Patent ID: 7702150

Claim:
A method for determining a p-quantile for a pixel level of a digital image, comprising: employing a plurality of signal processors for: dividing the image into a plurality of disjoint image areas; assigning a plurality of signal processors to each of the image areas; generating a plurality of frequency tables as a function of a plurality of pixel levels for each of the image areas with the assigned signal processors in parallel wherein a plurality of frequencies of occurrence of the pixel levels are defined; computing a plurality of cumulative frequency tables from the frequency tables by summing a frequency of occurrence of one of the pixel levels with frequencies of occurrence of pixel levels lower than the one pixel level; employing a central processor connected to the signal processors for: sending the cumulative frequency tables to a central processor; selecting a pixel level by the central processor; interrogating entries in the cumulative frequency tables for the selected pixel level for all the disjointed image areas; and summing the entries, wherein the central processor successively selects a successive pixel level and approximates the successive selected pixel level corresponding to the p-quantile until the p-quantile is determined based on the summed entries.