Abstract: An image processing system (10) includes an array (12) of detectors (14), each of which is designed to produce a current proportional to incident radiation. This system provides image processing at a viable sampling rate even for very large arrays and permits very efficient determination of single element detections. The modulation functions are supplied from a weighted summer (18). The weighted summer applies an invertible matrix of weights to a series of orthogonal Walsh functions defined over a predetermined sampling interval, the Walsh functions being generated by a function generator (16). The modulated outputs of the array are combined by summer 20 and distributed among parallel channels by a divider (22). Correlators (24) correlate the signal in each channel with a respective of the original Walsh functions. The correlated outputs are digitized by analog-to-digital converters for transmission and processing by a digital processor (28).

Abstract: A windowing system provides an interface between application programs and non-programmable terminal drivers. The system presents logical windows to the applications program, each of which are represented internally by at least two separate parts. The first part includes the border and non-scrollable text for a logical window, while the second part includes scrollable text for the window. Through calls to the display driver, the windowing system manipulates these separate parts so that they are displayed on the screen as a single window.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for two-pass image transformation, providing a general solution to execute arbitrary warping of an image. A bicubic mesh is created, by splines or other suitable means, and is used to create displacement tables for X and Y displacement. Alternatively, the displacement tables can be generated directly. The displacement tables represent the movement of each pixel from an original location in the source image to a new location in the destination image. One of the displacement maps is applied to the source image to create an intermediate image and to the other displacement map to create a resampled displacement map. The resampled map is then applied to the intermediate image to create the destination image. By resampling, compensation for altered location points is done automatically. In this manner, no inversion of the underlying equations and functions is required.

Abstract: An image processing system capable of combining two or more image data having different pixel densities into one page of image data. The system includes a parallel/serial converter and a serial/parallel converter. A first clock is input into the parallel/serial converter and a second clock is input into the serial/parallel converter. Image data is converted into serial image data by the parallel/serial converter in synchronism with the first clock and then the serial image data is converted into parallel image data by the serial/parallel converter in synchronism with the second clock. By varying the number of clock pulses per unit time between the first and second clocks, the input image data having a first pixel density may be converted into output image data having second pixel density.

Abstract: A font processing system includes font pattern storage for defining a font pattern and font pattern access parameter storage for storing parameters for making access to the font pattern storage. Address calculation is made on the basis of the font pattern access parameter and a pattern code supplied from outside to indicate a font pattern. The font pattern processing system includes a pattern drawing attribute indicator for indicating the attributes of pattern drawing by the font pattern data thus read out. The present invention processes predetermined font data at a high speed inside a font data processor on the basis of the pattern code and can easily accomplish diversification of font patterns.

Abstract: A symbol generator with pipeline architecture comprised of a series of processing stages that regenerate a complete video data signal for each display field. Any symbol in a display may be moved in real time and independently of any other symbol, because the display is regenerated for each and every field. The symbol generator includes a cpu microprocessor, vertical sorter, boundary generator, horizontal sorter, and color palette.

Abstract: A memory device utilized for an image display apparatus, such as a dual port memory. The memory device provides a serial port for performing a serial-access with a display controller and a random port for performing a random-access with a CPU. Such memory device includes memory cell arrays of M rows and N columns, one couple of data registers and pointers. The data stored in one row within the memory cell arrays are divided into data of K columns and another data of N-K columns. When the display controller performs the serial-access, one of the above two data registers can be alternatively used for serially inputting or outputting the data while the another data are transferred between the memory cell arrays and another data register. Or the data can be transferred between the memory cell arrays and both of two data registers. In this case, the serial input or output positions for determining the start addresses are assigned by the pointers.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for line figure encoding capable of reducing the amount of information required to be supplied and of encoding line figures correctly even when original images contain errors. In encoding the line figures, points are specified by a pointer in the vicinity of line figures to be encoded as a single connected line piece on displayed images. The line figures indicated to be a single connected line piece are extracted as the single connected line piece, and the line figures extracted as the single connected line piece are encoded as the single connected line piece.

Abstract: Polygon filling apparatus in which data are obtained through registers from memory files for holding accumulated addition values and incremental values, such data are added in a single addition circuit, the accumulated addition values in one of said registers are supplied to a linear drawing unit and the addition results are loaded in the memory loading files for accumulated addition values through a register, a series of the operations above-mentioned being carried out in a pipe-line manner at a high speed.

Abstract: A highly efficient method of line drawing on a raster scan display device. By properly shifting the original coordinates, a line can be represented by an equation such as X=(Q+r/.DELTA.Y)Y if the slope (.DELTA.Y/.DELTA.X) is between 0 and 1. Q and r are the integer quotient and remainder, respectively, when .DELTA.X is divided by .DELTA.Y. An error term D and a MODIFIER term are determined in accordance with the proposed algorithm for each value of Y. The final line is formed when the positions of (.DELTA.Y+1) line segments, with different numbers of horizontal points in each line segment, are determined. By this technique, when the quotient Q is odd, the number of points to be drawn for the first line segment are (Q+1)/2 and the points of the rest of the line segments are Q+MODIFIER. When the quotient Q is even, the points of the first line segment are Q/2 when r=0, or (Q/2)+1 when r not equal to 0. The points of the remaining line segments are Q+MODIFIER.

