title: Efficient FPGA implementation of homodyne-based time-of-flight range imaging

authors: Jongenelen, Adrian P.P.

subjects: 3D-Imaging

abstract: Time-of-flight range imaging systems illuminate a scene with an amplitude-modulated light source, the light is reflected from objects in the scene, and measurement of the phase of the modulation envelope is performed to determine the object’s distance. As the image sensor is capable of performing this task for every pixel simultaneously, acquisition of the entire scene can be performed at rapid (video) update rates, making the technology ideal for real-time applications. In this paper we present an efficient real-time FPGA algorithm for determining phase, and hence distance, from the raw image sensor output. The algorithm has been implemented on a range imaging system based on the PMD19k-2 image sensor, with range processing performed in real time by a Stratix III FPGA. The scarcest resource in this implementation is RAM, and an analysis is presented to maximise the efficiency of this resource whilst maintaining acceptable processing accuracy. The algorithm can be extended for processing multiple simultaneous modulation frequencies. An efficient method for combining these results to determine unambiguous range, based on the Chinese remainder theorem, is also presented.

text: Efficient FPGA implementation of homodyne-based time-of-flight range imaging Time-of-flight range imaging systems illuminate a scene with an amplitude-modulated light source, the light is reflected from objects in the scene, and measurement of the phase of the modulation envelope is performed to determine the object’s distance. As the image sensor is capable of performing this task for every pixel simultaneously, acquisition of the entire scene can be performed at rapid (video) update rates, making the technology ideal for real-time applications. In this paper we present an efficient real-time FPGA algorithm for determining phase, and hence distance, from the raw image sensor output. The algorithm has been implemented on a range imaging system based on the PMD19k-2 image sensor, with range processing performed in real time by a Stratix III FPGA. The scarcest resource in this implementation is RAM, and an analysis is presented to maximise the efficiency of this resource whilst maintaining acceptable processing accuracy. The algorithm can be extended for processing multiple simultaneous modulation frequencies. An efficient method for combining these results to determine unambiguous range, based on the Chinese remainder theorem, is also presented.

year: 2010

title: Responsibilities and funding – consenting pathways and options

authors: McKenzie, Angus

abstract: This presentation will outline the regulatory framework for biosecurity programmes within the Rotorua Lakes and explore a range of potential options for tackling the framework, drawing on my experiences with collaborative comprehensive consenting and national policy tools. Examples to be discussed will include:
· National aquatic weed consent. A multi-agency reassessment that has expanded the aquatic weed toolkit under HSNO and provided efficiencies through reducing administration costs.
· Comprehensive consenting in the Waikato region. Programme level consents for the Waikato Regional Council, their effectiveness, outcomes and relevance to the Rotorua Lakes context.
These examples showcase a range of alternative responses to regulatory requirements that have resulted in positive outcomes for the agencies involved and could provide a framework for the Rotorua Lakes programmes.

text: Responsibilities and funding – consenting pathways and options This presentation will outline the regulatory framework for biosecurity programmes within the Rotorua Lakes and explore a range of potential options for tackling the framework, drawing on my experiences with collaborative comprehensive consenting and national policy tools. Examples to be discussed will include:
· National aquatic weed consent. A multi-agency reassessment that has expanded the aquatic weed toolkit under HSNO and provided efficiencies through reducing administration costs.
· Comprehensive consenting in the Waikato region. Programme level consents for the Waikato Regional Council, their effectiveness, outcomes and relevance to the Rotorua Lakes context.
These examples showcase a range of alternative responses to regulatory requirements that have resulted in positive outcomes for the agencies involved and could provide a framework for the Rotorua Lakes programmes.

year: 2015

title: The Politics of Knowledge and the Reciprocity Gap in the Governance of Intellectual Property Rights

authors: Emett, Raewyn Anne

subjects: Knowledge

abstract: ABSTRACT
This study examines the politics of knowledge benefit-sharing within the re-regulatory framework of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which entered into force in 1995 under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The thesis argues that TRIPS both represents a mainstream legal mechanism for states and organisations to govern ideas through trade, and is characterised by a commercial direction away from multilateralism to bilateralism. In its post-implementation phase, this situation has seen the strongest states and corporations consolidate extensive markets in knowledge goods and services. Through analyses of the various levels of international and national governance within the competitive knowledge structure of international political economy (IPE), this study argues that the politicisation of intellectual property has resulted in the dislocation of reciprocity from its normative roots in fairness and trade equity. In conducting this enquiry the research focuses on the political manifestations of intellectual property consistent with long-standing epistemic considerations of reciprocity to test the extent to which the intrinsic public good value of knowledge and its importance to human societies can be reconciled with the privatisation of public forms of knowledge related to discoveries and innovations. 

