Banded vector to raster converter
First Claim
1. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
- (a) for any one of said vectors, determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector;
(b) determining whether each of said coordinates is within said space;
(c) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in step (b); and
(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vector to raster converter system in which vectors are delivered to the system and stored in a vector memory in groups. Each group includes all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of the output plot called a vector band. Vectors are serially read out of the vector memory and converted into a series of coordinates of points along the vector. The coordinates of each point are analyzed to determine if the point lies in a second particular area within the vector band called a raster band. The coordinates in the raster band are stored in a raster memory. After the entire vector band has been rasterized the contents of the raster memory are output to a plotter. The contents of the vector memory is then rasterized again and a determination is made as to whether each pair of coordinates is in the next raster band. This process continues until all of the raster bands in the vector band have been processed. All of the vectors in the next vector band are then loaded into the vector memory and the process continues.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) for any one of said vectors, determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (b) determining whether each of said coordinates is within said space; (c) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in step (b); and (d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 21)
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6. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) for any one of said vectors, determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said one vector; (b) determining whether each of said coordinates is within a particular area; (c) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in said step (b); (d) repeating said steps (a)-(c) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed; (e) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (c); and (f) repeating said steps (a)-(e) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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10. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing representations of said vectors in a first memory; (b) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (a), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (c) determining whether each of said coordinates is within a particular area; (d) storing the coordinates favorably determined in said step (c) in a second memory; (e) repeating said steps (b)-(d) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed; (f) outputting said coordinates stored in said step (d); and (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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11. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) for any one of said vectors, determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (b) comparing selected higher order bits of binary representations of at least one dimension of each of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within a particular area; (c) retaining the coordinates favorably compared in said step (b); (d) repeating said steps (a)-(c) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed; (e) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (c); and (f) repeating said steps (a)-(e) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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12. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) for any one of said vectors, determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (b) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (c) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (d) determining whether each of said coordinates representations is within a particular area; (e) retaining said coordinates which are favorably determined in said step (d); (f) repeating said steps (a)-(e) for other vectors until all of said vectors have been processed; (g) transferring all data retained in said step (e) to an output device; (h) repeating said steps (a)-(g) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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13. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing representations of said vectors in a first memory; (b) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (a), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (c) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (d) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (e) for each of said coordinates, comparing at least one of said dimensions of said coordinates representations with a predetermined number to determine whether each of said coordinates is within a particular area; (f) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which compared favorably in said step (e); (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other vectors stored in said step (a) until all of said vectors stored in said step (a) have been processed; (h) transferring all data stored in said step (f) to an output device; and (i) repeating said steps (b)-(h) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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14. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of said space; (b) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a) determining the coordinates of a plurality of points of said vector; (c) determining whether each of said coordinates is within said particular area; (d) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in said step (c); (e) repeating said steps (b)-(d) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (f) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (d); and (g) repeating said steps (a)-(f) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of the vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points of said vector; (d) determining whether each of said coordinates is within said particular area; (e) storing the coordinates favorably determined in said step (d) in a second memory; (f) repeating said steps (c)-(e) for other vectors until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (g) outputting said coordinates stored in said step (e); and (h) repeating said steps (a)-(g) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of said space; (b) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points of said vector; (c) comparing selected higher order bits of binary representations of at least one dimension of each of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within said particular area; (d) retaining the coordinates favorably compared in said step (c); (e) repeating said steps (b)-(d) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (f) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (d); and (g) repeating said steps (a)-(f) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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22. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of said space; (b) for any one of said vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (c) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (d) repeatedyl incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (e) determining whether each of said coordinates representations is within said particular area; (f) retaining said coordinates which are favorably determined in said step (e); (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other vectors determined in said step (a) until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (h) transferring all data retained in said step (f) to an output device; and (i) repeating said steps (a)-(h) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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23. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (d) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (e) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (f) comparing at least one dimension of each of said coordinates representations with a predetermined number to determine whether each of said coordinates is within said particular area; (g) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which compared favorably in said step (f); (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other vectors stored in said step (b) until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (i) transferring all data stored in said step (g) to an output device; and (j) repeating said steps (a)-(i) for other said particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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24. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (c) determining whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (d) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in said step (c); (e) repeating said steps (b)-(d) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (f) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (d); (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (h) repeating said steps (a)-(g) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 37)
