Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-15
2001-07-03
Choules, Jack (Department: 2177)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C700S083000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256625
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of image acquisition, and more particularly to software for creating image acquisition applications for acquiring image data, processing the image data, and displaying the image data.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The problem of acquiring video data into computer system memory (i.e. the main memory of a computer system) is increasingly the subject of attention in the field of image/video processing.
A host computer system generally employs a video acquisition device, such as a video acquisition board, to perform video frame acquisition. Video acquisition boards generally provide for fast and efficient acquisition of video frames from video source devices. Typical video sources include industrial cameras, camcorders, video cameras, VCRs, TV tuners, and laserdisk players. Software executing on the computer system controls the video acquisition device and is operable to perform various types of image processing on acquired image data. As the performance of video acquisition devices increases, coupled with improvements in CPU capacity, improvements in software image processing are also desired.
In order to create an image acquisition system, the user is typically required to create code which acquires or captures the image data and either processes the image data and/or displays the image data. As the image data is processed or displayed, it is desirable to avoid making copies of the image data. Image data is typically large in size, and copying carries significant overhead. One frequent situation where image data is copied is for display. The acquired image data is often moved into a buffer which is used as the source data for drawing the image. This can cause image refresh to slow down, particularly with large images. The user also has the responsibility to keep the display up to date. When the image data is modified, the user must redraw the image on the screen by repeatedly calling a redraw function. This requires more work by the user and is dependent on the programming environment, and further adds more programming overhead to the display mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,504 titled “Method and System for Quickly Developing Application Software For Use in a Machine Vision System” (the '504 patent) discloses a system for developing application software in a machine vision system using sets of custom controls. This patent describes a system which includes a first custom control program which stores hardware operating parameters for image capture. The system also includes a user interface custom control program for display of an image. The user interface custom control program consists of a Windows handle that represents a screen area. The first custom control program operates to capture and store image data and maintains a copy of the Windows handle for drawing the image on the screen. In order to draw the image on the screen, the first custom control program uses its copy of the Windows handle to write the image data to the respective portion of the frame buffer corresponding to the screen area represented by the handle. The first custom control program can only store a copy of one Windows handle, and thus only one user interface custom control program can be linked to a first custom control program. Also, the user interface custom control program does not perform any processing on the image data, but rather simply provides a Windows handle which is used by the first custom control program. In addition, the first custom control program can only bind to one user interface custom control program.
In the '504 patent, one or more user interface custom control programs can be statically linked to a first custom control program, wherein each user interface custom control program displays an image from the first custom control program. However, the system in the '504 patent only allows each respective user interface custom control program to display the image at a specific point in time, and the user interface custom control programs will not automatically update as the image data changes. Thus this provides only a static link, not a dynamic binding.
Therefore, an improved system and method is desired for acquiring and processing image data. More particularly, an improved system and method is desired which enables the acquisition and processing of video data with minimal user intervention requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a video capture system and method which includes improved software control of image acquisition and processing. The video capture system comprises a host computer coupled to a video source, such as a video camera. The host computer includes a CPU, a system memory, and a video capture device which receives the video data or image data from the video source. The computer system memory stores a plurality of objects which are operable to control acquisition and processing of image data with reduced user intervention.
The method comprises first creating an image application using one or more objects, e.g., an IMAQ hardware object for acquiring image data, a viewer object for displaying the image corresponding to the image data, and/or a vision object for performing image processing on the image data. Acquired data is preferably stored in an image object. In the preferred embodiment, the user invokes an attach method on one or more objects, such as viewer or vision objects, to enable the respective object(s) to share an image object. Thus, these objects are operable to dynamically bind to, i.e., communicate with, the image object during program execution.
After the user creates the application, the user then initiates execution of the application. After the application begins execution, the computer system operates to acquire image data corresponding to an image and store the image data in an image object. The one or more configured objects, referred to generically as the first object, then dynamically binds to the image object, i.e., communicates with the image object, to access the image data contained in the image object. The first object processes the image data in response to binding to the image object. For example, if the first object is a viewer object, the viewer object displays an image on the display screen corresponding to the image data. If the first object is a vision object, the vision object performs an image processing function on the image data.
This dynamic binding or communication, as well as the subsequent processing of the image data, occurs without user intervention. In other words, the user is not required to perform any action during execution to enable or trigger the first object dynamically binding or communicating with the image object. In the preferred embodiment the user is only required to invoke an attach method on the first object during creation of the program to enable the dynamic binding.
When the image data comprised in the image object changes, such as a result of a new acquisition or an image processing operation, the image object automatically notifies the one or more first objects which are bound to the image object. In the preferred embodiment, the memory of the computer system stores a container program which contains the image object and the first object, and the image object preferably notifies the first object independent of the container program. In response to the notification, the first object automatically accesses the changed image data and processes the changed image data. For example, if the first object is a viewer object, the viewer object displays an image on the display screen corresponding to the changed image data. If the first object is a vision object, the vision object performs an image processing function on the changed image data.
The image object automatically notifies the one or more first objects, and each of the first objects automatically accesses the changed image data and processes the changed image data, without user intervention, i.e., without any user action required during execution
Austin Paul F.
Breyer John R.
Choules Jack
Conley Rose & Tayon PC
Hood Jeffrey C.
Lewis Cheryl
National Instruments Corporation
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