This thesis draws on Becker's virtue-theoretic model of reciprocity premised on normative obligations to social life to ground its claim that an absence of substantive reciprocal requirements capable of sustaining equivalent returns and rewards is detrimental, both theoretically and practically, to the intrinsic socio-cultural foundation and public good value of knowledge. The conceptual framework of reciprocity defined and developed in this study challenges the materialist controlling authority and proprietary ownership vested in intellectual property law. A new conceptual approach proposed through reciprocity, and provoked by on-going debates about IP recognition, knowledge protection, access and distribution is advanced to counter strengthened and expanded IPRs. Theories of knowledge and property drawn from political philosophies are employed to test whether reciprocity is sufficiently robust enough, or even capable of, encompassing the gap between capital and applied science. This thesis argues that hyper-capitalism at global, national and local levels, accompanied by the boundless accumulation of technology, closes down competition both compromising IP as private rights and the viability of their governance. The political implications of the protection and enforcement of private rights through IP is examined in two key chapters utilising empirical data in relation to traditional knowledge (TK) and reciprocity; the first sets the parameters of TK and the second explores aspects of Māori knowledge systems and reciprocity directed at identifying national and local issues of significance to the debates on IP governance. As a viable direction for knowledge governance this thesis concludes that the gap between the re-regulatory trade framework of intellectual property on the one hand, and reciprocity on the other, requires closing to ameliorate the detrimental disruptions to democratic integrity, fairness and trade equity for significant numbers of communities and peoples around the world.

text: The Politics of Knowledge and the Reciprocity Gap in the Governance of Intellectual Property Rights ABSTRACT
This study examines the politics of knowledge benefit-sharing within the re-regulatory framework of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which entered into force in 1995 under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The thesis argues that TRIPS both represents a mainstream legal mechanism for states and organisations to govern ideas through trade, and is characterised by a commercial direction away from multilateralism to bilateralism. In its post-implementation phase, this situation has seen the strongest states and corporations consolidate extensive markets in knowledge goods and services. Through analyses of the various levels of international and national governance within the competitive knowledge structure of international political economy (IPE), this study argues that the politicisation of intellectual property has resulted in the dislocation of reciprocity from its normative roots in fairness and trade equity. In conducting this enquiry the research focuses on the political manifestations of intellectual property consistent with long-standing epistemic considerations of reciprocity to test the extent to which the intrinsic public good value of knowledge and its importance to human societies can be reconciled with the privatisation of public forms of knowledge related to discoveries and innovations. 

This thesis draws on Becker's virtue-theoretic model of reciprocity premised on normative obligations to social life to ground its claim that an absence of substantive reciprocal requirements capable of sustaining equivalent returns and rewards is detrimental, both theoretically and practically, to the intrinsic socio-cultural foundation and public good value of knowledge. The conceptual framework of reciprocity defined and developed in this study challenges the materialist controlling authority and proprietary ownership vested in intellectual property law. A new conceptual approach proposed through reciprocity, and provoked by on-going debates about IP recognition, knowledge protection, access and distribution is advanced to counter strengthened and expanded IPRs. Theories of knowledge and property drawn from political philosophies are employed to test whether reciprocity is sufficiently robust enough, or even capable of, encompassing the gap between capital and applied science. This thesis argues that hyper-capitalism at global, national and local levels, accompanied by the boundless accumulation of technology, closes down competition both compromising IP as private rights and the viability of their governance. The political implications of the protection and enforcement of private rights through IP is examined in two key chapters utilising empirical data in relation to traditional knowledge (TK) and reciprocity; the first sets the parameters of TK and the second explores aspects of Māori knowledge systems and reciprocity directed at identifying national and local issues of significance to the debates on IP governance. As a viable direction for knowledge governance this thesis concludes that the gap between the re-regulatory trade framework of intellectual property on the one hand, and reciprocity on the other, requires closing to ameliorate the detrimental disruptions to democratic integrity, fairness and trade equity for significant numbers of communities and peoples around the world.

year: 2007