FACE RECOGNITION METHOD AND APPARATUS

1 . A face recognition system, comprising:

an image pre-processing module configured to receive a subject facial image and at least one reference facial image,

wherein the image pre-processing module is configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on the subject facial image to generate a corrected subject facial image and configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on at least one reference facial image to generate at least one corrected reference facial image;

a face matching module coupled to the image pre-processing module and configured to perform facial recognition analysis of the corrected subject facial image with at least one reference facial image to generate facial recognition results; and

an output module coupled to the face matching module and configured to receive facial recognition results from the face matching module, wherein the output module is configured to manage the operation of the face recognition system including the operation of the face recognition system based on the facial recognition results received from the face matching module.

2 . The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the image pre-processing module is configured to perform at least one of adjusting the pose of a face in a facial image, adjusting the lighting in a facial image, and adjusting the resolution of a face in a facial image.

3 . The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the face recognition system operates in an identification mode application wherein the face matching module compares the subject facial image with at least one reference facial image from a facial image database.

4 . The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the image pre-processing module includes a subject image pre-processing module configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on a subject facial image captured from a camera or video recorder and a reference image pre-processing module configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on at least one reference facial image received from the facial image database.

5 . The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the face matching module is configured to generate a ranked list of possible matches of reference facial images to the subject facial image.

6 . The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the face recognition system operates in a verification mode application wherein the face matching module compares the subject facial image with a reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image.

7 . The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the image pre-processing module includes a subject image pre-processing module configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on a subject facial image captured from a camera or video recorder and a reference image pre-processing module configured to perform pose and lighting correction processing on the reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image.

8 . The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the face matching module is configured to determine whether or not the subject facial image and the reference facial image are facial images of the same person.

9 . The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image is retrieved from a data source including at least one of a facial image database, a smart card having at least one reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image, a passport photo having an associated known identity with the subject facial image, and an epassport having a reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image.

10 . The system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a testing module that is configured to perform at least one of a False Accept Rate (FAR) test, a False Reject Rate (FRR) test, a CyberExtruder False Accept Rate (CEFAR) test and a Quality test on face recognition results generated by the face recognition system.

11 . A method for face recognition, comprising:

receiving a subject facial image and at least one reference facial image;

performing pose and lighting correction processing on at least one of the subject facial image to generate a corrected subject facial image and the reference facial image to generate a corrected reference facial image;

performing facial recognition analysis of the corrected subject facial image with at least one reference facial image to generate facial recognition results; and

managing the operation of the face recognition method including the operation of the face recognition method based on the facial recognition results.

12 . The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein performing pose and lighting correction processing includes performing at least one of adjusting the pose of a face in a facial image, rotating the pose angle of the face in a facial image, adjusting the lighting in a facial image, and adjusting the resolution of a face in a facial image.

13 . The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein performing facial recognition analysis includes at least one of comparing the subject facial image with at least one reference facial image from a facial image database as part of an identification mode application and comparing the subject facial image with a reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image as part of a verification mode application.

14 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein performing pose and lighting correction processing includes performing pose and lighting correction processing on a subject facial image captured from a camera or video recorder and performing pose and lighting correction processing on at least one reference facial image received from a facial image database as part of the identification mode application.

15 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein performing facial recognition analysis includes generating a ranked list of possible matches of reference facial images to the subject facial image as part of the identification mode application.

16 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein performing pose and lighting correction processing includes performing pose and lighting correction processing on a subject facial image captured from a camera or video recorder and performing pose and lighting correction processing on a reference facial image having an associated known identity with the subject facial image as part of the verification mode application.

17 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein performing facial recognition analysis includes determining whether or not the subject facial image and the reference facial image are facial images of the same person, as part of the verification mode application.

18 . The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising performing at least one of a False Accept Rate (FAR) test, a False Reject Rate (FRR) test, a CyberExtruder False Accept Rate (CEFAR) test and a Quality test on the generated facial recognition results.

19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, carry out a method for face recognition, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive a subject facial image and at least one reference facial image;

instructions to perform pose and lighting correction processing on at least one of the subject facial image to generate a corrected subject facial image and the reference facial image to generate a corrected reference facial image;

instructions to perform facial recognition analysis of the corrected subject facial image with at least one reference facial image to generate facial recognition results; and

instructions to manage the operation of the face recognition method including the operation of the face recognition method based on the facial recognition results.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein instructions to perform pose and lighting correction processing includes at least one of instructions to adjust the pose of a face in a facial image, instructions to rotate the pose angle of the face in a facial image, instructions to adjust the lighting in a facial image, and instructions to adjust the resolution of a face in a facial image.