Patent Document ID: 6018349
Application ID: 08905100
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for aligning a set of at least partially overlapping plural images to construct a mosaic image, comprising the following steps: for at least first and second images of said set of images, finding an incremental deformation of said second image relative to a 3-dimensional coordinate system tending to reduce registration error between overlapping portions of said first and second images; warping said second image in accordance with said incremental deformation and repeating said finding step; wherein said finding step comprises: (A) computing a difference error vector between said first and second images, (B) dividing said second image into plural patches and for each patch: (1) computing gradients at pixels within the patch and computing a single Jacobian within said patch of a coordinate system of said second image with respect to said incremental deformation, (2) combining said gradients with said Jacobian to produce a matrix for said patch, (3) combining said gradients with said error vector and with said Jacobian to produce a residual for said patch, (C) summing said matrix over plural patches and summing said residual over plural patches to produce Hessians and residuals, respectively, and solving normal equations with said residuals and Hessians.