Patents by Inventor Makoto Hirai

Makoto Hirai has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6462744
    Abstract: When an OSD data storage area for storing OSD data needs to be reserved, an area of a frame storage apparatus that should store macroblocks corresponding to an invisible area on a screen is allocated as the OSD data storage area. There is no degradation in picture quality. When doing so, the data reduction control unit 64 receives an instruction to reserve the OSD data storage area and discards the corresponding macroblocks. The OSD data access unit 63 writes the OSD data into an area of the frame storage apparatus that was assigned to store the discarded macroblocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuji Mochida, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Makoto Hirai, Hideshi Nishida
  • Publication number: 20020106136
    Abstract: A pixel calculating device for performing vertical filtering that includes 16 pixel processing units 1 to 16 and an input buffer group 22 storing 16 pieces of pixel data and filter coefficients. Each of the pixel processing units performs operations using the pixel data and a filter coefficient supplied from input buffer group 22, and then acquires pixel data from an adjacent pixel processing unit. Further operations are performed by each of the pixel processing units using the acquired pixel data and operation results are accumulated. Filtering is carried out through a repetition of this acquiring and accumulation process, the number of taps being determined by the number of repetitions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2001
    Publication date: August 8, 2002
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Oka, Hideshi Nishida, Kosuke Yoshioka, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Makoto Hirai, Kozo Kimura, Ryuji Matsuura, Hiroyuki Morishita, Toshiaki Tsuji
  • Publication number: 20020041626
    Abstract: A media processing apparatus is made up of an I/O processing unit for performing input/output processing which asynchronously occurs due to an external factor and a decode processing unit for performing decode processing mainly for decoding of data streams stored in a memory in parallel with the input/output processing. The input/output processing includes receiving the data streams which are asynchronously inputted, storing the inputted data streams in the memory, and supplying the data streams from the memory to the decode processing unit. The decode processing unit is made up of a sequential processing unit mainly performing condition judgements on the data streams and a routine processing unit performing decode processing on compressed video data aside from header analysis of the compressed video data in parallel with the sequential processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2001
    Publication date: April 11, 2002
    Inventors: Kosuke Yoshioka, Makoto Hirai, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Kozo Kimura
  • Patent number: 6340973
    Abstract: A transfer-target unit outputs commands for data reading and data writing. An address generator generates control signals in accordance with the commands, and outputs the number of bytes of data first transferred by read access. A command generator generates control commands in accordance with the control signals to control an SDRAM. At this time the command generator judges the number of transferred bytes to control so that the SDRAM executes instructions in order from an instruction which is the most efficient in data transfer. That is, in the case where data is read across a bank boundary, the command generator judges which is to be executed first between read processing in a bank 0 and active processing in a bank1, to control the SDRAM. A data processor mediates data transfer between the transfer-target unit and the SDRAM in accordance with the control commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Ochiai, Yosuke Furukawa, Yutaka Tanaka, Kozo Kimura, Makoto Hirai, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Hideshi Nishida
  • Patent number: 6310921
    Abstract: A media processing apparatus is made up of an I/O processing unit for performing input/output processing which asynchronously occurs due to an external factor and a decode processing unit for performing decode processing mainly for decoding of data streams stored in a memory in parallel with the input/output processing. The input/output processing includes receiving the data streams which are asynchronously inputted, storing the inputted data streams in the memory, and supplying the data streams from the memory to the decode processing unit. The decode processing unit is made up of a sequential processing unit mainly performing condition judgements on the data streams and a routine processing unit performing decode processing on compressed video data aside from header analysis of the compressed video data in parallel with the sequential processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kosuke Yoshioka, Makoto Hirai, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Kozo Kimura
  • Patent number: 6212236
