CA1197004A - Video image field cut processing - Google Patents
Video image field cut processingInfo
- Publication number
- CA1197004A CA1197004A CA000441048A CA441048A CA1197004A CA 1197004 A CA1197004 A CA 1197004A CA 000441048 A CA000441048 A CA 000441048A CA 441048 A CA441048 A CA 441048A CA 1197004 A CA1197004 A CA 1197004A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- scan line
- control instruction
- field
- series
- processing
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
- G06V10/10—Image acquisition
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/14—Image acquisition
- G06V30/1444—Selective acquisition, locating or processing of specific regions, e.g. highlighted text, fiducial marks or predetermined fields
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/14—Image acquisition
- G06V30/146—Aligning or centring of the image pick-up or image-field
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/14—Image acquisition
- G06V30/148—Segmentation of character regions
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
Abstract
VIDEO IMAGE FIELD CUT PROCESSING
Abstract Of The Disclosure Video image data received from an optical docu-ment reading system is processed by a dynamic field cut technique which utilizes the scan line as its ele-mental unit of data in controlling the concurrent extraction and processing of the individual fields.
The field cut technique of the present invention has a chain of control instructions with a series of poin-ters being utilized to control the sequential pro-cessing of the control instructions and permit bypassing the control instructions for fields for which processing has been completed. By this arrange-ment, the number of operations necessary to separately, act on a plurality independently defined fields is reduced.
Abstract Of The Disclosure Video image data received from an optical docu-ment reading system is processed by a dynamic field cut technique which utilizes the scan line as its ele-mental unit of data in controlling the concurrent extraction and processing of the individual fields.
The field cut technique of the present invention has a chain of control instructions with a series of poin-ters being utilized to control the sequential pro-cessing of the control instructions and permit bypassing the control instructions for fields for which processing has been completed. By this arrange-ment, the number of operations necessary to separately, act on a plurality independently defined fields is reduced.
Description
~97~
VIDEO IMAGE FIBLO CUT PROCESSING
I~hls lnvention relates to the processing oE ~ata from an image system, and more particularly to the processing o~ digi tal image data received f rom an optical document reading system.
Documents which are processed by an optical docu-ment r~ading system typically have one or more areas or uimage fields~ at various locations on the document wh~ch contain information, such as printed or wrltten alphabetic or numeric characters for example. The doculoent reading system scan~ the document and con-verts the infosmation on the document into an out.put ~tream of digital image data.
The output data stream f rom the image sys tem con-sist~ of equal size picture elemen'cs or PELIs corresponding to the digital video output fro~ an optical ~canner,. The data stream is usually divided ~nto ~can l;nes consisting of a fixed number o PEL's,.
A common set of connected PEL' s is referred to as an lmage fieldl A reotangylar ima~e field i5 comple~ely .20 . def irled by the index or value of ~he f irst and last scan lines, and the beginning and ending PEL loca-tions .
In the past, a major problem of document image proces~ing has been the high costs associated wi th . 25 handling and buffering of binary images. ~hi~ is because the image f ields of a document are typically extracted and placed in a buffer in their entlrety beEore ~hey are processed.
Docket NC),, CT9~82-005 The present invention provides a dynamlc field cut technique which utilizes the scan line as its ele-mental unit cf data in controlling the concurrent extractlon and processing of the individual image fieldsO This technique provides substantial savings in data handling and buffering costs over conventional field cut methodsO
Summary Of The Invention To eficiently process a document sequentially, its format for all image fields is defined in adYance.
The field cut function of the present invention uti ll~es a series or chain of control instructions to control the extraction of these image fields on a scan l~ne by scan line basis.
The term "control instruction~ as used herein~
refers to instructions or inEormation which defines each field and specifies the functions to be performed on each scan line of image da~a as presented. A sep-- arate control instruction is provided for each image field on the document. The control instructions are arranged in a chain or series ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbersO For th~
control instruction of each field there are two poin-tars maintained in the chain which correspond to the next field to be processed ~i.e. a forward pointer) and the previous field (i.e. a rearward pointer).
~he forward pointers link the chain in the order in which image fields appear. The rearward pointers enable chang;ng of a forward pointer so as to b~pass an intermediate control instruction once the field it relates to has been completely processed.
Docket No. CT9-82-005 ~3--A pointer to the first field in the chain and a current field pointer are also maintained. The current field pointer i~ set equal to the first field pointer prior to processing each sequential scan line.
As a scan line is received from the video system, its inde~ or scan line number is oompared with the first scan line of the current (first~ field~ If this scan line number is less than the value of the first scan line, then this scan llne is not part of this field.
Because of the orderlng of all fields, It will be understood that this scan line cannot belong to any other field defined in the chainr and processing of thi~ particular scan line ls terminated and t:he next scan llne is processed.
If the current scan line number is great:er than ' or eq~al to the value of the first scan line of the eurrent field, then a field has been located and pro-cessing can be performed on the appropriate E~EL's of that scan line according to the specified function 24 deinition for that ield. Proce~sing continlues for each scan line in the field until the current. field is completed.
When all processing for a field is completed, the control instruction for that field is removed from the chain. This is accomplished by changing the forward pointer of the control instruction o~ the previous (still active) fiel~ and the rearward pointer of the control instruction of the next active field. Thus D
an ~ntermediate lnstruction is bypassed once the ~ield it relates to has been completely processed~ This ~ocket No. CT9-82-005 arrangement limits the number oE operations necessary to separately act on a plurallty of independently def.ined fields.
Restated broadly, the present invention is directe~ to an lmage processing system for dissecting into predetermined fields image data received ~rom a document, and comprises-means for receivlng a series of scan lines of imaqe data which collectively represent an image sour.ce area, said receiving means including means for ldentifying a sequence of numbers for each ~can line of l:he eries, means for storing, at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one 15 instruction for each field o~ image data to be pro~
cessed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a for~1ard pointer to the control instruction for the ne~t: fleld to be proces~ed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the seriesy an inltial sc~nl line number, and a function controller ~or spe ci~Ey~ing the ~unction~ to be per~ormed on the image data, said series of control instructions being ;ni-tialized such that ~he instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence o~ their contained ini~ial scan line numbers; and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
~a) accessins the first of sald control instruc~
t~ons, Dock~t NoO CT9-82-005 7~
--s~
~b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line pre~ented wlth the initial ~can line number o~ the accessed control ln~truction and termlnatang processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan llne number is greater than said presented ~can line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the ~unction specified by said functlon controller of the accessed control instruction~
(d) accesslng by use of the forward pointer of the a~cessed control i~structi~n, a urther control instruction, and ~e) repeating operations (b) through (d3 until processing of ~he presented can llne ls terminated.
