Single-output color pattern recognition using a fractional correlator

A novel method for performing color image pattern recognition using a fractional correlator (FC) is proposed. The input plane is illuminated with three different coherent sources of wavelengths corresponding to RGB (red, green, and blue) colors. The output plane provides a single output peak, which is a result of an incoherent addition between the three correlations obtained per each color. By using the fractional correlator, which is a partially space variant correlator, we achieve space-variance-controlled color pattern recognition. The use of the three-color illumination can drastically increase the discrimination ability of the suggested correlator.