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Design and Implementation of Embedded Video Surveillance Hardware

Kristensen, Fredrik LU (2007)
Abstract
The demands on video surveillance systems are rapidly increasing regarding parameters such as frame rate and resolution. Furthermore, with an ever increasing number of video streams, an automated process for extracting relevant information is required. Due to the large amount of input data and the computational complexity of the algorithms, software implementations are not sufficient to sustain real-time performance for reasonable resolutions. In this thesis an automated digital surveillance system running on an embedded platform in real-time is presented. Algorithms that are well suited for hardware implementation with streamlined dataflow are chosen and dedicated hardware accelerators have been developed. The presented hardware platform... (More)
The demands on video surveillance systems are rapidly increasing regarding parameters such as frame rate and resolution. Furthermore, with an ever increasing number of video streams, an automated process for extracting relevant information is required. Due to the large amount of input data and the computational complexity of the algorithms, software implementations are not sufficient to sustain real-time performance for reasonable resolutions. In this thesis an automated digital surveillance system running on an embedded platform in real-time is presented. Algorithms that are well suited for hardware implementation with streamlined dataflow are chosen and dedicated hardware accelerators have been developed. The presented hardware platform has been developed with the goal of presenting a proof of concept for the surveillance system and to identify computational and memory bottlenecks. Furthermore, when proposing modifications to the original algorithms extensive simulations are needed, especially if long-term effects in the video sequences can be envisioned. Utilizing a reconfigurable platform based on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) reduces the simulation and development time considerably.



The main bottleneck of the proposed system, as well as for most image processing algorithms, is the high memory requirements. Therefore, simplifications have been proposed both on the algorithmic and the implementation levels. Furthermore, elevating the point of view from block to system level made it possible to perform cross boundary optimization and to explore other system architectures. On a block level, a low complexity morphological datapath unit, a contour tracing label unit that utilize Green's formula to extract object features, and color feature extraction on streaming data are presented. From a system level perspective the following were identified: unique labels are not required; changing color space from RGB to YCbCr both improved the segmentation result and allowed a simple face detector; a stall-free morphological unit will allow operations directly on the input data without buffering. It is also shown how retiming of the system can lead to substantial reduction of memory requirements. On an architectural level, replacing the morphology and labeling block with an image projection unit was investigated. To accommodate more advanced functionality such as face recognition and object classification advanced features have to be used. In this thesis one such feature detector, MSER, has been implemented. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Hårdvara och algoritmer för ett inbyggt videoövervakningssystem presenteras i denna avhandling. För att verifiera systemet så har en prototyp byggts.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Ph.D. Turbell, Henrik, Senior Specialist R&D, at SICK IVP AB, Linköping
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Elektronik och elektroteknik, Electronics and Electrical technology, image features, tracking, labeling, morphology, real-time operations, Hardware design, Image processing, Imaging, image processing, Bildbehandling, Signal processing, Signalbehandling
publisher
Electro and information technology
defense location
Room E:1406, E-building, Ole Römers Väg 3, Lund University Faculty of Engineering
defense date
2007-09-28 10:15:00
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
583c6776-be6f-4e88-be9b-63848598306b (old id 598849)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:48:38
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:36:33
@phdthesis{583c6776-be6f-4e88-be9b-63848598306b,
  abstract     = {{The demands on video surveillance systems are rapidly increasing regarding parameters such as frame rate and resolution. Furthermore, with an ever increasing number of video streams, an automated process for extracting relevant information is required. Due to the large amount of input data and the computational complexity of the algorithms, software implementations are not sufficient to sustain real-time performance for reasonable resolutions. In this thesis an automated digital surveillance system running on an embedded platform in real-time is presented. Algorithms that are well suited for hardware implementation with streamlined dataflow are chosen and dedicated hardware accelerators have been developed. The presented hardware platform has been developed with the goal of presenting a proof of concept for the surveillance system and to identify computational and memory bottlenecks. Furthermore, when proposing modifications to the original algorithms extensive simulations are needed, especially if long-term effects in the video sequences can be envisioned. Utilizing a reconfigurable platform based on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) reduces the simulation and development time considerably.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The main bottleneck of the proposed system, as well as for most image processing algorithms, is the high memory requirements. Therefore, simplifications have been proposed both on the algorithmic and the implementation levels. Furthermore, elevating the point of view from block to system level made it possible to perform cross boundary optimization and to explore other system architectures. On a block level, a low complexity morphological datapath unit, a contour tracing label unit that utilize Green's formula to extract object features, and color feature extraction on streaming data are presented. From a system level perspective the following were identified: unique labels are not required; changing color space from RGB to YCbCr both improved the segmentation result and allowed a simple face detector; a stall-free morphological unit will allow operations directly on the input data without buffering. It is also shown how retiming of the system can lead to substantial reduction of memory requirements. On an architectural level, replacing the morphology and labeling block with an image projection unit was investigated. To accommodate more advanced functionality such as face recognition and object classification advanced features have to be used. In this thesis one such feature detector, MSER, has been implemented.}},
  author       = {{Kristensen, Fredrik}},
  keywords     = {{Elektronik och elektroteknik; Electronics and Electrical technology; image features; tracking; labeling; morphology; real-time operations; Hardware design; Image processing; Imaging; image processing; Bildbehandling; Signal processing; Signalbehandling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Electro and information technology}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Design and Implementation of Embedded Video Surveillance Hardware}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}