DEVICE FOR THE HARDWARE DETECTION OF LOCAL EXTREMES IN AN IMAGE
First Claim
1. A device for the hardware detection of local edges in an image with at least a pixel, comprising a plurality of elemental cells for mixed signal processing, locally interconnected in such a way that each cell is only interconnected with its eight neighbouring cells, there being no direct interaction beyond this periphery, and each cell further comprising at least one first switch configured to enable the pre-charging of a condenser at the supply voltage;
- where once said condenser is pre-charged, it discharges via a second switch connected to a current source which varies in a monotonically increasing manner with the analogue voltage representing the value of the pixel concerned;
where the value of the pixel is compared asynchronously with the neighbouring pixels of the neighbouring cells via;
a first inverter fitted with at least an input, an output and an input threshold voltage,a second inverter fitted with at least an input and an output,a digital NOR gate fitted with at least an input and an output,a digital NAND gate fitted with at least an input and an output,a third and fourth switch, anda memory feature fitted with at least two inputs and two outputs, wherein one of the inputs is an input of a clock, to store the result.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method for the hardware detection of local edges in an image, comprised of a plurality of elemental cells for mixed signal processing, locally interconnected with each other, comprising in each cell a first switch configured to enable the pre-charging of a condenser at the supply voltage; and where once said condenser is pre-charged, it discharges via a second switch connected to a power source which varies in a monotonically increasing manner with the analogue voltage representing the value of the pixel concerned; and where the value of the pixel is compared asynchronously with the neighbouring pixels of the neighbouring cells via two inverters, a digital NOR gate, a digital NAND gate, a third and fourth switch and a memory feature to store the result.
2 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A device for the hardware detection of local edges in an image with at least a pixel, comprising a plurality of elemental cells for mixed signal processing, locally interconnected in such a way that each cell is only interconnected with its eight neighbouring cells, there being no direct interaction beyond this periphery, and each cell further comprising at least one first switch configured to enable the pre-charging of a condenser at the supply voltage;
- where once said condenser is pre-charged, it discharges via a second switch connected to a current source which varies in a monotonically increasing manner with the analogue voltage representing the value of the pixel concerned;
where the value of the pixel is compared asynchronously with the neighbouring pixels of the neighbouring cells via;a first inverter fitted with at least an input, an output and an input threshold voltage, a second inverter fitted with at least an input and an output, a digital NOR gate fitted with at least an input and an output, a digital NAND gate fitted with at least an input and an output, a third and fourth switch, and a memory feature fitted with at least two inputs and two outputs, wherein one of the inputs is an input of a clock, to store the result. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- where once said condenser is pre-charged, it discharges via a second switch connected to a current source which varies in a monotonically increasing manner with the analogue voltage representing the value of the pixel concerned;
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9. A method for the hardware detection of local edges in an image with at least a pixel, comprising a plurality of elemental cells for mixed signal processing, locally interconnected with each other in such a way that each cell is only interconnected with its eight neighbouring cells, there being no direct interaction beyond this periphery, which further comprising:
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a first stage of pre-charging a condenser and its subsequent discharge via a current source dependent on the voltage representing the pixel concerned; a second stage where said discharge is compared constantly with that produced in the neighbouring pixels via digital logical gates, a NOR gate for calculation of the minima and a NAND gate for calculation of the maxima; and where the result of said comparison is stored in a memory feature whose digital output will be read appropriately in accordance with the type of edge to be detected.
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Specification