Character recognition system using massively parallel computer that identifies a query character using degree of similarity with plurality of training characters of known identity

• US 5,131,054 A
• Filed: 01/09/1991
• Issued: 07/14/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TM Patents LP
• Original Assignee: Thinking Machines Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Stephen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Boudreau, Leo H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W.
• Application Number:
  US07/639,490
• Time in Patent Office: 552 Days
• Field of Search: 382/34, 382/30, 382/27, 382/20, 382/23
• US Class Current: 382/161
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/18 Extraction of features or characteristics of the image
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/19013 Comparing pixel values or logical combinations thereof, or feature values having positional relevance, e.g. template matching specially adapted for image segmentation G06T7/10; specially adapted for the analysis of motion G06T7/20; specially adapted for image alignment G06T7/30; specially adapted for the calculation of depth from stereo images G06T7/50; specially adapted for position determination G06T7/70

Abstract

A character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character. The query character has a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of array elements defining on pixels and off pixels for said query character image, in response to training character images also represented by patterns of on and off pixels. The system generates, for each image array, a distance array having a pattern of array elements each identifying a distance value to pixels of selected conditions, thereby identifying distances to artifacts in the respective images. In addition, the system generates distance scores for both the query character and the training character, using the distance arrays, representing the consolidated deviation between the query character image and the training character images. The system includes a massively-parallel processor including a plurality of processing elements to process the training character image arrays in parallel.

Claims

1. A character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on condition or an off condition, in response to training character image arrays each associated with a character identification, each training character image array being represented by patterns of training character array elements each corresponding to a query character array element and each having an on condition or an off condition, said system comprising:

A. distance generation means for generating, for each training character image array, an elemental distance value representing, for each training character array element, the distance from the query character array element to a proximate training character array element having the same on or off condition as the corresponding query character array element;

B. deviation score generating means for generating, for each training character image array, a deviation score in response to the elemental distance values generated by said distance generation means; and

C. character identification means for generating a character identification for the query character in response to the deviation scores generated by said deviation score generating means and the character identification associated with the respective training character image arrays.

2. A character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on condition or an off condition, in response to training character image arrays each associated with a character identification, each training character image array being represented by patterns of training character array elements each corresponding to a query character array element and each having an on condition or an off condition, said system comprising:

A. distance generation means for generating, for each training character image array, an elemental distance value representing, for each query character array element, the distance from the query character array element to a proximate query character array element having the same on or off condition as the corresponding training character array element;

B. deviation score generating means for generating, for each training character image array, a deviation score in response to the elemental distance values generated by said distance generation means; and

C. character identification means for generating a character identification for the query character in response to the deviation scores generated by said deviation score generating means and the character identification associated with the respective training character image arrays.

3. A character recognition system for generating a character identification value associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on value or an off value, said system comprising:

A. a plurality of training character image arrays, each associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value;

B. training distance array generating means for generating for each training character a training distance array, each training distance array having a plurality of training distance array elements each associated with a training character array element of the associated training character image array, each training distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding training character array element to the training character array element having a selected on value or off value;

C. query/training artifact score determining means for generating for each training distance array a deviation score, each deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said training distance array elements which are associated with training character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding query character array element of said query character image array; and

D. character identification means for generating the character identification value for the query character in response to said deviation scores generated by said query/training artifact score determining means.

4. A character recognition system as defined in claim 3 in which said training distance array generating means comprises:

A. a training temporary store for storing a training distance value;

B. a training character array element identifier for identifying a training character array element;

C. training distance value determination means for iteratively determining a training distance value from each training character array element to the training character array element identified by the training character array element identifier;

D. training distance value update generation means for selectively generating an updated training distance value for storage in said training temporary store for each iteration of said training distance value determination means in response to the training distance value stored in said training temporary store, the updated training distance value being determined by the training distance value determination means and the on value or off value of said training character array element; and

E. training distance generation control means responsive to termination by said training distance value determination means for generating a training distance value for storage in the training distance array in response to the training distance value in the training temporary store, said training distance generation control means further updating said training character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each training character array element of said training character image array.

5. A character recognition system as defined in claim 4 wherein said training distance value determination means includes training counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a training character array element from which it determines a distance value.