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28. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (d) determining whether each of said coordinates are within a second particular area within said first particular area; (e) storing the coordinates favorably determined in said step (d) in a second memory; (f) repeating said steps (c)-(e) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (g) outputting said coordinates stored in said step (e); (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (i) repeating said steps (a)-(h) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in said vector; (c) comparing selected higher order bits of binary representations of at least one dimension of each of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within a second particular area within said first particular area; (d) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in said step (c); (e) repeating said steps (b)-(d) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (f) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (d); (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (h) repeating said steps (a)-(g) for other said first predetermined areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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32. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) for any one of the vectors determined in said step (a), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (c) loading representations of first and second dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (d) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said fist and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (e) determining whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (f) retaining the coordinates favorably determined in said step (e); (g) repeating said steps (b)-(f) for other vectors until all of said vectors determined in said step (a) have been processed; (h) outputting said coordinates retained in said step (f); (i) repeating said steps (b)-(h) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (j) repeating said steps (a)-(i) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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33. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (d) loading a representation of said one vector origin first and second dimension coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (e) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (f) determining whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (g) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which were favorably determined in said step (f); (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other vectors stored in said step (b) until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (i) transferring all data stored in said step (g) to an output device; (j) repeating said steps (c)-(i) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (k) repeating said steps (a)-(j) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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35. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of the origin of said one vector; (d) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters, respectively; (e) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (f) comparing at least one dimension of each of said coordinates representations with a predetermined number to determine whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (g) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which compared favorably in said step (f); (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other vectors stored in said step (b) until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (i) transferring all data stored in said step (g) to an output device; (j) repeating said steps (c)-(i) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (k) repeating said steps (a)-(j) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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36. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory; (c) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of the origin of and the change in two dimensions from the origin to the end point of said one vector; (d) loading a representation of said one vector origin coordinates into said first and second counters corresponding to said two dimensions, respectively; (e) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters in accordance with the Bresenham method, so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (f) comparing selected higher order bits of at least one dimension of each of said coordinates representations with a particular number to determine whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (g) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which compared favorably in said step (f); (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other vectors stored in said step (b) until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (i) transferring all data stored in said step (g) to an output device; (j) repeating said steps (c)-(i) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered; and (k) repeating said steps (a)-(j) for other said first predetermined areas until the entire said space has been covered.
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38. A method of rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining all vectors which have at least a portion in a first particular area of said space; (b) storing representations of said vectors determined in said step (a) in a first memory, said first memory having two portions; (c) for any one of said vectors stored in said step (b), determining the coordinates of the origin of and the change in two dimensions from the origin to the end point of said one vector; (d) loading a representation of two dimensions of said one vector origin coordinates into first and second counters corresponding to said two dimensions; (e) repeatedly incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters in accordance with the Bresenham method, so that after each said incrementation, said counters store a representation of coordinates of a point in said one vector; (f) comparing selected higher order bits of at least one dimension of each of said coordinates representations with a predetermined number to determine whether each of said coordinates is within a second particular area within said first particular area; (g) storing bits in a second memory at locations related to said coordinates which compared favorably in said step (f), said second memory having two portions; (h) repeating said steps (c)-(g) for other vectors stored in said step (b) until all of said vectors stored in said step (b) have been processed; (i) transferring all data stored in said step (g) to an output device; (j) repeating said steps (c)-(h) simultaneously with said step (i) for other said second particular areas until the entire said first particular area has been covered, said step (g) occurring in one said second memory portion while said step (i) occurs in another said second memory portion, said steps (g) and (i) reversing with respect to said portions upon each completion of said steps (h) and (i); and (k) repeating said steps (a)-(b) simultaneously with said steps (c)-(j) for other said first particular areas until the entire said space has been covered, said step (b) occurring in one said first memory portion while data for said step (c) is obtained in another said first memory portion, said steps (b) and (c) reversing with respect to said first memory portions upon each completion of said step (b) and said steps (c)-(j).
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39. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for serially selecting each of said vectors until all of said vectors have been selected; first means, coupled to said selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates is within said space; and means, coupled to said second determining means, for retaining said coordinates favorably determined by said second determining means. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 63, 64)
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44. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of particular areas until all of said space has been covered; second means for serially selecting each of said vectors until all of said vectors have been selected for each of said particular areas; first means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first selecting means and said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates is within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said second determining means, for retaining said coordinates favorably determined by said second determining means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said second selecting means has selected all of said vectors for one of said particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53)
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45. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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vector memory means for storing representations of said vectors; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of particular areas until all of said space has been covered; second means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors have been selected for each of said particular areas; first means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first selecting means and said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates are within said selected particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said second determining means, for storing said coordinates favorably determined by said second determining means; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting said coordinates stored in said raster memory means after said second selecting means has selected all of said vectors for one of said particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (46, 55)
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47. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of particular areas until all of said space has been covered; second means for serially selecting each of said vectors until all of said vectors have been selected for each of said particular areas; means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; means, coupled to said first selecting means and said determining means, for comparing higher order bits of binary representations of at least one dimension of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said comparing means, for retaining said coordinates favorably compared by said comparing means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said second selecting means has selected all of said vectors for one of said particular areas.