In a further aspect of the invention, each control instruction of said series includes i~for-mat:lon by which the completlon of processing of the associated field can be dete~mlned, and wherein the ~ys~em further compr~ses means responslve to the oompletion of processing o~ a ield associated with one control instr~ction fox access~ng, by use of the rearward pointer of said one control instruc~ionr a prior control instruction~ and for ~ubstitutlng the forward pointer from said one control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, and substltuting the rear~
ward pointer rom said one control instruction for the 30 rearward pointer of the cont ol instruction o the nexS: acl:lve field, whereby subsequent processillg of said ~eries o~ control instructions will effecti~ely bypcl85 sald one control ~n~truction.
Docket ~;lo. CT9-32-005 7~
~ rom the foregoing, it wlll be ~een that the pre~
serlt invention provides a significant savings of video buffering by allowing the dynamic processing of image fields~ Processing is optimized since only tho~e image fields associated with the current scan line are proces~ed. A further optimization ls attained by allowlng an early removal of an image fleld from the ¢hain of instructions as determined by more sophisti-cated tests performed within ~he field unction. The definition of complex fields is possible with no restrictions on overlapping fields or field ~hapes~
~he ~ame PEL could exist in more than one field and be processed by different functions as required. This is particulary useful where both image capture and character recognit~on functions are to be performed on overlapping fields.
B~ Description Of Th~ Draw~
5Ome of the features and advantages of the inven-tion havlng now been described, others will become apparent from the detailed description which follows, when taken in connection with the accompanying . drawlngs, in which --Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showingan optical reading system and the associated elements utilized in the image processing system of the present invention;
~ igure 2 is a plan view illustra~ing a document wlth various fields of infor~ation thereon;
Docket No. CT9-82-005 Flgure 3 ls a schematic flow chart illustratlng the sequence of operations carried out in the pro-cessing of image data obtained fxom the document in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 4 is a block diagram schematic illustra-tion of a series of control instructions for pro-cessing the data, and Figures 5 and 6 are block diagram schematic illustrations of the control instructions as they appear at various ~tages during the processing of suc~
ceE~ive ields oE the document.
DescriPtion Of An Illustrative Embodiment Referring now mor~ particularly to Figure 1, the reference character 10 generally indicates an optical lS scanner, of known construction and operation, adapted for scanning and reading on a line-by-line basis information printed or written in selected areas or image fields ~f a document D. The optical scanner device 10 has a predetermined ield of view extending widthwise of the documenk D in the form v~ a narrow line, and suitable means, such as drive rolls 11, are provided for advanciny the document D through the field of view of the scanner devicQ. As the document passes thrvugh the field of view of the scanner, it is sGanned and read as a succession of closely arranged wldthwise e~tending scan lines. The pattern of light and dark images present on the document D within the field o~ view of the scannlng device ls focu~ed by a Docket NOD CT9~82 005 ~8 lens 12 onto a photodetecting device 13. The photo de'cecting device converts the pattern of light and dark lmages into electrlcal signals definin~ a series of ~uccessively arranged pic'cure elements or PEI,' 8 5 whlch collectively constltute the scan line. The ~ignals are then psocessed by a sultable slgnal con~
~erter 14, such as an A to D converter, into a digltal data signal describing each PEL of the scan linel, The optical scanner 10 i~ also provided wi th 10 means for counting the number of lines which have been ~canned in a document and for providing a data signal representing the sequence number of each scan line~
Thi~ is schematically ~llustrated in Figure 1 by the ~ e counter 15. A6 the document is successively 15 scanned by the optical scanner device 10, the image data for each scan line, obtained from the ~;ignal pro-ce~sor 14/ together with the sequlence number for each scan line~ as determined by the line counter 15, is stvred in a bufer memory 16. The buffer 16 may have 20 a cap~city foc storing as many a8 ~everal hundred scan llne~ of ~mage data at any given time, with successive new ~can lines being overwritten into locations pre-viously occupied by earlier scan lines for which pro~
cessing has been completed O
Image data for individual image ields of the document is extracted and processed under the control of the field cut function o the present i nvention, as 6chematically ~ndicated at 17, wlth variou6 operations being performed on the extracted data, such as for example character recognitlon, a~ ~ndicated at 1~ or image capture as lndlcated ~chematlcally at 19.
Docket No. CT9-82~0û5 - 9 - ~
Flgure 2 illustrates in more detail a represen-ta~ive documen~ D which may be processed in accordance wlth the present invention. The document lllustrated conta~ns six areas or lmage fields, identified by the reference characters 1 to 6 respectively, which are of varying sizes and which are located at various loca-tions on the document D. Additionally~ the document contains a format field area, identified by the reference character F. While the image ields ar~
represented in the drawing by boxes, it will be understood that the document need ~ot necessarily con-tain printed boxes identifying the respective image fields, although in some lnstances this may be desirable. Contained within each of the image fields 1 to 6 are various types of printed or handwritten ~nformat~on wh~ch i5 to be optically scanned and pro-cessed. Thus, for example, in the illustrative docu-ment D, field 1 contains a sense mark, such as a darkened bo~, at a predetermined location, while field
VIDEO IMAGE FIBLO CUT PROCESSING
I~hls lnvention relates to the processing oE ~ata from an image system, and more particularly to the processing o~ digi tal image data received f rom an optical document reading system.
Documents which are processed by an optical docu-ment r~ading system typically have one or more areas or uimage fields~ at various locations on the document wh~ch contain information, such as printed or wrltten alphabetic or numeric characters for example. The doculoent reading system scan~ the document and con-verts the infosmation on the document into an out.put ~tream of digital image data.
The output data stream f rom the image sys tem con-sist~ of equal size picture elemen'cs or PELIs corresponding to the digital video output fro~ an optical ~canner,. The data stream is usually divided ~nto ~can l;nes consisting of a fixed number o PEL's,.
A common set of connected PEL' s is referred to as an lmage fieldl A reotangylar ima~e field i5 comple~ely .20 . def irled by the index or value of ~he f irst and last scan lines, and the beginning and ending PEL loca-tions .
In the past, a major problem of document image proces~ing has been the high costs associated wi th . 25 handling and buffering of binary images. ~hi~ is because the image f ields of a document are typically extracted and placed in a buffer in their entlrety beEore ~hey are processed.
Docket NC),, CT9~82-005 The present invention provides a dynamlc field cut technique which utilizes the scan line as its ele-mental unit cf data in controlling the concurrent extractlon and processing of the individual image fieldsO This technique provides substantial savings in data handling and buffering costs over conventional field cut methodsO
Summary Of The Invention To eficiently process a document sequentially, its format for all image fields is defined in adYance.
