 1999
Related Publication 20020159640A1 · Oct 31, 2002