FPGA-Based Image Processor for Sensor Nodes in a Sensor Network

A field-programmable-gate-array- (FPGA-) based image processor which can be used for sensor nodes in a sensor network has been proposed and developed. Image processors for the nodes must satisfy requirements such as low power consumption, small circuitry scale, and modifiability of the hardware architecture. By developing an image proces- sor designed using an FPGA, SRAM modules, and the vector code correlation method which is suitable for the construc- tion of the target hardware architecture, it was possible to ensure that the processor satisfies these requirements. In this paper, we present the details of this image processor, which employs the template matching method for target tracking as well as the background subtraction method for object extraction. In addition, in order to verify its applicability in sensor nodes, we demonstrate the usefulness of the image processor from the results of an experiment in which the template matching and background subtraction methods were implemented simultaneously.