The field cut function of the present invention uti ll~es a series or chain of control instructions to control the extraction of these image fields on a scan l~ne by scan line basis.
The term "control instruction~ as used herein~
refers to instructions or inEormation which defines each field and specifies the functions to be performed on each scan line of image da~a as presented. A sep-- arate control instruction is provided for each image field on the document. The control instructions are arranged in a chain or series ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbersO For th~
control instruction of each field there are two poin-tars maintained in the chain which correspond to the next field to be processed ~i.e. a forward pointer) and the previous field (i.e. a rearward pointer).
~he forward pointers link the chain in the order in which image fields appear. The rearward pointers enable chang;ng of a forward pointer so as to b~pass an intermediate control instruction once the field it relates to has been completely processed.
Docket No. CT9-82-005 ~3--A pointer to the first field in the chain and a current field pointer are also maintained. The current field pointer i~ set equal to the first field pointer prior to processing each sequential scan line.
As a scan line is received from the video system, its inde~ or scan line number is oompared with the first scan line of the current (first~ field~ If this scan line number is less than the value of the first scan line, then this scan llne is not part of this field.
Because of the orderlng of all fields, It will be understood that this scan line cannot belong to any other field defined in the chainr and processing of thi~ particular scan line ls terminated and t:he next scan llne is processed.
If the current scan line number is great:er than ' or eq~al to the value of the first scan line of the eurrent field, then a field has been located and pro-cessing can be performed on the appropriate E~EL's of that scan line according to the specified function 24 deinition for that ield. Proce~sing continlues for each scan line in the field until the current. field is completed.
When all processing for a field is completed, the control instruction for that field is removed from the chain. This is accomplished by changing the forward pointer of the control instruction o~ the previous (still active) fiel~ and the rearward pointer of the control instruction of the next active field. Thus D
an ~ntermediate lnstruction is bypassed once the ~ield it relates to has been completely processed~ This ~ocket No. CT9-82-005 arrangement limits the number oE operations necessary to separately act on a plurallty of independently def.ined fields.
Restated broadly, the present invention is directe~ to an lmage processing system for dissecting into predetermined fields image data received ~rom a document, and comprises-means for receivlng a series of scan lines of imaqe data which collectively represent an image sour.ce area, said receiving means including means for ldentifying a sequence of numbers for each ~can line of l:he eries, means for storing, at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one 15 instruction for each field o~ image data to be pro~
cessed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a for~1ard pointer to the control instruction for the ne~t: fleld to be proces~ed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the seriesy an inltial sc~nl line number, and a function controller ~or spe ci~Ey~ing the ~unction~ to be per~ormed on the image data, said series of control instructions being ;ni-tialized such that ~he instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence o~ their contained ini~ial scan line numbers; and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
~a) accessins the first of sald control instruc~
t~ons, Dock~t NoO CT9-82-005 7~
--s~
~b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line pre~ented wlth the initial ~can line number o~ the accessed control ln~truction and termlnatang processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan llne number is greater than said presented ~can line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the ~unction specified by said functlon controller of the accessed control instruction~
(d) accesslng by use of the forward pointer of the a~cessed control i~structi~n, a urther control instruction, and ~e) repeating operations (b) through (d3 until processing of ~he presented can llne ls terminated.
In a further aspect of the invention, each control instruction of said series includes i~for-mat:lon by which the completlon of processing of the associated field can be dete~mlned, and wherein the ~ys~em further compr~ses means responslve to the oompletion of processing o~ a ield associated with one control instr~ction fox access~ng, by use of the rearward pointer of said one control instruc~ionr a prior control instruction~ and for ~ubstitutlng the forward pointer from said one control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, and substltuting the rear~
ward pointer rom said one control instruction for the 30 rearward pointer of the cont ol instruction o the nexS: acl:lve field, whereby subsequent processillg of said ~eries o~ control instructions will effecti~ely bypcl85 sald one control ~n~truction.
Docket ~;lo. CT9-32-005 7~
~ rom the foregoing, it wlll be ~een that the pre~
serlt invention provides a significant savings of video buffering by allowing the dynamic processing of image fields~ Processing is optimized since only tho~e image fields associated with the current scan line are proces~ed. A further optimization ls attained by allowlng an early removal of an image fleld from the ¢hain of instructions as determined by more sophisti-cated tests performed within ~he field unction. The definition of complex fields is possible with no restrictions on overlapping fields or field ~hapes~
~he ~ame PEL could exist in more than one field and be processed by different functions as required. This is particulary useful where both image capture and character recognit~on functions are to be performed on overlapping fields.
B~ Description Of Th~ Draw~
5Ome of the features and advantages of the inven-tion havlng now been described, others will become apparent from the detailed description which follows, when taken in connection with the accompanying . drawlngs, in which --Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showingan optical reading system and the associated elements utilized in the image processing system of the present invention;
~ igure 2 is a plan view illustra~ing a document wlth various fields of infor~ation thereon;
Docket No. CT9-82-005 Flgure 3 ls a schematic flow chart illustratlng the sequence of operations carried out in the pro-cessing of image data obtained fxom the document in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 4 is a block diagram schematic illustra-tion of a series of control instructions for pro-cessing the data, and Figures 5 and 6 are block diagram schematic illustrations of the control instructions as they appear at various ~tages during the processing of suc~
ceE~ive ields oE the document.
