Method and system for generating compressed image signals

Claim 1

A method for processing an image, comprising the steps of: (a) generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data; (e) generating at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (f) storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 2

A method for processing an image, comprising the steps of: (a) generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data; (e) generating at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (f) storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 12

A method for processing an image, comprising the steps of: (a) generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (d) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein step (d)(1) comprises the steps of: (A) generating a BS -- STILL -- PERIOD bit; (B) generating a BS -- STILL bit; (C) generating a BS -- STILL -- NEXT bit; (D) generating a BS -- MC -- OFF bit; (E) generating a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) generating a BS -- BUFFER bit; (2) generating a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) generating a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) generating a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) generating a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) generating a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) generating a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) generating a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) generating a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein step (d)(9) comprises the step of generating one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (e) generating a Y-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (e) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a Y-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a Y-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a Y-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (f) generating a U-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (f) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a U-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a U-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a U-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (g) generating a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (g) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a V-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a V-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a V-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (h) storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (i) further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (j) decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (k) converting said decoded image data of step (j) for display; and (l) displaying said converted image data.

Claim 13

A method for processing an image, comprising the steps of: (a) generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (d) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein step (d)(1) comprises the steps of: (A) generating a BS -- STILL -- PERIOD bit; (B) generating a BS -- STILL bit; (C) generating a BS -- STILL -- NEXT bit; (D) generating a BS -- MC -- OFF bit; (E) generating a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) generating a BS -- BUFFER bit; (2) generating a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) generating a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) generating a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) generating a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) generating a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) generating a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) generating a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) generating a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein step (d)(9) comprises the step of generating one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (e) generating a Y-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (e) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a Y-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a Y-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a Y-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (f) generating a U-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (f) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a U-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a U-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a U-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (g) generating a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein step (g) comprises the steps of: (1) generating a V-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) generating a V-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) generating a V-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (h) storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (i) further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (j) decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (k) converting said decoded image data of step (j) for display; and (l) displaying said converted image data.

Claim 14

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) means for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) means for generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) means for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) means for generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data; (e) means for generating at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (f) means for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 15

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) means for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) means for generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) means for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) means for generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data; (e) means for generating at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (f) means for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 28

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) means for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) means for generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) means for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) means for generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (d) comprises: (1) means for generating a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein means (d)(1) comprises: (A) means for generating a BS -- STILL -- PERIOD bit; (B) means for generating a BS -- STILL bit; (C) means for generating a BS -- STILL -- NEXT bit; (D) means for generating a BS -- MC -- OFF bit; (E) means for generating a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) means for generating a BS -- BUFFER bit; (2) means for generating a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) means for generating a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) means for generating a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) means for generating a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) means for generating a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) means for generating a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) means for generating a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) means for generating a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein means (d)(9) comprises means for generating one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (e) means for generating a Y-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (e) comprises: (1) means for generating a Y-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a Y-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a Y-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (f) means for generating a U-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (f) comprises: (1) means for generating a U-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a U-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a U-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (g) means for generating a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (g) comprises: (1) means for generating a V-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a V-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a V-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (h) means for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (i) means for further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (j) means for decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (k) means for converting said decoded image data of means (j) for display; and (l) means for displaying said converted image data.

Claim 29

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) means for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) means for generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) means for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header for said unencoded image data; (d) means for generating a BITSTREAM header in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (d) comprises: (1) means for generating a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein means (d)(1) comprises: (A) means for generating a BS -- STILL -- PERIOD bit; (B) means for generating a BS -- STILL bit; (C) means for generating a BS -- STILL -- NEXT bit; (D) means for generating a BS -- MC -- OFF bit; (E) means for generating a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) means for generating a BS -- BUFFER bit; (2) means for generating a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) means for generating a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) means for generating a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) means for generating a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) means for generating a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) means for generating a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) means for generating a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) means for generating a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein means (d)(9) comprises means for generating one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (e) means for generating a Y-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (e) comprises: (1) means for generating a Y-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a Y-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a Y-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (f) means for generating a U-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (f) comprises: (1) means for generating a U-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a U-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a U-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (g) means for generating a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, wherein means (g) comprises: (1) means for generating a V-component four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field; (2) means for generating a V-component MC VECTORS field; and (3) means for generating a V-component ENCODED DATA field, comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes; (h) means for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (i) means for further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (j) means for decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (k) means for converting said decoded image data of means (j) for display; and (l) means for displaying said converted image data.