6. A character recognition system as defined in claim 5 wherein said training character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said training counter means including a training row counter which generates a training row counter value and a training column counter which generates a training column counter value, and said training character array element identifier including a training row pointer which generates a training row pointer value and a training column pointer which generates a training column pointer value, said training distance value determination means generating said training distance value in response to a row difference value between said training row counter value and said training row pointer value and a training column difference value between said training column counter value and said training column pointer value.

7. A character recognition system as defined in claim 5 in which:

A. said training temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said distance value update generation means for selectively generating, in response to the on value or off value of the training character array element identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in the corresponding on distance value store or off distance value store and the updated distance value for the iteration as determined by the distance value determination means;

C. said training distance generation control means generating a distance value and storing said distance value in the training distance array, the training distance generation control means generating said distance value in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and the off distance value in the off distance value store.

8. A character recognition system as defined in claim 7 in which each training distance array includes an on training distance array and an off training distance array,

A. said training distance generation control means generating an on training distance value for storage in the on training distance array in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and an off training distance value for storage in the off training distance array in response to the off distance value in the off distance value store;

and

B. said query/training artifact score determining means selectively using the on training distance values from the on training distance array and the off training distance values from the off training distance value array in generating said deviation score.

9. A character recognition system as defined in claim 8 in which:

A. said on training distance array comprises a plurality of on training distance array elements, each associated with a training character array element, the training distance generation control means storing the on training distance value in the on training distance array element associated with the training character array element that is identified by the training counter means during each iteration;

B. said off training distance array comprises a plurality of off training distance array elements, each associated with a training character array element, the training distance generation control means storing the off training distance value in the off training distance array element associated with the training character array element that is identified by the training counter means during each iteration; and

C. said query/training artifact score determining means, in generating a deviation score for a training distance array, generates the deviation score as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on training distance values from those of said on training distance array elements associated with training character array elements which have an on value and which correspond to the query character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off training distance values from those of said off training distance array elements associated with training character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the query character array elements which have an on value.

10. A character recognition system as defined in claim 7 in which:

A. each training distance array element of each training distance array includes a training distance array element value store and an associated training value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said training distance generation control means, for each training distance array element, storing the on value or off value as said training distance array element value in said training distance array element value store and establishing the condition of the associated training value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the training character array element identified by the training row counter and the training column counter; and

C. said query/training artifact score determining means, in generating said deviation score, selectively using the training distance values from the distance value stores of said training distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding query character array elements of the query character image array.

11. A character recognition system as defined in claim 3 further comprising:

A. query distance array generating means for generating a query distance array, said query distance array having a pattern of query distance array elements corresponding to the pattern of the query character array elements, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

B. training/query artifact score generating means for using said deviation score generated by said query/training artifact score determining means to generate for each training character image array an updated deviation score, the updated deviation score being generated further representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array;

C. said character identification means using said updated deviation score for identifying a character as the query character in response to said updated deviation scores as updated by said training/query artifact score generating means.

12. A character recognition system as defined in claim 11 in which said query distance array generating means comprises:

A. a query temporary store for storing a query distance value;

B. a query character array element identifier for identifying a query character array element;

C. query distance value determination means for iteratively determining a query distance value from each query character array element to the query character array element identified by the query character array element identifier;

D. query distance value update generation means for selectively generating an updated query distance value for storage in said query temporary store for each iteration of said query distance value determination means in response to the query distance value stored in said query temporary store, the updated query distance value being determined by the query distance value determination means and the on value or off value of said query character array element; and

E. query distance generation control means responsive to termination by said query distance value determination means for generating a query distance value for storage in the query distance array in response to the query distance value in the query temporary store, said query distance generation control means further updating said query character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each query character array element of said query character image array.

13. A character recognition system as defined in claim 12 wherein said query distance value determination means includes query counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a query character array element from which it determines a query distance value.

14. A character recognition system as defined in claim 13 wherein said query character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said query counter means including a query row counter which generates a query row counter value and a query column counter which generates a query column counter value, and said query character array element identifier including a query row pointer which generates a query row pointer value and a query column pointer which generates a query column pointer value, said query distance value determination means generating said query distance value in response to a row difference value between said query row counter value and said query row pointer value and a query column difference value between said query column counter value and said query column pointer value.