DescriPtion Of An Illustrative Embodiment Referring now mor~ particularly to Figure 1, the reference character 10 generally indicates an optical lS scanner, of known construction and operation, adapted for scanning and reading on a line-by-line basis information printed or written in selected areas or image fields ~f a document D. The optical scanner device 10 has a predetermined ield of view extending widthwise of the documenk D in the form v~ a narrow line, and suitable means, such as drive rolls 11, are provided for advanciny the document D through the field of view of the scanner devicQ. As the document passes thrvugh the field of view of the scanner, it is sGanned and read as a succession of closely arranged wldthwise e~tending scan lines. The pattern of light and dark images present on the document D within the field o~ view of the scannlng device ls focu~ed by a Docket NOD CT9~82 005 ~8 lens 12 onto a photodetecting device 13. The photo de'cecting device converts the pattern of light and dark lmages into electrlcal signals definin~ a series of ~uccessively arranged pic'cure elements or PEI,' 8 5 whlch collectively constltute the scan line. The ~ignals are then psocessed by a sultable slgnal con~
~erter 14, such as an A to D converter, into a digltal data signal describing each PEL of the scan linel, The optical scanner 10 i~ also provided wi th 10 means for counting the number of lines which have been ~canned in a document and for providing a data signal representing the sequence number of each scan line~
Thi~ is schematically ~llustrated in Figure 1 by the ~ e counter 15. A6 the document is successively 15 scanned by the optical scanner device 10, the image data for each scan line, obtained from the ~;ignal pro-ce~sor 14/ together with the sequlence number for each scan line~ as determined by the line counter 15, is stvred in a bufer memory 16. The buffer 16 may have 20 a cap~city foc storing as many a8 ~everal hundred scan llne~ of ~mage data at any given time, with successive new ~can lines being overwritten into locations pre-viously occupied by earlier scan lines for which pro~
cessing has been completed O
Image data for individual image ields of the document is extracted and processed under the control of the field cut function o the present i nvention, as 6chematically ~ndicated at 17, wlth variou6 operations being performed on the extracted data, such as for example character recognitlon, a~ ~ndicated at 1~ or image capture as lndlcated ~chematlcally at 19.
Docket No. CT9-82~0û5 - 9 - ~
Flgure 2 illustrates in more detail a represen-ta~ive documen~ D which may be processed in accordance wlth the present invention. The document lllustrated conta~ns six areas or lmage fields, identified by the reference characters 1 to 6 respectively, which are of varying sizes and which are located at various loca-tions on the document D. Additionally~ the document contains a format field area, identified by the reference character F. While the image ields ar~
represented in the drawing by boxes, it will be understood that the document need ~ot necessarily con-tain printed boxes identifying the respective image fields, although in some lnstances this may be desirable. Contained within each of the image fields 1 to 6 are various types of printed or handwritten ~nformat~on wh~ch i5 to be optically scanned and pro-cessed. Thus, for example, in the illustrative docu-ment D, field 1 contains a sense mark, such as a darkened bo~, at a predetermined location, while field
2 contains preprlnted numbersO Field 3 contains two line~ of printed alphabet~c chara~ters, while ields 4 2nd 5 contain handwritten numeric char~cters. Field 6 may, for example, contain a handwritten signature.
~he numbers shown along the left hand side of the document represent the scan line numbers for this document. Thus for e~ample, fields 1 and 2 begin at scan l~ne 100 and end at scan line 200. Field 3 begins at ~can line ~50 and ends at scan line 600~
Field 4~ which is fully overlapped by fleld 3, begins at scan line 300 and ends at scan line ~OOO Field S
begin~ at scan line 559 and ends at scan line 1,000, while field 6 begins at scan line 800 and ends at scan Dock~t NoO CT9 82-005 line 1,200, thu~ partially vverlapping field S. It is to be understood that the number of the image fields, and their locations and sizes may vary, substantially -wlthout restriction as to location, ~ize or whether one image field overlaps another r To facilitate processing different types of docu-ments with difering image field arrangements, each document is uniquely identified by a format iden-t~ficatlon number, in the instance o the illustrated document, the format number being 124. This format number is located at a predetermined field location on the document where it can be recognized by character recognition logic.
When a document is initially processed, the for-mat identifica~ion field is scanned and the formatidentification number contained therein is rerogni~edr Thls ~nformation enables the system to create~ from prestored information~ a particular chain of control ~nstructions associated with that particular document format. This chain of control instructions is stored at predetermined memo~y addresses, and contains speci-fic information for controlling the process of each field of the document~ Each control instruction for each field includes information which defines the 25 ~tarting and ending locatl~ns of the f ield on the document, information designating the func'cions to be performed on the lmage data for the field, and point-~er~ which identify the next f leld to be processed ~i.eO a forward pointer) and the previous field ~i.e.
a rearward pointer~9 The chain of instructions also lncludes a pointer to the f irst f ield in the chain and a pointer to the current f ield c Docket No~ CT9-8~-OOS
The operations which are carried out for each ~equentlal scan line in accordance with the present invention will be understood more fully from the flow chart of Figure 3. As lllu~trated, prior to the pro-S cessing of each sequential ~can line; the currentPield polnter is set equal to the first field in the chain of instructlons. Then, a comparison ~s made to determlne whether the ~can line being processed is in the current field. This is accomplished by comparing the value of the scan line with the value for the first scan line of the current field. If the current ~can line numbe~r ~ less than the fir~t scan line number for the field, ~hen processing of the scan line is termlnated and the next scan line is read. If the scan line is greater than or equal to the scan number ~or the current field, then that scan is processed in, accordance with the ~tored function definition for that field. Various processing functions may be carried out, such as, for example, character recogni-tion, ima9e capture, rotationt blankout, etc.
~ fter process~ng o~ the scan line for a givenf~eld~ a determination is made whether the current field i8 completed~ This may be accomplished~ for example, by comparing the value of the current scan line number with the value for the last scan line of the current field. If the current scan line number is equal to the last scan line number for the field, then processing of that field is termlnated. Alternatively, the particular processing function which is being carried out for the current field may determine that the current ~leld is completed prlor to reaching the last scan line for the field. For example, the character recognition function may determine that a Docket NoO C~9-~2-OOS
f7~
character has been completely read and recognized and that no further characters may be expected to be found for the remaining scan lines of the current field. In thi~ instance, the character recognition unction it-self may determine that the current field is completed.
If the current fleld is not completed, the ~urrent pointer is set equal to the next field, and then, by reiterat;ng the above described steps, a com-parison i5 made to determine if the current scan line is ~n that field, and processing proceeds accordingly.
If it is determined that the current ~ield is completed, the next step is to determine whether all fields have been completed, which would occur if the next field pointer of the current field is equal to zero and the last field pointer of the current field is equal to zero. ~f all fields are not completed, the field just completed is immediately removed from the chaln so that further processing steps will bypass the control instructions for that field. Removal o a 2~ particular field from the chain i~ accomplished by changing the value of the forward pointer of the last ~previous3 field to the value of the forward pointer of the field to be deleted, and changing the value of the rearward pointer of the next active field to the ~S value of the rearward pointer of the field to be deleted. When all fields have been completed, the next dvcument may be processed.