Claim 31

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) an image generator for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) a capture processor for generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) a first encoder for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header, a BITSTREAM header, and at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (d) a mass storage device for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 32

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) an image generator for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) a capture processor for generating unencoded three-component image data from said analog image signal; (c) a first encoder for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header, a BITSTREAM header, and at least one component data field in accordance with said unencoded image data; and (d) a mass storage device for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, and said at least one component data field.

Claim 45

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) an image generator for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) a capture processor for generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) a first encoder for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header, a BITSTREAM header, a Y-COMPONENT DATA field, a U-COMPONENT DATA field, and a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, each of said DATA fields comprising a four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field, an MC VECTORS field, and an ENCODED DATA field, said ENCODED DATA field comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes, wherein said BITSTREAM header comprises: (1) a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein said FLAGS field comprises: (A) a BS -- STILL PERIOD bit; (B) a BS -- STILL bit; (C) a BS -- STILL NEXT bit; (D) a BS -- MC OFF bit; (E) a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) a BS -- BUFFER b i t; (2) a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein said ALT QUANT field comprises one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (d) a mass storage device for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (e) a second encoder for further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (f) a decoder for decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (g) a color converter for converting said decoded image data for display; and (h) a display monitor for displaying said converted image data.

Claim 46

A system for processing an image, comprising: (a) an image generator for generating an analog image signal corresponding to said image; (b) a capture processor for generating unencoded YUV9 image data from said analog image signal; (c) a first encoder for generating an OPERATING SYSTEM header, a BITSTREAM header, a Y-COMPONENT DATA field, a U-COMPONENT DATA field, and a V-COMPONENT DATA field in accordance with said unencoded image data, each of said DATA fields comprising a four-byte MC VECTOR COUNT field, an MC VECTORS field, and an ENCODED DATA field, said ENCODED DATA field comprising interleaved binary tree codes and region codes, wherein said BITSTREAM header comprises: (1) a two-byte unsigned FLAGS field, wherein said FLAGS field comprises: (A) a BS -- STILL PERIOD bit; (B) a BS -- STILL bit; (C) a BS -- STILL NEXT bit; (D) a BS -- MC OFF bit; (E) a BS -- DISPOSABLE bit; and (F) a BS -- BUFFER b i t; (2) a four-byte integer DATA SIZE field; (3) a one-byte integer CB OFFSET field; (4) a two-byte integer IMAGE HEIGHT field; (5) a two-byte integer IMAGE WIDTH field; (6) a four-byte integer Y DATA OFFSET field; (7) a four-byte integer U DATA OFFSET field; (8) a four-byte integer V DATA OFFSET field; and (9) a sixteen-byte integer ALT QUANT field, wherein said ALT QUANT field comprises one or more one-byte pairs of vector-quantization table numbers, wherein the high-order bits of each byte correspond to a primary vector-quantization table and the low-order bits of each byte correspond to a secondary vector-quantization table; (d) a mass storage device for storing said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (e) a second encoder for further encoding said OPERATING SYSTEM header, said BITSTREAM header, said Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said V-COMPONENT DATA field; (f) a decoder for decoding said further-encoded OPERATING SYSTEM header, said further-encoded BITSTREAM header, said further-encoded Y-COMPONENT DATA field, said further-encoded U-COMPONENT DATA field, and said further-encoded V-COMPONENT DATA field; (g) a color converter for converting said decoded image data for display; and (h) a display monitor for displaying said converted image data.