15. A character recognition system as defined in claim 13 in which:

A. said query temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said query distance value update generation means for selectively generating, in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in the corresponding on distance value store or off distance value store and the updated distance value for the iteration as determined by the query distance value determination means;

C. said query distance generation control means generating a distance value and storing said distance value in the query distance array, the query distance generation control means generating said distance value in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and the off distance value in the off distance value store.

16. A character recognition system as defined in claim 15 in which each query distance array includes an on query distance array and an off query distance array,

A. said query distance generation control means generating an on query distance value for storage in the on query distance array in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and an off query distance value for storage in the off query distance array in response to the off distance value in the off distance value store;

and

B. said training/query artifact score determining means selectively using the on query distance values from the on query distance array and the off query distance values from the off query distance value array in generating said deviation score.

17. A character recognition system as defined in claim 16 in which:

A. said on query distance array comprises a plurality of on query distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the on query distance value in the on query distance array element associated with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration;

B. said off query distance array comprises a plurality of off query distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the off query distance value in the off query distance array element associated with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining means, in generating a deviation score for a query distance array, generates the deviation score as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on query distance values from those of said on query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an on value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off query distance values from those of said off query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an on value.

18. A character recognition system as defined in claim 15 in which:

A. each query distance array element of each query distance array includes a query distance array element value store and an associated query value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said query distance generation control means, for each query distance array element, storing the on value or off value as said query distance array element value in said query distance array element value store and establishing the condition of the associated query value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the query row counter and the query column counter; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining means, in generating said deviation score, selectively using the query distance values from the distance value stores of said query distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding training character array elements of the training character image array.

19. A character recognition system for generating a character identification value associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on value or an off value, using a plurality of training character image arrays, each associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value, said system comprising

A. query distance generating means for generating a query distance array, said query distance array having a pattern of query distance array elements corresponding to the pattern of the query character array elements, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

B. training/query artifact score generating means for generating for each training character image array a deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array; and

C. character identification means for generating the character identification value for the query character in response to said deviation scores generated by said training/query artifact score determining means.

20. A character recognition system as defined in claim 19 in which said query distance array generating means comprises:

A. a query temporary store for storing a query distance value;

B. a query character array element identifier for identifying a query character array element;

C. query distance value determination means for iteratively determining a query distance value from each query character array element to the query character array element identified by the query character array element identifier;

D. query distance value update generation means for selectively generating an updated query distance value for storage in said query temporary store for each iteration of said query distance value determination means in response to the query distance value stored in said query temporary store, the updated query distance value being determined by the query distance value determination means and the on value or off value of said query character array element; and

E. query distance generation control means responsive to termination by said query distance value determination means for generating a query distance value for storage in the query distance array in response to the query distance value in the query temporary store, said query distance generation control means further updating said query character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each query character array element of said query character image array.

21. A character recognition system as defined in claim 20 wherein said query distance value determination means includes query counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a query character array element from which it determines a query distance value.

22. A character recognition system as defined in claim 21 wherein said query character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said query counter means including a query row counter which generates a query row counter value and a query column counter which generates a query column counter value, and said query character array element identifier including a query row pointer which generates a query row pointer value and a query column pointer which generates a query column pointer value, said query distance value determination means generating said query distance value in response to a row difference value between said query row counter value and said query row pointer value and a query column difference value between said query column counter value and said query column pointer value.

23. A character recognition system as defined in claim 21 in which:

A. said query temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said distance value update generation means for selectively generating, in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in the corresponding on distance value store or off distance value store and the updated distance value for the iteration as determined by the distance value determination means;

C. said query distance generation control means generating a query distance value and storing said query distance value in the query distance array, the query distance generation control means generating said distance value in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and the off distance value in the off distance value store.

24. A character recognition system as defined in claim 23 in which each query distance array includes an on query distance array and an off query distance array,

A. said query distance generation control means generating an on query distance value for storage in the on query distance array in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and an off query distance value for storage in the off query distance array in response to the off distance value in the off distance value store;

and

B. said training/query artifact score determining means selectively using the on query distance values from the on query distance array and the off query distance values from the off query distance value array in generating said deviation score.