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48. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of particular areas until all of said space has been covered; second means for serially selecting each of said vectors until all of said vectors have been selected for each of said particular areas; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said first selecting means and said first and second counters, for determining whether said coordinates at outputs of said first and second counters are within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said determining means and said first and second counters, for retaining said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable determination; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after all of said vectors have been selected for one of said particular areas.
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49. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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vector memory means for storing said vectors; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of particular areas until all of said space has been covered; second means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors have been selected for each of said particular areas; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said first selecting means and said at least one of said first and second counters, for comparing outputs of at least one of said first and second counters with a predetermined number to determine if said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said comparing means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable comparison; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said particular areas.
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50. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of particular areas within said space and for serially selecting each of said particular areas until all of said space has been covered; means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying and selecting means until all of said vectors in said selected particular area have been selected; first means, coupled to said selecting means for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates is within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said second determining means, for retaining said coordinates favorably determined in said second determining means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said second selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said particular areas.
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54. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said particular areas have been stored; means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying means and stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in each of said selected particular areas have been selected; first means, coupled to said selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates is within said selected particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said second determining means, for storing said coordinates favorably determined by said second determining means; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting said coordinates stored in said raster memory means after said second selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (66)
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56. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of particular areas within said space and for serially selecting each of said particular areas until all of said space has been covered; means, responsive to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying and selecting means until all of said vectors in said selected particular area have been selected; means, coupled to said vector selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; means, coupled to said determining means, for comparing higher order bits of a binary representation of at least one dimension of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said comparing means, for retaining said coordinates favorably compared in said comparing means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said second selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (57)
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58. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a corresponding one of a plurality of particular areas within said space and for serially selecting each of said particular areas until all of said space has been covered; means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of said vectors in said selected predetermined area until all of said vectors have been selected; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said vector selecting means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said vector selecting means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for determining whether said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected particular area; means, coupled to said determining means and said first and second counters, for retaining said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable determination; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained in said retaining means after said second selecting means has selected all of said vectors for one of said particular areas.
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59. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said particular areas have been stored; means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected particular area have been selected; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said selecting means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said selecting means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to at least one of said first and second counters, for comparing outputs of at least one of said first and second counters with a predetermined number to determine if said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said comparing means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable comparison; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said particular areas.
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60. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space and for serially selecting each of said first particular areas until all of said space has been covered; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within said selected first particular area until the entire said selected first particular area has been covered; second means for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying and selecting means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area; first means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first determining means, for determining whether each of said coordinates is within said selected second particular area; means, coupled to said second determining means, for retaining said coordinates favorably determined by said second determining means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said third selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said second particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 75)
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65. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said first particular areas have been stored; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within said selected first particular area until the entire said selected first particular area has been covered; second means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each said second particular area; first means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; second means, coupled to said first determining means and said first selecting means, for determining whether each of said coordinates are within said selected second particular areas; raster memory means, coupled to said second determining means, for storing representations of said coordinates favorably determined in said second determining means; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting said coordinates stored in said raster memory means after said second selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said second particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (67)
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68. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space and for serially selecting each of said first particular areas until all of said space has been covered; first means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within said selected first particular area until the entire said selected first particular area has been covered; second means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying and selecting means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area; means, coupled to said second selecting means, for determining the coordinates of a plurality of points in each of said selected vectors; means, coupled to said determining means, for comparing higher order bits of binary representations of at least one dimension of said coordinates with a predetermined number to determine whether said coordinates are within said selected second particular area; means, coupled to said comparing means, for retaining said coordinates favorably compared by said comparing means; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said coordinates retained by said retaining means after said third selecting means has selected all of said identified vectors for one of said second particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (69)
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70. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying all vectors which have at least a portion in a corresponding one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space and for serially selecting one of said first particular areas until all of said space has been covered; first means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within said selected first particular area until all of said selected first particular area has been covered; second means, coupled to said identifying and selecting means, for serially selecting each of said vectors in said selected first particular area until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said second selecting means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for determining whether said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected second particular area; means, coupled to said determining means and said first and second counters, for retaining said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable determination; and means, coupled to said retaining means, for outputting said retained coordinates after said third selecting means has selected all of said vectors for one of said second particular areas.
