Computer vision architecture
First Claim
1. A computer architecture for an image understanding machine for performing operations on image data in the form of a matrix of pixels, said machine comprising:
- a first level of image processing elements having a first construction that enables neighboring processing elements on the first level to operate on different instructions simultaneously;
a second level of processing elements having a different construction than the first level processing elements, said second level processing elements each including means therein enabling processing elements on the second level to operate on different instructions simultaneously, each second level processing element being associated with a group of first level processing elements and communicating therewith as well as with other second level processing elements;
a third level of processing elements having a construction different than the first and second level of processing elements, each third level processing element being associated with a given number of second level processing elements and communicating therewith as well as with other third level processing elements; and
a host computer communicating with at least the third level processing elements whereby different instructions can be transmitted to the processing elements of various levels to enable the computer to operate simultaneously on multiple instructions in each level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer architecture is disclosed for analyzing automatic image understanding problems. The architecture is designed so that it can efficiently perform a wide spectrum of tasks ranging from low level or iconic processing to high level or symbolic processing tasks. A first level (12) of image processing elements is provided for operating on the image matrix on a pixel per processing element basis. A second level (14) of processing elements is provided for operating on a plurality of pixels associated with a given array of first level processing elements. A third level (16) of processing elements is designed to instruct the first and second level processing elements, as well as for operating on a larger segment of the matrix. A host computer (18) is provided that directly communicates with at least each third level processing element. A high degree of parallelism is provided so that information can be readily transferred within the architecture at high speeds.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A computer architecture for an image understanding machine for performing operations on image data in the form of a matrix of pixels, said machine comprising:
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a first level of image processing elements having a first construction that enables neighboring processing elements on the first level to operate on different instructions simultaneously; a second level of processing elements having a different construction than the first level processing elements, said second level processing elements each including means therein enabling processing elements on the second level to operate on different instructions simultaneously, each second level processing element being associated with a group of first level processing elements and communicating therewith as well as with other second level processing elements; a third level of processing elements having a construction different than the first and second level of processing elements, each third level processing element being associated with a given number of second level processing elements and communicating therewith as well as with other third level processing elements; and a host computer communicating with at least the third level processing elements whereby different instructions can be transmitted to the processing elements of various levels to enable the computer to operate simultaneously on multiple instructions in each level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of analyzing an image represented by a matrix of pixels, said method comprising:
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loading the pixels into an image understanding machine having first, second and third levels of processing elements in which processing elements in each level have different constructions; simultaneously performing different operations on selected groups of the pixels with the first level processing elements, there being one first level processing element for each pixel in the matrix; using the second level processing elements to simultaneously perform other operations on a group of pixels associated with an array of first level processing elements; and using the third level processing elements to instruct the first and second level processing elements. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A machine for performing operations on image data in the form of a matrix of pixels, said machine comprising:
a plurality of circuit boards having connector means thereon pluggable into a backplane of a cabinet; and
N×
N array of integrated circuit chips located on the board, wherein N is an integer, each chip including an mN×
mN array of first level processing elements, wherein mN is an integer, said first level processing elements being mesh connected to neighboring processing elements;
each chip further including a second level processing element connected to each of the first level processing elements and having a different construction therefrom, said chip further including individually addressable first means for controlling selected first level processing elements so that they can operate on different instructions simultaneously, and the chip also including an individually addressable second means for controlling said second level processing element;
a third level processing element of still different construction located on the board and connected to each second level processing element on the board, said third level processing element also being coupled to said connector; and
means including said backplane for defining a global bus connecting each of the third level processing elements with a host computer.- View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A machine for performing operations on image data in the form of a matrix of pixels, said machine comprising:
a circuit board having connector means thereon pluggable into a back plane of a cabinet;
N×
N groups of integrated circuit devices located on the board, wherein N is an integer, each group including an mN×
mN array of first level processing elements, wherein mN is an integer, said first level processing elements being mesh connected to neighboring first level processing elements;
each group further including a second level processing element connected to each of the first level processing elements and having a different construction therefrom, each group further including individually addressable first means for controlling selected first level processing elements so that they can operate on different instructions simultaneously, and each group also including an individually addressable second means for controlling said second level processing element;
said machine further including a third level processing element of still different construction which is connected to each second level processing element on the board, and means including said back plane for defining a bus connection to a host computer.
Specification