25. A character recognition system as defined in claim 24 in which:

A. said on query distance array comprises a plurality of on query distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the on query distance value in the on query distance array element associated with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration;

B. said off query distance array comprise a plurality of off query distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the off query distance value in the off query distance array element associated with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining means, in generating a deviation score for a query distance array, generates the deviation score as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on query distance values from those of said on query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an on value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off query distance values from those of said off query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an on value.

26. A character recognition system as defined in claim 23 in which:

A. each query distance array element of each query distance array includes a query distance array element value store and an associated query value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said query distance generation control means, for each query distance array element, storing the on value or off value as said query distance array element value in said query distance array element value store and establishing the condition of the associated query value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the query row counter and the query column counter; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining means, in generating said deviation score, selectively using the query distance values from the distance value stores of said query distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding training character array elements of the training character image array.

27. A character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of array elements defining on pixels and off pixels for said query character image, said system comprising:

A. a plurality of processing elements, each including a memory;

B. control means comprising;

i. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processing elements to establish in parallel in their respective memories a training character image array, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value;

ii. training distance array generating enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate, in parallel for each training character, a training distance array in their respective memories, each training distance array having a plurality of training distance array elements each associated with a training character array element of the associated training character image array, each training distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding training character array element to the training character array element having a selected on value or off value;

iii. query/training artifact score determining enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate, for their respective training distance array, a deviation score, each deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said training distance array elements which are associated with training character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding query character array element of said query character image array; and

C. character identification means for generating the character identification value for the query character in response to said deviation scores generated by said processing elements in response to said query/training artifact score determining enabling means.

28. A character recognition system as defined in claim 27 further comprising:

A. a training character array element identifier means for identifying a training character array element;

B. said training distance array generating enabling means comprising;

i. training distance value determination enabling means for enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, iteratively determine a training distance value from each training character array element to the training character array element identified by the training character array element identifier;

ii. training distance value update generation enabling means for enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, selectively generate for each iteration an updated training distance value for storage in respective training temporary stores in their respective memories, the updated training distance value being determined by the processing elements in response to the training distance values determined during processing in response to said training distance value determination enabling means and the on value or off value of said training character array element; and

iii. training distance generation control enabling means responsive to termination by said training distance value determination enabling means for enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, generate a training distance value for storage in the training distance array in response to the training distance value in their respective training temporary stores, said training distance generation control enabling means further enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, update said training character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each training character array element of said training character image array.

29. A character recognition system as defined in claim 28 further including training counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a training character array element from which the processing elements determine respective distance values in response to the training distance value determination enabling means.

30. A character recognition system as defined in claim 29 wherein said training character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said training counter means including a training row counter which generates a training row counter value and a training column counter which generates a training column counter value, and said training character array element identifier including a training row pointer which generates a training row pointer value and a training column pointer which generates a training column pointer value, said training distance value determination enabling means enabling said processing elements to generate said training distance value in response to a row difference value between said training row counter value and said training row pointer value and a training column difference value between said training column counter value and said training column pointer value.

31. A character recognition system as defined in claim 29 in which:

A. each said training temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said training distance value update generation enabling means for enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, selectively generate, in response to the on value or off value of their respective training character array element as identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in a corresponding respective on distance value store or off distance value store, both said on distance value store and said off distance value store comprising parts of the training temporary store for the respective processing element, and the respective updated distance value for the iteration as determined by said processing elements in response to the distance value determination enabling means;

C. said training distance generation control enabling means enabling said processing elements to, in parallel, generate a respective training distance value and store said distance value in their respective training distance array, the training distance generation control enabling means enabling said processing elements to generate respective training distance values in response to the respective on distance values in the respective on distance value stores and the respective off distance values in the respective off distance value stores.

32. A character recognition system as defined in claim 31 in which each training distance array includes an on training distance array and an off training distance array,

A. said training distance generation control enabling means enabling said processing elements to generate respective on training distance values for storage in the respective on training distance arrays in response to the respective on distance values in the respective on distance value store and respective off training distance values for storage in the respective off training distance array in response to the respective off distance value in the respective off distance value store;

and

B. said query/training artifact score determining enabling means enabling said processing elements to selectively use the on training distance values from the on training distance array and the off training distance values from the off training distance value array in generating said deviation score.

