Abstract: Access encoding/decoding of image data has at least two preferred access modes, raster access and macroblock access. Arriving rasters containing pixels from an image sensor are converted to encoded macroblocks to support later random macroblock and raster access. Encoded macroblocks can be randomly accessed (read from or written to memory) by block-based video compression algorithms, such as H.264. Encoded macroblocks can also be decoded raster by raster for raster-oriented display devices. Access encoding/decoding may be implemented in a microprocessor, graphics processor, digital signal processor, FPGA, ASIC, or SoC. Access encoding/decoding of image data or reference frames can reduce memory and storage bottlenecks, processor access time, and processor and memory power consumption. A user interface can allow users to control the tradeoff between decoded video quality and battery life for a mobile device. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: Compression and decompression of numerical data utilizing single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) instructions is described. The numerical data includes integer and floating-point samples. Compression supports three encoding modes: lossless, fixed-rate, and fixed-quality. SIMD instructions for compression operations may include attenuation, derivative calculations, bit packing to form compressed packets, header generation for the packets, and packed array output operations. SIMD instructions for decompression may include packed array input operations, header recovery, decoder control, bit unpacking, integration, and amplification. Compression and decompression may be implemented in a microprocessor, digital signal processor, field-programmable gate array, application-specific integrated circuit, system-on-chip, or graphics processor, using SIMD instructions. Compression and decompression of numerical data can reduce memory, networking, and storage bottlenecks.

Abstract: Configurable compression and decompression of waveform data in a multi-core processing environment improves the efficiency of data transfer between cores and conserves data storage resources. In waveform data processing systems, input, intermediate, and output waveform data are often exchanged between cores and between cores and off-chip memory. At each core, a single configurable compressor and a single configurable decompressor can be configured to compress and to decompress integer or floating-point waveform data. At the memory controller, a configurable compressor compresses integer or floating-point waveform data for transfer to off-chip memory in compressed packets and a configurable decompressor decompresses compressed packets received from the off-chip memory. Compression reduces the memory or storage required to retain waveform data in a semiconductor or magnetic memory. Compression reduces both the latency and the bandwidth required to exchange waveform data.

Abstract: A raw format image representing an image received from an image capture device at an image data rate, can be compressed at least as fast as the image data rate (i.e. in real time) using compact and low cost components. The compressed image data can then be transferred across a chip-to-chip data channel to a memory system or to a host processor where it can be stored as compressed data. The host processor or other processor can read and decompress the compressed raw data and apply digital signal processing including industry-standard data compression or other image processing algorithms to the recovered raw format image without being constrained to real-time processing.

Abstract: Compression of exponents, mantissas and signs of floating-point numbers is described. Differences between exponents are encoded by exponent tokens selected from a code table. The mantissa is encoded to a mantissa token having a length based on the exponent. The signs are encoded directly or are compressed to produce fewer sign tokens. The exponent tokens, mantissa tokens and sign tokens are packed in a compressed data packet. Decompression decodes the exponent tokens using the code table. The decoded exponent difference is added to a previous reconstructed exponent to produce the reconstructed exponent. The reconstructed exponent is used to determine the length of the mantissa token. The mantissa token is decoded to form the reconstructed mantissa. The sign tokens provide the reconstructed signs or are decompressed to provide the reconstructed signs. The reconstructed sign, reconstructed exponent and reconstructed mantissa are combined to form a reconstructed floating-point number.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compressing signal samples uses block floating point representations where the number of bits per mantissa is determined by the maximum magnitude sample in the group. The compressor defines groups of signal samples having a fixed number of samples per group. The maximum magnitude sample in the group determines an exponent value corresponding to the number of bits for representing the maximum sample value. The exponent values are encoded to form exponent tokens. Exponent differences between consecutive exponent values may be encoded individually or jointly. The samples in the group are mapped to corresponding mantissas, each mantissa having a number of bits based on the exponent value. Removing LSBs depending on the exponent value produces mantissas having fewer bits. Feedback control monitors the compressed bit rate and/or a quality metric. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for an ultrasound system provide compression of ultrasound signal samples after analog to digital conversion and before beamforming. The analog ultrasound signals received from an array of ultrasound transducer elements are digitally sampled by a plurality of analog to digital converters (ADCs) to produce a plurality of sequences of signal samples. Each sequence of signal samples is compressed to form a corresponding sequence of compressed samples. The resulting sequences of compressed samples are transferred via a digital interface to an ultrasound signal processor. At the ultrasound signal processor, the received sequences of compressed samples are decompressed. The typical processing operations, such as beamforming, downconversion and detection, are applied to decompressed samples. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: In a distributed antenna system (DAS) and a local area network (LAN), a common communication infrastructure distributes data from radio-based and Internet-based sources. A radio equipment (RE) of the DAS interfaces to a LAN segment. For the downlink, a gateway maps radio signal data from a radio equipment controller (REC) and data packets from a switch to mixed-data frames using a radio data interface protocol for transmission in the DAS. At the RE, the signal data and data packets are retrieved from the mixed-data frames and provided to the air interface and LAN segment, respectively. For the uplink from the RE, the radio signal data from the air interface and the data packets from the LAN segment are mapped to mixed-data frames and transmitted to the gateway. The gateway retrieves the signal samples and data packets from the mixed-data frames for transfer to the REC and switch, respectively.

