Camera link model estimation in a distributed camera network based on the deterministic annealing and the barrier method

Distributed camera networks have been deployed in the modern surveillance systems. The camera link model, including transition time distribution and brightness transfer function that represent the space-time relationship and color model between two cameras, is a critical element for tracking objects across the cameras. In this paper, we formulate the estimation of the camera link model as an optimization problem, where the deterministic annealing and the barrier method are applied to effectively extract the model parameters. Through the unsupervised scheme, our method utilizes the time stamps and color features together to establish the camera link model in presence of the outliers. Several simulations and comparative studies show the effectiveness of our approach.