    Abstract: Bitstream analyzing unit 111 fetches a coded block pattern and a coded quantized DCT coefficient from each block in a bitstream. Entropy decoding unit 112 decodes the coded block pattern into a block pattern and decodes the coded quantized DCT coefficient into pairs of a run length and an effectiveness factor. Dequantization unit 115 generates orthogonal transformation coefficients from the pairs of a run length and an effectiveness factor. Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (IDCT) unit 110 generates a difference image from the orthogonal transformation coefficients. Decode controlling unit 110 instructs first selecting unit 118 to select constants “0”output from first constant generating unit 117 when the image is a “skipped” block. Image storage unit 120 stores a plurality of reference frame pictures having been decoded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideshi Nishida, Kozo Kimura, Makoto Hirai, Tokuzo Kiyohara
  • Patent number: 6075899
    Abstract: An image memory stores a one-screen image by dividing the one-screen image into a plurality of image blocks which are each m pixels wide by n pixels high. The image memory has an array-like storage region storing s*t first chrominance components that compose one image block and s*t second chrominance components that compose the same image block in serial areas between a start area specified by a row address and a first column address and an end area specified by the same row address and a second column address (see FIG. 10). The storage region also stores m*n luminance components that compose the same image block in serial areas between a different start area specified by a different row address and a third column address and an end area are specified by the different row address and a fourth column address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2000
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kosuke Yoshioka, Makoto Hirai, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Kozo Kimura
  • Patent number: 5947511
    Abstract: An integrally molded air-bag cover article is disclosed which contains an air-bag cover section which is made of a resin and has a periphery, and a frame section which is made of a resin and is integrally and continuously formed with the periphery by way of a weak section. The weak section is constituted by a resin junction in which an interface of the resin constituting the air-bag cover section and an interface of the resin constituting the frame section are joined together by bonding action between the resins. A continuous groove and a continuous protrusion are respectively formed on a front surface and a rear surface of the integrally molded air-bag cover article. The weak section is formed so as to extend from an inner face of the groove to an outer face of the protrusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Usui, Hitoshi Nakada, Makoto Hirai, Shoichi Kohara
  • Patent number: 5903273
    Abstract: An apparatus of the invention generates an image including a plurality of pixels by mapping a plurality of texture data onto a surface of an object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 11, 1999
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Mochizuki, Makoto Hirai
  • Patent number: 5852446
    Abstract: The rendering apparatus of this invention includes: means for determining a pixel including a depicting point on a polygon, the polygon being projected to a plane having a plurality of pixels; and means for performing a rendering calculation based on a sample point which has a fixed position with respect to the pixel, and for outputting a calculating result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Hashimoto, Makoto Hirai
  • Patent number: 5761401
    Abstract: An apparatus for parallel image generation has four geometric data buffers for storing four partial geometric data, respectively, and four image generators connected respectively to the four geometric data buffers. Each image generator generates a partial image data for every pixel in a frame. Further provided are four image mergers connected respectively to the four image generators. The four image mergers are also connected in series. An initial image generator for generating a background image is connected to the first image merger for merging the background image data and the partial image data from the first image generator. Each of the second to fourth image merger merges an output merged data from the previous image merger and the partial image data from the corresponding image generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1998
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kobayashi, Akio Nishimura, Yorihiko Wakayama, Kiyoshi Maenobu, Kazu Segawa, Makoto Hirai, Kenji Nishimura, Toshiya Naka, Jiro Minehisa, Minobu Abe
  • Patent number: 5751376
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus for creating an image of a motion blur, a trail of a rapidly moving object, by sequentially creating each pixel of the motion blur from pixel values of an original image, the apparatus including an image memory, a pixel position specifying unit, an original image data storage, an original image pixel value generating unit, a pixel value calculating unit, and a pixel value writing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1998
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Ind.
    Inventor: Makoto Hirai
  • Patent number: 5740281
    Abstract: A method of compressing shape-data used for an image generating apparatus comprises steps of inputting shape-data for each part of the whole shape, seeking a distribution of coordinate values of the shape-data for each part and determining parameters for quantizing each coordinate value for each part and quantizing each coordinate value for each part based on the parameters determined in the foregoing step, and a method of decoding compressed shape-data is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1998
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Makoto Hirai