Referring now to Figure 4, the box indicated by the reference character 29 represents a memory loca-tion containing the address of the current field, i.e~a ~current field pointer~ The box 30 represents a memory location containing a memory address or pointer Docket No, CT9-82-005 ~7~
~13-for the startlng or f~rst f~eld~ The value of ~he startin~ ield poi~ter at the beginning of processing ~s set equal to the memory address of the control instruction for the first fleld of the document, in this instance 1. The box indicated by the reference character 31 schematically represents a plurality of memory locat;ons in which is stored the chain of control instructions for the illustrative document format number 1240 The subboxes labeled ~LAST" and "NEXT~ represent the rearward and forward pointers respectively~ The subboxes labe].ed ~ORMATn represent other control i~forrnation or lnstrl~ctions f or each respective fiel~ The 0FORMAT~ information may, if desired, be stored in successive memory addresses in the chain of control instructions 31. Preferably however, and as illustrated in Figure 4, the pertinent.
information for each field is stor~d in a table at another locat~on in memory. The box indicated by the reference character 32 schematically represents sush a table in which there is stored for each field 1 to 6~
the ~tartiny ~can line number Ysr the final scan line number ~f, the starting PEL location o~ the field Xs, ~he final PEL location of the field Xf r and a function ~ontroller OP which indicates the particular function to be carried out for that field. The table 32 may optionally include additional informatlon as necessary or desirable, It will be understood that when the pertinent field i~formation and instructions is stored in a static table 32, the subboxes labeled "FORMAT~ in the chain of control instructions 31 comprise pointer~
to the appropriate memory addresses in the table 32.
Figure 4 illustrates how the chain of control lnstructions 31 would appear at the beginning of pro cessing of the docume~t and during the scanning of Docket No. CTg-82-005 ~ 3 ~14 each ~can line Erom 1 to 200. As illustrated, the ~tarting field pointer has a value of 1, ~he address of the control lnstructlon for the first field to be processed. As each scan line ls received, its scan S line number is compared to the first scan line Ys of the current fleld (fleld 1) identified by the pointer ~Format 1~. For each of scan lines 1 to 99, the cur~ent scan line number will be less than the first scan line ~100) of the current field (field 1) and processing terminates and the next scan line is read.
At ~can line 100, since the current scan line is equal t~ or greater ~han 100, proces~ing of that scan line takes place ~n accordance with the function deflnition for that field. Processing then continues to the next control instruction in the chaint that ~or field 2.
The current ~can li.ne number is again compared to the value o the first scan line for that ~ield (field 2).
S~nce the current scan line is equal to or greater than ~00 (the value of the ~irst scan line for field 2), that scan ~ine ls processed in accordance with the function definition for field 2. Processing then con-~nue~ for the next control instruction in ~he chain, field 3. The current scan line number ~s compared to ~he f~rst scan line number for field 3 (250) J and since the current scan line number is less than 250, ~he scan is not in that field, processing terminates and the next scan line is processed. Since the ~hain of instructions 31 is ordered in the sequence of the fir~t appearance of scan lines, then if the current scan line value is less than the value of the first scan l~ne number of the current field, that scan line could not belong to any other field in the chain.
Thus, unneces~ary processing is avoided.
Docket NQ~ CTg-82-OO5 At the beginn~ng of processing for scan line 200 the starting field polnter 30 i~ equal to 1~ the address of the first field to be processed. Process-ing of the scan line takes place ln accordance with the function definltion OP for field 1. Upon com-pletion of processing, the current scan line value is compared to the final scan line Yf for field 1, and it is determined that field 1 has been completed.
Immediately, field 1 is removed from the chain. This is accomplished by refer~ing to the rearward pointer of the curren~ field to locate the previous field pro cessed, and changing the value of the next field pointer to that of the current field. In this instance, the previous field was the starting address in location 30, and its value is changed to 2.
Processin~ then continues for the next field in the chain, field 2~ After the scan line has been pro~
ce~sed in accordance with the functlon definition for field 2~ a ~imilar test is made to determine if ~ield 2C 2 has been completed. Since field 2 has also been completed, field 2 is removed from the chain by changing the ~tarting field pointer 30 to 3.
Thus~ after scan llne 200 has been processed, the chain oP instructions wou~d appear as illustrated in Figure 5/ and it will be seen as each scan line thereafter is processed, the sequential execution of the control instructlons in the chain bypasses the control instructions for fields 1 and 2.
Re~erring back to Figure 2p lt will be seen that as the scan lines are sequentially processed, at some polnt field 4 will be completed be~ore field 3 is Docket No. CT9-82-005 completed~ This will occur~ at the latest, upon pro-cessing of scan line 4009 although the particular functi~n ~ontroller for field 4 may determine that f1eld 4 has been completed prior to reaching scan line 400. In either event, when 1t is determined that f1eld 4 has been completed~ the control instructi~n for f1eld 4 is immediately remGved from the chain~
This is accomplished by changing the NFXT value of the last (previous~ field to the NEXT value of the field to be deleted. Additionally, the LAST value of the next active field in the chaln is changed to the LAST
value of the fi~ld to be deleted. Thus, as shown in Figure 6 the field to be deleted is field 4, and the forward pointer ~NEXT) of field 3 is changed to the NEXT value of field 4~ ~nd the rearward pointer (LAST) of field 5 is changed to the value (3) of the LAST
pointer of field 4. From then on, field 4 is effec-tively bypassed when the ~eries of control instruc-tions is execute~.
In a similar manner t the control instructions for the other fields~ in the document are removed from the chaln. It will thus be seen how the series of control in~tructions dynamically shange~ as the successive scan lines o~ a document are read, with the control ~5 1nstructions for completed fields being promptly removed from the chain of instructions to optimize proce~sing.
In the drawings and specification, there has been ~et ~orth an exemplary embodiment o the invention~ It should be understood that while specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes o~ limi~ation.
Docket NoO CT9-82-005
~he numbers shown along the left hand side of the document represent the scan line numbers for this document. Thus for e~ample, fields 1 and 2 begin at scan l~ne 100 and end at scan line 200. Field 3 begins at ~can line ~50 and ends at scan line 600~
Field 4~ which is fully overlapped by fleld 3, begins at scan line 300 and ends at scan line ~OOO Field S
begin~ at scan line 559 and ends at scan line 1,000, while field 6 begins at scan line 800 and ends at scan Dock~t NoO CT9 82-005 line 1,200, thu~ partially vverlapping field S. It is to be understood that the number of the image fields, and their locations and sizes may vary, substantially -wlthout restriction as to location, ~ize or whether one image field overlaps another r To facilitate processing different types of docu-ments with difering image field arrangements, each document is uniquely identified by a format iden-t~ficatlon number, in the instance o the illustrated document, the format number being 124. This format number is located at a predetermined field location on the document where it can be recognized by character recognition logic.
