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A GPU implementation of a structural-similarity-based aerial-image classification

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Abstract

There is an increasing need for fast and efficient algorithms for the automatic analysis of remote-sensing images. In this paper we address the implementation of the semantic classification of aerial images with general-purpose graphics-processing units (GPGPUs). We propose the calculation of a local Gabor-based structural texture descriptor and a structural texture similarity metric combined with a nearest-neighbor classifier and image-to-class similarity on CUDA supported graphics-processing units. We first present the algorithm and then describe the GPU implementation and optimization with the CUDA programming model. We then evaluate the results of the algorithm on a dataset of aerial images and present the execution times for the sequential and parallel implementations of the whole algorithm as well as measurements only for the selected steps of the algorithm. We show that the algorithms for the image classification can be effectively implemented on the GPUs. In our case, the presented algorithm is around 39 times faster on the Tesla C1060 unit than on the Core i5 650 CPU, while keeping the same success rate of classification.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under grant P2-0359 (National research program Pervasive computing) and by Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) and Ministry of Civil Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina, under grant BI-BA/10-11-026 (Bilateral Collaboration Project) and by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Srpska under contract 06/0-020/961-220/11 (Automatic land cover/land use classification).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Rok Češnovar, Tomaž Dobravec & Patricio Bulić

  2. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina

    Vladimir Risojević & Zdenka Babić

Authors
  1. Rok Češnovar
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  2. Vladimir Risojević
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  3. Zdenka Babić
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  4. Tomaž Dobravec
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  5. Patricio Bulić
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Correspondence to Rok Češnovar.

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Češnovar, R., Risojević, V., Babić, Z. et al. A GPU implementation of a structural-similarity-based aerial-image classification. J Supercomput 65, 978–996 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-013-0875-1

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