33. A character recognition system as defined in claim 32 in which:

A. said training distance generation control enabling means enables said processing elements to generate;

(i) said on training distance array as a plurality of on training distance array elements, each associated with a training character array element, each processing element storing the on training distance value in the on training distance array element associated with the training character array element that is identified by the training counter means during each iteration; and

(ii) said off training distance array as a plurality of off training distance array elements, each associated with a training character array element, each processing element storing the off training distance value in the off training distance array element associated with the training character array element that is identified by the training counter means during each iteration; and

B. said query/training artifact score determining enabling means enables said processing elements to generate a respective deviation score for their respective training distance array as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on training distance values from those of said on training distance array elements associated with training character array elements having an on value and which correspond to the query character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off training distance values from those of said off training distance array elements associated with training character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the query character array elements which have an on value.

34. A character recognition system as defined in claim 32 in which:

A. each training distance array element of each training distance array includes a training distance array element value store and an associated training value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said training distance generation control enabling means enables said processing elements, for each training distance array element, to

(i) store the respective on value or off value as the respective training distance array element value in their respective training distance array element value store and

(ii) establish the condition of the associated training value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the training character array element identified by the training row counter and the training column counter; and

C. said query/training artifact score determining enabling means enabling said processing elements to selectively use the training distance values from the respective distance value stores of said respective training distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding query character array elements of the query character image array.

35. A character recognition system as defined in claim 27 further comprising:

A. query distance array generating means for generating a query distance array, said query character distance array having a pattern of query distance array elements corresponding to the pattern of the query character array elements, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

B. said control means further including training/query artifact score generating enabling means for enabling said processing elements to use said deviation score generated during processing in response to said query/training artifact score determining enabling means, to generate for the respective training character image array an updated deviation score, the updated deviation score generated by each processing element further representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array;

C. said character identification means using said updated deviation score for identifying a character as the query character in response to said updated deviation scores as updated by said processing elements in response to said training/query artifact score generating means.

36. A character recognition system as defined in claim 35 further comprising:

A. a query character array element identifier means for identifying a query character array element;

B. said query distance array generating means comprising;

i. a query temporary store for storing a query distance value;

ii. a query character array element identifier for identifying a query character array element;

iii query distance value determination means for iteratively determining a query distance value from each query character array element to the query character array element identified by the query character array element identifier;

iv. query distance value update generation means for selectively generating an updated query distance value for storage in said query temporary store for each iteration of said query distance value determination means in response to the query distance value stored in said query temporary store, the updated query distance value being determined by the query distance value determination means and the on value or off value of said query character array element; and

v. query distance generation control means responsive to termination by said query distance value determination means for generating a query distance value for storage in the query distance array in response to the query distance value in the query temporary store, said query distance generation control means further updating said query character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each query character array element of said query character image array.

37. A character recognition system as defined in claim 36 further including query counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a query character array element from which it determines respective distance values.

38. A character recognition system as defined in claim 37 wherein said query character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said query counter means including a query row counter which generates a query row counter value and a query column counter which generates a query column counter value, and said query character array element identifier including a query row pointer which generates a query row pointer value and a query column pointer which generates a query column pointer value, said query distance value determination means generating said query distance value in response to a row difference value between said query row counter value and said query row pointer value and a query column difference value between said query column counter value and said query column pointer value.

39. A character recognition system as defined in claim 37 in which:

A. said query temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said distance value update generation means for generating, in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element as identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in an corresponding respective on distance value store or off distance value store, both said on distance value store and said off distance value store comprising parts of the query temporary store, and the updated distance value for the iteration as determined by said distance value determination means;

C. said query distance generation control means generating a query distance value and storing said distance value in the respective query distance array, the query distance generation control means generating query distance values in response to the on distance values in the on distance value stores and the off distance values in the off distance value store.

40. A character recognition system as defined in claim 39 in which said query distance array includes an on query distance array and an off query distance array,

A. said query distance generation control means generating on query distance values for storage in the on query distance array in response to the on distance value in the respective on distance value store and off query distance values for storage in the off query distance array in response to the off distance value in the off distance value store;

and

B. said training/query artifact score determining enabling means enabling said processing elements to selectively use the on query distance values from the on query distance array and the off query distance values from the off query distance value array in generating said deviation score.