Abstract: A signal compression method and apparatus for a base transceiver system (BTS) in a wireless communication network provides efficient transfer of compressed signal samples over serial data links in the system. For the uplink, an RF unit of the BTS compresses baseband signal samples resulting from analog to digital conversion of a received analog signal followed by digital downconversion. The compressed signal samples are transferred over the serial data link to the baseband processor then decompressed prior to normal signal processing. For the downlink, the baseband processor compresses baseband signal samples and transfers the compressed signal samples to the RF unit. The RF unit decompresses the compressed samples prior to digital upconversion and digital to analog conversion to form an analog signal for transmission over an antenna. Compression and decompression can be incorporated into operations of conventional base stations and distributed antenna systems, including OBSAI or CPRI compliant systems.

Abstract: A signal compression method and apparatus for a base transceiver system (BTS) in a wireless communication network provides efficient transfer of compressed signal samples over serial data links in the system. For the uplink, an RF unit of the BTS compresses baseband signal samples resulting from analog to digital conversion of a received analog signal followed by digital downconversion. The compressed signal samples are transferred over the serial data link to the baseband processor then decompressed prior to normal signal processing. For the downlink, the baseband processor compresses baseband signal samples and transfers the compressed signal samples to the RF unit. The RF unit decompresses the compressed samples prior to digital upconversion and digital to analog conversion to form an analog signal for transmission over an antenna. Compression and decompression can be incorporated into operations of conventional base stations and distributed antenna systems, including OBSAI or CPRI compliant systems.

Abstract: A signal compression method and apparatus for a base transceiver system (BTS) in a wireless communication network provides efficient transfer of compressed signal samples over serial data links in the system. For the uplink, an RF unit of the BTS compresses baseband signal samples resulting from analog to digital conversion of a received analog signal followed by digital downconversion. The compressed signal samples are transferred over the serial data link to the baseband processor then decompressed prior to normal signal processing. For the downlink, the baseband processor compresses baseband signal samples and transfers the compressed signal samples to the RF unit. The RF unit decompresses the compressed samples prior to digital upconversion and digital to analog conversion to form an analog signal for transmission over an antenna. Compression and decompression can be incorporated into operations of conventional base stations and distributed antenna systems, including OBSAI or CPRI compliant systems.

Abstract: A computed tomography system has a stationary part, a rotatable part mounted for rotation around an object to be examined and an interface between the stationary part and the rotatable part. The rotatable part includes an x-ray source, a sensor array for detecting x-rays passing through the object to produce projection data samples, a compressor that compresses the projection data samples and a storage device that stores the compressed samples. The storage device on the rotatable part can include one or more solid state drives. For image reconstruction, the compressed samples are retrieved from the storage device, transferred across the interface to the stationary part. A decompressor at the stationary part decompresses the received compressed samples and provides decompressed samples to the image reconstruction processor. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: A signal compression method and apparatus for a base transceiver system (BTS) in a wireless communication network provides efficient transfer of compressed signal samples over serial data links in the system. For the uplink, an RF unit of the BTS compresses baseband signal samples resulting from analog to digital conversion of a received analog signal followed by digital downconversion. The compressed signal samples are transferred over the serial data link to the baseband processor then decompressed prior to normal signal processing. For the downlink, the baseband processor compresses baseband signal samples and transfers the compressed signal samples to the RF unit. The RF unit decompresses the compressed samples prior to digital upconversion and digital to analog conversion to form an analog signal for transmission over an antenna. Compression and decompression can be incorporated into operations of conventional base stations and distributed antenna systems, including OBSAI or CPRI compliant systems.