When a document is initially processed, the for-mat identifica~ion field is scanned and the formatidentification number contained therein is rerogni~edr Thls ~nformation enables the system to create~ from prestored information~ a particular chain of control ~nstructions associated with that particular document format. This chain of control instructions is stored at predetermined memo~y addresses, and contains speci-fic information for controlling the process of each field of the document~ Each control instruction for each field includes information which defines the 25 ~tarting and ending locatl~ns of the f ield on the document, information designating the func'cions to be performed on the lmage data for the field, and point-~er~ which identify the next f leld to be processed ~i.eO a forward pointer) and the previous field ~i.e.
a rearward pointer~9 The chain of instructions also lncludes a pointer to the f irst f ield in the chain and a pointer to the current f ield c Docket No~ CT9-8~-OOS
The operations which are carried out for each ~equentlal scan line in accordance with the present invention will be understood more fully from the flow chart of Figure 3. As lllu~trated, prior to the pro-S cessing of each sequential ~can line; the currentPield polnter is set equal to the first field in the chain of instructlons. Then, a comparison ~s made to determlne whether the ~can line being processed is in the current field. This is accomplished by comparing the value of the scan line with the value for the first scan line of the current field. If the current ~can line numbe~r ~ less than the fir~t scan line number for the field, ~hen processing of the scan line is termlnated and the next scan line is read. If the scan line is greater than or equal to the scan number ~or the current field, then that scan is processed in, accordance with the ~tored function definition for that field. Various processing functions may be carried out, such as, for example, character recogni-tion, ima9e capture, rotationt blankout, etc.
~ fter process~ng o~ the scan line for a givenf~eld~ a determination is made whether the current field i8 completed~ This may be accomplished~ for example, by comparing the value of the current scan line number with the value for the last scan line of the current field. If the current scan line number is equal to the last scan line number for the field, then processing of that field is termlnated. Alternatively, the particular processing function which is being carried out for the current field may determine that the current ~leld is completed prlor to reaching the last scan line for the field. For example, the character recognition function may determine that a Docket NoO C~9-~2-OOS
f7~
character has been completely read and recognized and that no further characters may be expected to be found for the remaining scan lines of the current field. In thi~ instance, the character recognition unction it-self may determine that the current field is completed.
If the current fleld is not completed, the ~urrent pointer is set equal to the next field, and then, by reiterat;ng the above described steps, a com-parison i5 made to determine if the current scan line is ~n that field, and processing proceeds accordingly.
If it is determined that the current ~ield is completed, the next step is to determine whether all fields have been completed, which would occur if the next field pointer of the current field is equal to zero and the last field pointer of the current field is equal to zero. ~f all fields are not completed, the field just completed is immediately removed from the chaln so that further processing steps will bypass the control instructions for that field. Removal o a 2~ particular field from the chain i~ accomplished by changing the value of the forward pointer of the last ~previous3 field to the value of the forward pointer of the field to be deleted, and changing the value of the rearward pointer of the next active field to the ~S value of the rearward pointer of the field to be deleted. When all fields have been completed, the next dvcument may be processed.
Referring now to Figure 4, the box indicated by the reference character 29 represents a memory loca-tion containing the address of the current field, i.e~a ~current field pointer~ The box 30 represents a memory location containing a memory address or pointer Docket No, CT9-82-005 ~7~
~13-for the startlng or f~rst f~eld~ The value of ~he startin~ ield poi~ter at the beginning of processing ~s set equal to the memory address of the control instruction for the first fleld of the document, in this instance 1. The box indicated by the reference character 31 schematically represents a plurality of memory locat;ons in which is stored the chain of control instructions for the illustrative document format number 1240 The subboxes labeled ~LAST" and "NEXT~ represent the rearward and forward pointers respectively~ The subboxes labe].ed ~ORMATn represent other control i~forrnation or lnstrl~ctions f or each respective fiel~ The 0FORMAT~ information may, if desired, be stored in successive memory addresses in the chain of control instructions 31. Preferably however, and as illustrated in Figure 4, the pertinent.
information for each field is stor~d in a table at another locat~on in memory. The box indicated by the reference character 32 schematically represents sush a table in which there is stored for each field 1 to 6~
the ~tartiny ~can line number Ysr the final scan line number ~f, the starting PEL location o~ the field Xs, ~he final PEL location of the field Xf r and a function ~ontroller OP which indicates the particular function to be carried out for that field. The table 32 may optionally include additional informatlon as necessary or desirable, It will be understood that when the pertinent field i~formation and instructions is stored in a static table 32, the subboxes labeled "FORMAT~ in the chain of control instructions 31 comprise pointer~
to the appropriate memory addresses in the table 32.
Figure 4 illustrates how the chain of control lnstructions 31 would appear at the beginning of pro cessing of the docume~t and during the scanning of Docket No. CTg-82-005 ~ 3 ~14 each ~can line Erom 1 to 200. As illustrated, the ~tarting field pointer has a value of 1, ~he address of the control lnstructlon for the first field to be processed. As each scan line ls received, its scan S line number is compared to the first scan line Ys of the current fleld (fleld 1) identified by the pointer ~Format 1~. For each of scan lines 1 to 99, the cur~ent scan line number will be less than the first scan line ~100) of the current field (field 1) and processing terminates and the next scan line is read.
At ~can line 100, since the current scan line is equal t~ or greater ~han 100, proces~ing of that scan line takes place ~n accordance with the function deflnition for that field. Processing then continues to the next control instruction in the chaint that ~or field 2.
The current ~can li.ne number is again compared to the value o the first scan line for that ~ield (field 2).
S~nce the current scan line is equal to or greater than ~00 (the value of the ~irst scan line for field 2), that scan ~ine ls processed in accordance with the function definition for field 2. Processing then con-~nue~ for the next control instruction in ~he chain, field 3. The current scan line number ~s compared to ~he f~rst scan line number for field 3 (250) J and since the current scan line number is less than 250, ~he scan is not in that field, processing terminates and the next scan line is processed. Since the ~hain of instructions 31 is ordered in the sequence of the fir~t appearance of scan lines, then if the current scan line value is less than the value of the first scan l~ne number of the current field, that scan line could not belong to any other field in the chain.
Thus, unneces~ary processing is avoided.
Docket NQ~ CTg-82-OO5 At the beginn~ng of processing for scan line 200 the starting field polnter 30 i~ equal to 1~ the address of the first field to be processed. Process-ing of the scan line takes place ln accordance with the function definltion OP for field 1. Upon com-pletion of processing, the current scan line value is compared to the final scan line Yf for field 1, and it is determined that field 1 has been completed.
Immediately, field 1 is removed from the chain. This is accomplished by refer~ing to the rearward pointer of the curren~ field to locate the previous field pro cessed, and changing the value of the next field pointer to that of the current field. In this instance, the previous field was the starting address in location 30, and its value is changed to 2.