41. A character recognition system as defined in claim 40 in which:

A. said query distance generation control means generates;

(i) said on distance array as a plurality of on distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the on distance value in the on distance array element associated with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration; and

(ii) said off distance array as a plurality of off distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the off distance value in the off distance array element associate with the query character array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration; and

B. said training/query artifact score determining means generating the deviation score as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on query distance values from those of said on query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an on value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off query distance values from those of said off query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an on value.

42. A character recognition system as defined in claim 39 in which:

A. each query distance array element of each query distance array includes a query distance array element value store and an associated query value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said query distance generation control means for each query distance array element,

(i) stores the on value or off value as the query distance array element value in query distance array element value store and

(ii) establishes the condition of the associated query value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the query row counter and the query column counter; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining enabling means enabling said processing elements to selectively use the query distance values from the respective distance value stores of said respective query distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding training character array elements of the training character image array.

43. A character recognition system for generating a character identification value associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on value or an off value, using a plurality of training character image arrays, each associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value, said system comprising

A. a plurality of processing elements, each including a memory;

B. query distance array generating means generating a query distance array having a plurality of query distance array elements each associated with a query character array element of the associated query character image array, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

C. control means comprising;

i. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processing elements to establish, in parallel in their respective memories, a training character image array, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value;

ii. training/query artifact score generating enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate a deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array; and

C. character identification means for generating the character identification value for the query character in response to said deviation scores generated by said processing elements during processing in response to said training/query artifact score generating enabling means.

44. A character recognition system as defined in claim 43 further comprising:

A. a query character array element identifier means for identifying a query character array element;

B. said query distance array generating means comprising;

i. query distance value determination means for iteratively determining a query distance value from each query character array element to the query character array element identified by the query character array element identifier;

ii. query distance value update generation means for selectively generating for each iteration an updated query distance value for storage in respective query temporary stores in their respective memories in response to the query distance value, the updated query distance value being determined by the query distance value determination means and the on value or off value of said query character array element; and

iii. query distance generation control means responsive to termination by said query distance value determination means for generating a query distance value for storage in the query distance array in response to the query distance value in the query temporary store, said query distance generation control means further updating said query character array element identifier to iteratively enable it to identify each query character array element of said query character image array.

45. A character recognition system as defined in claim 44 further including query counter means for identifying, during each iteration, a query character array element from which the distance values are determined by the query distance value determination means.

46. A character recognition system as defined in claim 45 wherein said query character image array has a plurality of rows and columns, said query counter means including a query row counter which generates a query row counter value and a query column counter which generates a query column counter value, and said query character array element identifier including a query row pointer which generates a query row pointer value and a query column pointer which generates a query column pointer value, said query distance value determination means generating said query distance value in response to a row difference value between said query row counter value and said query row pointer value and a query column difference value between said query column counter value and said query column pointer value.

47. A character recognition system as defined in claim 45 in which:

A. said query temporary store includes an on distance value store for storing an on distance value and an off distance value store for storing an off distance value;

B. said distance value update generation means for selectively generating, in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the row counter and the column counter, an on update distance value or an off update distance value in response to the distance value stored in the corresponding on distance value store or off distance value store, and the updated distance value for the iteration as determined by the distance value determination means;

C. said query distance generation control means generates a query distance value and stores said query distance value in the query distance array, the query distance generation control means generating query distance values in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and the off distance value in the off distance value store.

48. A character recognition system as defined in claim 47 in which each query distance array includes an on query distance array and an off query distance array,

A. said query distance generation control means generating an on query distance value for storage in the on query distance array in response to the on distance value in the on distance value store and an off query distance value for storage in the off query distance array in response to the off distance value in the off distance value store;

and

B. said training/query artifact score determining means selectively using the on query distance values from the on query distance array and the off query distance values from the off query distance value array in generating said deviation score.