Abstract: A method for producing realistic shading of three-dimensional objects depicted in a graphics display system. Computationally efficient Gouraud shading is practiced in the rendering of images which routinely require Phong shading to obtain suitable realism. Gouraud shading is adaptively applied to polygon regions of preferably triangular shape at a granularity defined by heuristically derived relationships using surface normal vectors, incident light vectors and relative pixel separation information. When division of the base triangle is dictated, the methodology produces a mesh of polygons sized to be individually rendered with Gouraud shading yet provide Phong-like realism for the whole of the original polygon region.

Abstract: A method and apparatus used with a printed circuit board (PCB) defect detection system generates a reference data base image of the PCB having tolerances for each individual PCB feature. The invention includes a transitional data base having three states, black, white and gray corresponding to areas where the PCB features respectively must appear, must not appear and may or may not appear.

Abstract: A method of implementing a move-draw format to control the operation of a graphics accelerator of a computer system which includes the steps of providing a designation in a process for rendering an element defining the total element being drawn, referring to the type designation to determine whether the graphics accelerator is able to implement an algorithm for such type, and selecting the individual coordinates from the format to implement the process while ignoring the move-draw elements if the graphics accelerator is capable of implementing the algorithm.

Abstract: A method for handling a cursor during a graphics drawing routine that eliminates the need to insert cursor handling code into graphics function definitions. The method coordinates the placement of the cursor in screen memory with the reading out of the scan lines containing the cursor. During this time, the cursor background is saved in offscreen memory. The cursor is protected by a cursor violation region, and drawing may continue while the cursor is in screen memory so long as the cursor violation region is not infringed, in which case drawing ceases until the cursor is read out of memory. The method prevents the cursor from flickering and maximizes the availability of screen memory to the drawing routine.

Abstract: An apparatus and process for the flexible and rapid manipulation of multidimensional data. Coordinates are transformed by the use of a plurality of transform memories, each being addressable by a coordinate of an n-tuple. Each memory provides an intermediate value that when added to others provides a transformed coordinate. This eliminates the need for high-speed multipliers. The transform memories are additionally addressable by flags and tags associated with the location, attribute or object of interest. Different transformations take place depending on the values of the flags and tags. This allows flexible manipulation of the data. Z-buffering is done at high speed in parallel with the results being combined in efficient combiner circuits. In addition, this parallel operation permits the transformations themselves to be done in parallel.

Abstract: In a computer system with a raster output device, a method for manipulating the outlines of a symbol image at various sizes such that the outline defines a close representation of the symbol image. A plurality of control points which correspond to an outline of the symbol image are stored in a memory of the computer system. The size of the symbol image which is to be output on the raster device is determined. The computer system then determines, given the size of the symbol image, whether the control points of the outline of the symbol must be adjusted in order to provide a proper display of the symbol. If adjustment is warranted, at least one of the control points for the outline is selected. The selected control points are then displaced by a predetermined amount to form a new outline of the symbol image. This adjusted outline is then stored in the computer system's memory and may be output in the raster device.

Abstract: In enlarging dot matrix data stored in an original memory on a work memory, it is discriminated whether or not a data write position overlaps the position of already-produced data. If no overlapping occurs, the data is written as it is in the work memory. If overlapping occurs, it is then discriminated whether or not the color of a dot in the original memory to be processed is the same as that of a dot adjacent to the target dot. If the colors are the same, data is written at positions except the overlapped portion. In other words, data already written at the overlapped position is given a priority. On the other hand, if the dots are of different colors, data at the overlapped portion is temporarily cleared and data is written at positions including the overlapped portion.

Abstract: A graphic processor comprises an input device for inputting a command from an operator, a display device for displaying graphic data and a computer for preparing and correcting graphic data by a command input from the operator and for making display control of the display device. When the operator wants to know the content of the command that is executed, he instructs the command to the computer. A command name, a processing content and a figure as an object of processing are calculated from history data instructed from the computer. The figure as the object of processing, the command processing content and the relation of correspondence are symbolized and displayed on the display device. Furthermore, a parametric figure is also displayed visually on the display device.

Abstract: A method for constructing the Minkowski sum and derivative morphological combinations of arbitray polyhedra uses operations supported in current CAD/CAM systems. The method has application to three-dimensional modeling of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, their design and simulation of fabrication, and to automated mechanical assembly. The method also has application to n-dimensional modeling in robotics as well as other applications of CAD/CAM systems. In one aspect, an exact Minkowski sum of two polyhedra is obtained by a generalization of sweeping a face along an edge. More generally, according to a second aspect, the Minkowski sum of two polyhedra is computed as the union of linear translational sweeps enabled by the first aspect. The method implements techniques and formulas which greatly reduces the overall cost of the computation of Minkowski sums and, in particular, avoids computations involving non-transversal polyhedra.

Abstract: A method and apparatus used with a printed circuit board (PCB) defect detecting system generates a reference database image of the PCB having tolerances for each individual PCB feature. A transitional data base is included that has three states, black, white and gray corresponding to areas where the PCB features respectively must appear, must not appear and may or may not appear.