Processin~ then continues for the next field in the chain, field 2~ After the scan line has been pro~
ce~sed in accordance with the functlon definition for field 2~ a ~imilar test is made to determine if ~ield 2C 2 has been completed. Since field 2 has also been completed, field 2 is removed from the chain by changing the ~tarting field pointer 30 to 3.
Thus~ after scan llne 200 has been processed, the chain oP instructions wou~d appear as illustrated in Figure 5/ and it will be seen as each scan line thereafter is processed, the sequential execution of the control instructlons in the chain bypasses the control instructions for fields 1 and 2.
Re~erring back to Figure 2p lt will be seen that as the scan lines are sequentially processed, at some polnt field 4 will be completed be~ore field 3 is Docket No. CT9-82-005 completed~ This will occur~ at the latest, upon pro-cessing of scan line 4009 although the particular functi~n ~ontroller for field 4 may determine that f1eld 4 has been completed prior to reaching scan line 400. In either event, when 1t is determined that f1eld 4 has been completed~ the control instructi~n for f1eld 4 is immediately remGved from the chain~
This is accomplished by changing the NFXT value of the last (previous~ field to the NEXT value of the field to be deleted. Additionally, the LAST value of the next active field in the chaln is changed to the LAST
value of the fi~ld to be deleted. Thus, as shown in Figure 6 the field to be deleted is field 4, and the forward pointer ~NEXT) of field 3 is changed to the NEXT value of field 4~ ~nd the rearward pointer (LAST) of field 5 is changed to the value (3) of the LAST
pointer of field 4. From then on, field 4 is effec-tively bypassed when the ~eries of control instruc-tions is execute~.
In a similar manner t the control instructions for the other fields~ in the document are removed from the chaln. It will thus be seen how the series of control in~tructions dynamically shange~ as the successive scan lines o~ a document are read, with the control ~5 1nstructions for completed fields being promptly removed from the chain of instructions to optimize proce~sing.
In the drawings and specification, there has been ~et ~orth an exemplary embodiment o the invention~ It should be understood that while specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes o~ limi~ation.
Docket NoO CT9-82-005
Claims (10)
1. An image processing system for dissecting into predetermined fields image data received from a document, comprising:
means for receiving a series of scan lines of image data which collectively represent an image source area, said receiving means including means for identifying a sequence number for each scan line of the series, means for storing; at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction of the series, an initial scan line number, and a function controller for spe-cifying the function to be performed on the image data, said series of control instructions being ini-tialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
(a) accessing the first of said control instruc tions (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the function specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (e) repeating operations (b) through (d) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
means for receiving a series of scan lines of image data which collectively represent an image source area, said receiving means including means for identifying a sequence number for each scan line of the series, means for storing; at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction of the series, an initial scan line number, and a function controller for spe-cifying the function to be performed on the image data, said series of control instructions being ini-tialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
(a) accessing the first of said control instruc tions (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the function specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (e) repeating operations (b) through (d) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
2. An image processing system as defined in Claim 1 wherein each of the control instructions of said series includes information by which the comple-tion of processing of the associated field can be determined, and wherein the system further comprises means responsive to the determination of the completion of processing of a field associated with one control instruction for accessing, by use of the rearward pointer of said one control instruction, a prior control instruction, and for substituting the forward pointer from said one control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, whereby subsequent processing of said series of control instructions will effectively bypass said one control instruction.
3. An image processing system as defined in Claim 2 wherein said means responsive to the deter-mination of the completion of process of a field asso-ciated with one control instruction additionally includes means for substituting the rearward pointer from said one control instruction for the rearward pointer of the control instruction of the next active field.
4. An image processing system as defined in Claim 2 wherein said information by which the comple-tion of processing of the associated field can be determined comprises the final scan line number for the associated field, and including means for com-paring the scan line number of the scan line presented with said final scan line number of the associated field.
5. An image processing system as defined in Claim 2 wherein said information by which the comple-tion of processing of the associated field can be determined is operatively associated with the function controller for the respective field for effecting determination of the completion of processing of the field when the function specified by the function controller is carried out.
6. An image processing system comprising:
means for optically scanning an image source area of a document and producing a series of scan lines of image data which collectively represent the image source area, means for successively receiving the respective scan lines of image data and for storing the same with an associated identifying sequence number for each scan line of the series, means for storing, at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the series, an initial scan line number, a function controller for specifying the function to be performed on the data, and infor-mation by which the completion of processing of the associated field can be determined, said series of control instructions being ini-tialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
(a) accessing the first of said control instructions, (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the function specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing said information for determining the completion of processing of the field and in response to the determination of the completion of processing of the field asso-ciated with the accessed control instruc-tion, accessing, by use of the rearward pointer of said accessed control tion, a prior control instruction, and substituting the forward pointer from said accessed control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, whereby subsequent processing of said series of control instructions will effectively bypass the control instruction associated with the completed field; otherwise (e) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (f) repeating operations (b) through (e) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
means for optically scanning an image source area of a document and producing a series of scan lines of image data which collectively represent the image source area, means for successively receiving the respective scan lines of image data and for storing the same with an associated identifying sequence number for each scan line of the series, means for storing, at a plurality of memory addresses, a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within the image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the series, an initial scan line number, a function controller for specifying the function to be performed on the data, and infor-mation by which the completion of processing of the associated field can be determined, said series of control instructions being ini-tialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, and means operative upon receipt of each scan line by said receiving means for:
(a) accessing the first of said control instructions, (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the function specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing said information for determining the completion of processing of the field and in response to the determination of the completion of processing of the field asso-ciated with the accessed control instruc-tion, accessing, by use of the rearward pointer of said accessed control tion, a prior control instruction, and substituting the forward pointer from said accessed control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, whereby subsequent processing of said series of control instructions will effectively bypass the control instruction associated with the completed field; otherwise (e) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (f) repeating operations (b) through (e) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
7. A process for dissecting into predetermined fields image data received from a document, comprising storing at a plurality of memory addresses a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within an image source area, each of said control instructions comprising forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the series, an initial scan line number, and a function controller for spe-cifying the function to be performed on the image data, and said series of control instructions being initialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, receiving successive scan lines of image data which collectively represent the image source area, together with an associated identifying sequence number for each scan line, and upon receipt of each scan line (a) accessing the first of said control instruc-tions, (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the functions specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (e) repeating operations (b) through (d) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
8. A process as defined in Claim 7 including the further steps, performed upon the receipt of each scan line, of testing for the completion of processing of the field associated with the current control instruction and in response to the completion of the field, accessing, by use of the rearward pointer of the current instruction, a prior control instruction, and substituting the forward pointer from the current control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, whereby subsequent pro-cessing of the series of control instructions will effectively bypass the control instruction for said completed field.