Abstract: A data converter includes N analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to sample multiple analog signals in response to an input clock to produce N signal samples per sample period. For each sample period, the bits of the N signal samples are multiplexed to M sets of multiplexed bits where 1<M<N. There are K bits in each multiplexed data set, where K equals the number of bits per sample multiplied by N then divided by M. A data clock is provided having a data clock frequency that substantially equals the input clock frequency multiplied by K. The M sets of multiplexed bits are serialized and provided to M data ports at the data clock frequency for transfer across the digital interface. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compressing signal samples uses block floating point representations where the number of bits per mantissa is determined by the maximum magnitude sample in the group. The compressor defines groups of signal samples having a fixed number of samples per group. The maximum magnitude sample in the group determines an exponent value corresponding to the number of bits for representing the maximum sample value. The exponent values are encoded to form exponent tokens. Exponent differences between consecutive exponent values may be encoded individually or jointly. The samples in the group are mapped to corresponding mantissas, each mantissa having a number of bits based on the exponent value. Removing LSBs depending on the exponent value produces mantissas having fewer bits. Feedback control monitors the compressed bit rate and/or a quality metric. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: Configurable compression and decompression of waveform data in a multi-core processing environment improves the efficiency of data transfer between cores and conserves data storage resources. In waveform data processing systems, input, intermediate, and output waveform data are often exchanged between cores and between cores and off-chip memory. At each core, a single configurable compressor and a single configurable decompressor can be configured to compress and to decompress integer or floating-point waveform data. At the memory controller, a configurable compressor compresses integer or floating-point waveform data for transfer to off-chip memory in compressed packets and a configurable decompressor decompresses compressed packets received from the off-chip memory. Compression reduces the memory or storage required to retain waveform data in a semiconductor or magnetic memory. Compression reduces both the latency and the bandwidth required to exchange waveform data.

Abstract: A compression subsystem for a computed tomography system compresses projection data to for efficient data transfer and storage. The compression includes detecting edges in the projection data corresponding to the object being imaged to set boundaries for compression operations. The edge detection compares difference samples to positive and negative thresholds to determine the boundaries. The projection samples or the difference samples are compressed between the boundaries. The boundaries are encoded and included in the compressed data. The compressed samples are decompressed prior to image reconstruction processing. Decompression includes decoding the compressed samples and the boundary values. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: Compression of signal samples output from a parallel, time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TIADC) for a baseband signal, includes calculating first or higher order differences of consecutive signal samples followed by lossless or lossy encoding of the difference samples to produce compressed samples. Compression of a TIADC output signal with a nonzero center frequency, includes calculating sums or differences of pairs of signal samples separated by an appropriate number of sampling intervals followed by lossless or lossy encoding. The sums or differences of the signal samples have lower magnitudes than the original samples, allowing more efficient compression. Lossy compression alternatives produce compressed data with a fixed bit rate or with a fixed quality in the decompressed samples.

Abstract: In a data acquisition system that captures signal data from one or more input channels, the signal data are compressed prior to transfer or storage. Compression allows the data acquisition system to effectively store more captured signal data in a given amount of memory. The data transfer interface of the data acquisition system requires less bandwidth for transfer of compressed data than for uncompressed data. The compression operations may be performed in real time. The data acquisition system may include one or more analog-to-digital converters to sample analog signals received over the input channels to produce the sampled data for compression. The compressed data are transferred to a processor where they are decompressed prior processing or analysis. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Abstract: In an ultrasound imaging system that applies a beamformer to received ultrasound signal samples to form one or more beams represented by arrays of beamformed samples, a method and an apparatus compress each array of beamformed samples independently of the other arrays to form compressed beams. A plurality of analog to digital converters sample multiple analog ultrasound signals produced by a transducer array to provide multiple streams of ultrasound signal samples to the beamformer. The compressed beams are transferred via a digital interface to a signal processor. At the signal processor, the compressed beams are decompressed to form decompressed beams. The signal processor further processes the decompressed beams for diagnostic imaging, such as for B-mode and Doppler imaging, and scan conversion to prepare the resulting ultrasound image for display. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.