49. A character recognition system as defined in claim 48 in which:

A. said on distance array comprises a plurality of on distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the on distance value in the on distance array element that is identified by the query counter means during each iteration;

B. said off distance array comprises a plurality of off distance array elements, each associated with a query character array element, the query distance generation control means storing the off distance value in the off distance array element that is identified by the query counter mans during each iteration; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining enabling means, in enabling said processing elements to generate respective a deviation score for their respective training distance array, generates the deviation score as an aggregate of

(i) an aggregate of on query distance values from those of said on query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an on value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an off value, and

(ii) an aggregate of off query distance values from those of said off query distance array elements associated with query character array elements which have an off value and which correspond to the training character array elements which have an on value.

50. A character recognition system as defined in claim 47 in which:

A. each query distance array element of each query distance array includes a query distance array element value store and an associated query value flag having an on condition and an off condition;

B. said query distance generation control means, for each query distance array element,

(i) storing the respective on value or off value as the respective query distance array element value in the query distance array element value store and

(ii) establishing the condition of the associated query value flag, both in response to the on value or off value of the query character array element identified by the query row counter and the query column counter; and

C. said training/query artifact score determining enabling means enabling said processing elements to selectively use the query distance values from said respective query distance array elements in response to the on or off value of the corresponding training character array elements of the training character image array.

51. A control arrangement for use in connection with a character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of array elements defining on pixels and off pixels for said query character image, the character recognition system including a plurality of processing elements, each including a memory, and generating a character identification value for the query character in response to deviation scores generated by said processing elements, said control arrangement comprising:

A. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processing elements to establish in parallel in their respective memories a training character image array, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value;

B. training distance array generating enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate, in parallel for each training character, a training distance array in their respective memories, each training distance array having a plurality of training distance array elements each associated with a training character array element of the associated training character image array, each training distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding training character array element to the training character array element having a selected on value or off value; and

C. query/training artifact score determining enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate, for their respective training distance array, a respective one of said deviation scores, each deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said training distance array elements which are associated with training character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding query character array element of said query character image array.

52. A control arrangement for use in connection with a character recognition system for recognizing a character associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image defined by a query character image array having a pattern of array elements defining on pixels and off pixels for said query character image, the character recognition system including a processor and generating a character identification value for the query character in response to deviation scores generated by said processor, said control arrangement comprising:

A. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processor to establish a training character image array for each of a plurality of training characters, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value;

B. training distance array generating enabling means for enabling said processor to generate, in parallel for each training character, a training distance array, each training distance array having a plurality of training distance array elements each associated with a training character array element of the associated training character image array, each training distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding training character array element to the training character array element having a selected on value or off value; and

C. query/training artifact score determining enabling means for enabling said processor to generate, for each training distance array, a respective one of said deviation scores, each deviation score representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said training distance array elements which are associated with training character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding query character array element of said query character image array.

53. A control arrangement for use in connection with a character recognition system for generating a character identification value associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on value or an off value, in response to:

(i) a plurality of training character image arrays, each associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value, and

(ii) a query distance array having a plurality of query distance array elements each associated with a query character array element of the associated query character image array, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

the character recognition system including a plurality of processing elements, each including a memory and generating a character identification value for the query character in response to deviation scores generated by said processing elements, said control arrangement comprising;

A. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processing elements to establish, in parallel in their respective memories, a training character image array, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value; and

B. training/query artifact score generating enabling means for enabling said processing elements to generate respective deviation scores representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array.

54. A control arrangement for use in connection with a character recognition system for generating a character identification value associated with a query character, the query character having a query character image array having a pattern of query character array elements each having an on value or an off value, in response to:

(i) a plurality of training character image arrays, each associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value, and

(ii) a query distance array having a plurality of query distance array elements each associated with a query character array element of the associated query character image array, each query distance array element identifying a distance value from the corresponding query character array element to the query character array element having a selected on value or off value;

the character recognition system including a processor and generating a character identification value for the query character in response to deviation scores generated by said processor, said control arrangement comprising;

A. training character image array establishment enabling means for enabling said processor to establish a training character image array, each training character image array being associated with a character identification value, each training character image array having a pattern of training character array elements each having an on value or an off value; and

B. training/query artifact score generating enabling means for enabling said processor to generate respective deviation scores representing an aggregate of distance values from those of said query distance array elements which are associated with query character image elements which have an on value or an off value which differs from the on value or off value of a corresponding training character array element of the training character image array.