9. A process as defined in Claim 8 including the further steps, performed in response to completion of the field, of substituting the rearward pointer from the current control instruction for the rearward pointer of the control instruction of the next active field.
10. A process for dissecting into predetermined fields image data received from a document, comprising storing at a plurality of memory addresses a series of control instructions, one for each field of image data to be processed from within an image source area, each of said control instructions comprising a forward pointer to the control instruction for the next field to be processed, a rearward pointer to a prior control instruction in the series, an initial scan line number, a function controller, and infor-mation by which the completion of processing of the associated field can be determined, said series of control instructions being ini-tialized such that the instructions in said series are ordered in the sequence of their contained initial scan line numbers, receiving sucessive scan lines of image data which collectively represent the image source area, together with an associated identifying sequence number for each scan line, and upon receipt of each scan line (a) accessing the first of said control instruc-tions, (b) comparing the scan line sequence number of the scan line presented with the initial scan line number of the accessed control instruction and terminating processing of the presented scan line if said initial scan line number is greater than said presented scan line sequence number, otherwise (c) performing the function specified by said function controller of the accessed control instruction, (d) accessing said information for determining the completion of processing of the field and in response to the determination of the completion of processing of the field asso-ciated with the accessed control instruc-tion, accessing, by use of the rearward pointer of said accessed control instruc-tion, a prior control instruction, and substituting the forward pointer from said accessed control instruction for the forward pointer of said prior control instruction, whereby subsequent processing of said series of control instructions will effectively bypass the control instruction associated with the completed field, otherwise (e) accessing by use of the forward pointer of the accessed control instruction, a further control instruction, and (f) repeating operations (b) through (e) until processing of the presented scan line is terminated.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US06/454,582 US4493108A (en) | 1982-12-30 | 1982-12-30 | Video image field cut processing |
| US454,582 | 1982-12-30 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1197004A true CA1197004A (en) | 1985-11-19 |
Family
ID=23805213
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000441048A Expired CA1197004A (en) | 1982-12-30 | 1983-11-14 | Video image field cut processing |
Country Status (5)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4493108A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0113086B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS59125476A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1197004A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3374724D1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (19)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4761818A (en) * | 1983-04-08 | 1988-08-02 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Image processing apparatus |
| DE3442793A1 (en) * | 1983-11-25 | 1985-06-05 | Canon K.K., Tokio/Tokyo | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE |
| US4689824A (en) * | 1983-12-30 | 1987-08-25 | International Business Machines Corporation | Image rotation method |
| DE3523042A1 (en) * | 1984-06-28 | 1986-01-02 | Canon K.K., Tokio/Tokyo | IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM |
| JPH07107694B2 (en) * | 1984-08-31 | 1995-11-15 | 株式会社日立製作所 | Document processor |
| US4821335A (en) * | 1985-04-05 | 1989-04-11 | Ricoh Company, Limited | Electronic blackboard |
| JPH0785254B2 (en) * | 1985-09-27 | 1995-09-13 | 株式会社東芝 | Character image reader |
| US4724307A (en) * | 1986-04-29 | 1988-02-09 | Gtech Corporation | Marked card reader |
| US4813077A (en) * | 1986-07-30 | 1989-03-14 | Scan-Optics, Inc. | Sales transaction record processing system and method |
| US5001769A (en) * | 1988-12-20 | 1991-03-19 | Educational Testing Service | Image processing system |
| US5369716A (en) * | 1989-08-31 | 1994-11-29 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Document reader and reading processing method therefor |
| JPH0388087A (en) * | 1989-08-31 | 1991-04-12 | Toshiba Corp | Document reader |
| US5038392A (en) * | 1990-02-12 | 1991-08-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for adaptive image processing by recognizing a characterizing indicium in a captured image of a document |
| JPH0461730U (en) * | 1990-10-02 | 1992-05-27 | ||
| JP3001065B2 (en) * | 1991-03-19 | 2000-01-17 | テイ・エイ・エス通商株式会社 | How to create a program |
| US5416308A (en) * | 1991-08-29 | 1995-05-16 | Video Lottery Technologies, Inc. | Transaction document reader |
| DE4330242A1 (en) * | 1993-09-07 | 1995-03-09 | Hell Ag Linotype | Method and device for the electronic assembly of printed sheets |
| US6357658B1 (en) | 1999-04-28 | 2002-03-19 | Peripheral Dynamics, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for scanning documents including OMR, bar-code, and image data |
| EP1196884A2 (en) * | 1999-06-22 | 2002-04-17 | Peripheral Dynamics, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for image scanning of variable sized documents having variable orientations |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US29104A (en) * | 1860-07-10 | Improvement in plows | ||
| US3618018A (en) * | 1969-06-02 | 1971-11-02 | Ibm | Unformatted scanning in a character-recognition system |
| US3571797A (en) * | 1969-06-02 | 1971-03-23 | Ibm | Area-format control in a character-recogniton system |
| US3763467A (en) * | 1972-05-04 | 1973-10-02 | Ibm | Method and apparatus for reading documents |
| US4300123A (en) * | 1979-01-02 | 1981-11-10 | Westinghouse Electric Corp. | Optical reading system |
| JPS5654479A (en) * | 1979-10-12 | 1981-05-14 | Hitachi Ltd | Picture image data processor |
| JPS5743273A (en) * | 1980-08-28 | 1982-03-11 | Hitachi Ltd | Optical character reader |
-
1982
- 1982-12-30 US US06/454,582 patent/US4493108A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
1983
- 1983-09-19 JP JP58171445A patent/JPS59125476A/en active Granted
- 1983-11-14 CA CA000441048A patent/CA1197004A/en not_active Expired
- 1983-12-15 EP EP83112632A patent/EP0113086B1/en not_active Expired
- 1983-12-15 DE DE8383112632T patent/DE3374724D1/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EP0113086A3 (en) | 1986-10-15 |
| JPS59125476A (en) | 1984-07-19 |
| EP0113086B1 (en) | 1987-11-25 |
| JPS645351B2 (en) | 1989-01-30 |
| US4493108A (en) | 1985-01-08 |
| EP0113086A2 (en) | 1984-07-11 |
| DE3374724D1 (en) | 1988-01-07 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEC | Expiry (correction) | ||
| MKEX | Expiry |