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EP0547818A2
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EP
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Method and apparatus for controlling the processing of digital image signals
Assignee: Xerox Corp
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Filing: 1992-12-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-12-07
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for controlling the execution of image processing operations carried out on an array of image signals, the specific operations having been identified by a plurality of predefined windows. The windows are divided into a plurality of non-overlapping tiles, the boundaries of which correspond to transitions from one window region to another. Each tile therefore defines an exclusive region within the array of image signals, and the image processing operations to be applied to the signals within the boundaries of that region. Tile data is stored in one of two memory banks (A,B), thereby enabling bank switching and reprogramming of the device in real-time to permit management of complex window shapes. The apparatus is designed to efficiently manage the identification of tile regions while minimizing the required decoding hardware. The apparatus also provides flexibility of programming resulting in greater efficiency of memory usage.
Inventors
- 👤 Leon C. Williams
- 👤 Francis K. Tse
- 👤 Robert F. Buchheit
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:07
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G5/00; G09G5/14
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
85 words
An apparatus for processing video input signals of an image to produce modified video signals, characterised by identifying means for identifying each video signal in a tile region within the image; designating means for designating at least one image processing operation to be applied to each video input signal within the boundaries of the non-overlapping tile region; and processing means, responsive to the designating means, for processing each video input signal in accordance with the designated image processing operation to produce the modified video signals.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
85 words
An apparatus for processing video input signals of an image to produce modified video signals, characterised by identifying means for identifying each video signal in a tile region within the image; designating means for designating at least one image processing operation to be applied to each video input signal within the boundaries of the non-overlapping tile region; and processing means, responsive to the designating means, for processing each video input signal in accordance with the designated image processing operation to produce the modified video signals.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
120 words
An apparatus for sequentially processing an orthogonal array of digital image signals to produce an array of modified digital image signal, characterised by identifying means for identifying, within the array of image signals, a plurality of discrete tile regions; designating means, operative during the processing of the array of digital image signals, for indicating an image processing effect to be applied to a selected digital image signal, with the effect being dependent upon the location of the selected digital image signal with respect to the tile regions; and processing means, responsive to the indicating means, for successively processing each image signal in accordance with the image processing effect defined for the tile region, thereby producing the modified digital image signals.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
120 words
An apparatus for sequentially processing an orthogonal array of digital image signals to produce an array of modified digital image signal, characterised by identifying means for identifying, within the array of image signals, a plurality of discrete tile regions; designating means, operative during the processing of the array of digital image signals, for indicating an image processing effect to be applied to a selected digital image signal, with the effect being dependent upon the location of the selected digital image signal with respect to the tile regions; and processing means, responsive to the indicating means, for successively processing each image signal in accordance with the image processing effect defined for the tile region, thereby producing the modified digital image signals.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said tile regions are non-overlapping.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
153 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said identifying means comprises: memory means (110) including a plurality of dimension storage locations (140a,140b) suitable for storage of a dimensional value therein, said dimensional value representing a length of one of the boundaries of the tile region, and a plurality of associated pointer storage locations (142a, 142b), each pointer storage location (142a, 142b) being suitable for the storage of a pointer value uniquely associated with one of said dimension storage locations (140a, 140b); first indexing means for identifying, within the memory, the dimension storage location containing the length of the tile region; second indexing means for identifying, within the memory, the dimension storage location containing the height of the tile region; and control means for regulating the advancement of said first and second indexing means towards one another in accordance with the position of the video signal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
70 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that said memory means includes at least two banks (A,B) of memory with a first memory bank being adapted for use with said first and second indexing means to identify a tile region for each video signal with a second memory bank being adapted to be programmed with dimensional and pointer values without impacting the operation of the image processing apparatus.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
212 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, characterised in that said control means further comprises: a first counter (122), responsive to the processing of one of the video signals, for initially receiving a value representative of the length of the tile from memory and subsequently decrementing by one each time the video signal is processed, said first counter (122) further emitting a signal upon reaching a zero value; means, responsive to the processing of said video signals, for signaling when a complete video raster has been processed; a second counter (124), responsive to the signaling means, for initially receiving a value representative of the height of the tile from memory, said second counter (124)subsequently decrementing by one each time a complete video raster is processed by the apparatus, said counter (124) also emitting a signal upon reaching a zero value; and a state machine, responsive to said first and second counter signals, for automatically advancing the first indexing means upon detection of the first counter signal and automatically advancing the second indexing upon detection of the second counter signal, saidstate machine further recognizing when said first and second indexing means have reached one another, thereby detecting that the dimensional values stored in the first memory bank have been exhausted.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
43 words
An image processing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that said state machine includes means for swapping the second bank of memory for the first bank of memory upon detecting that the dimensional values in the first bank have been exhausted.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
109 words
An image processing apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that said designating means comprises: a plurality of image processing effects registers, each register consisting of at least one binary storage location used to specify a particular image processing operation to be applied to the video signal; reading means, operative in conjunction with the first indexing means, for reading the pointer value associated with the dimension storage value specified by the first indexing means; and selecting means, responsive to said pointer value, for selecting an image processing effects register and thereby denoting the image processing operation to be applied to the video signal.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for selectively controlling the application of at least one image processing effect to a plurality of digital signals representing an image, characterised by (a) partitioning the image into a plurality of non-overlapping tiles; (b) characterizing the non-overlapping tiles; (c)storing the characteristics of the non-overlapping tiles in memory; (d) initializing data elements based upon the characteristics stored in step (b); (e) consecutively selecting an unprocessed signal from the plurality of digital image signals; (f) identifying the non-overlapping tile region within which the selected signal lies; (g) determining the image processing operation to be applied to the selected signal based upon the identification of the non-overlapping tile region of step(e); (h) processing the selected signal in accordance with the image processing operation determined in step (g); (i) updating the data elements; and (j) checking to determine if the tile characteristics stored in memory have been exhausted; and if so (k) suspending further processing; otherwise (i) continuing at step (e).
Claim 12
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for selectively controlling the application of at least one image processing effect to a plurality of digital signals representing an image, characterised by (a) partitioning the image into a plurality of non-overlapping tiles; (b) characterizing the non-overlapping tiles; (c)storing the characteristics of the non-overlapping tiles in memory; (d) initializing data elements based upon the characteristics stored in step (b); (e) consecutively selecting an unprocessed signal from the plurality of digital image signals; (f) identifying the non-overlapping tile region within which the selected signal lies; (g) determining the image processing operation to be applied to the selected signal based upon the identification of the non-overlapping tile region of step(e); (h) processing the selected signal in accordance with the image processing operation determined in step (g); (i) updating the data elements; and (j) checking to determine if the tile characteristics stored in memory have been exhausted; and if so (k) suspending further processing; otherwise (i) continuing at step (e).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
60 words
A method as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the step of characterizing the non-overlapping tiles and storing the characteristics in memory includes determining the lengths of all tiles, and storing said lengths in successive locations in memory; and determining a common height for each set of laterally adjacent tiles, and storing said common heights in successive memory locations.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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