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71. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said particular areas have been stored; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within each said first particular area; second means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors identified by said identifying means and stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters;
for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector;means, coupled to said first and second counters, and said first selecting means, for determining whether said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected second particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said determining means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable determination; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors in said selected first particular area and stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said second particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (72)
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73. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said first particular areas have been stored; first means for serially selecting each of a plurality of second particular areas within each said first particular area; second means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each said second particular area; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; means, coupled to said first and second counters, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters so that the output of said first and second counters represents coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said first selecting means and at least one of said first and second counters, for comparing outputs of at least one of said first and second counters with a predetermined number to determine if said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected second particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said comparing means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable comparison; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors in said selected first particular area and stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said second particular areas.
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74. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said first particular areas have been stored; means for serially storing raster band numbers, each representative of a selected second particular area within each said first particular area; means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area corresponding to a number stored in said raster band storing means; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; a first register; a second register; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first register, for loading the change in said first dimension between the origin and end of said selected vector in said first register; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second register, for loading the change in said second dimension between the origin and end of said selected vector in said second register; means, coupled to said first and second counters and said first and second registers, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters in accordance with the Bresenham method, the output of said first and second counters representing coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said storing means and at least one of said first and second counters, for comparing higher order bits of at least one of said first and second counter outputs with one of said raster band numbers to determine if said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected second particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said comparing means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable comparison; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors in said selected first particular area and stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said second particular areas. - View Dependent Claims (76)
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77. Apparatus for rasterizing vectors in a predetermined space comprising:
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means for identifying groups of vectors, each of said groups including all vectors which have at least a portion in a selected one of a plurality of first particular areas within said space; vector memory means, coupled to said identifying means, for serially storing representations of each of said groups of vectors until said vectors in all of said first predetermined particular areas have been stored, said vector memory means having first and second portions; means for serially storing raster band numbers, each representative of a selected second particular area within each said first particular area; means, coupled to said vector memory means, for serially selecting each of said vectors stored in said vector memory means until all of said vectors in said selected first particular area have been selected for each second particular area corresponding to a number stored in said raster band number storing means; means, coupled to said vector memory means, for first directing vectors from said identifying means to said vector memory means first portion while said selecting means selects vectors from said vector memory means second portion until said identifying means has identified all vectors in one of said first particular areas and said selecting means has selected all of said vectors in said vector memory means second portion, and then directing vectors from said identifying means to said vector memory means second portion while said selecting means selects vectors from said vector memory means first portion; a first counter; a second counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first counter, for loading a first dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said first counter; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second counter, for loading a second dimension coordinate of the origin of said selected vector into said second counter; a first register; a second register; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said first register, for loading the change in said first dimension between the origin and end of said selected vector in said first register; means, coupled to said vector memory means and said second register, for loading the change in said second dimension between the origin and end of said selected vector in said second register; means, coupled to said first and second counters and said first and second registers, for incrementally changing at least one of said first and second counters in accordance with the Bresenham method, the output of said first and second counters representing coordinates of points in said selected vector; means, coupled to said storing means and at least one of said first and second counters, for comparing higher order bits of at least one of said first and second counters outputs with one of said raster band numbers to determine if said coordinates at said first and second counter outputs are within said selected second particular area; raster memory means, coupled to said comparing means and said first and second counters, for storing said first and second counter outputs in response to a favorable comparison, said raster memory means including first and second portions; means, coupled to said raster memory means, for outputting the contents of said raster memory means after all vectors stored in said vector memory means have been selected for one of said second particular areas; and means, coupled to said raster memory means, for first directing coordinates from said first and second counters, in response to a favorable comparison, to said raster memory means first portion while said outputting means obtains coordinates from said raster memory means second portion until all vectors in one of said first and second portions of said vector memory means have been processed by the plurality of said loading means and said incrementing means and said outputting means has output all of said vectors in said raster memory means second portion, and then directing coordinates from said first and second counters, in response to a favorable comparison, to said raster memory means second portion while said outputting means obtains coordinates from said raster memory means first portion.
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Specification