Method and apparatus for the transmission, storage, and retrieval of documents in an electronic domain
First Claim
1. A method for the storage and retrieval of a two-dimensional electronic image expressible as a digital array or bitmap for the purpose of interactive document processing, said method being utilized in association with a storage device having a storage medium, said method comprising the steps of:
- writing at least a portion of the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image to an output memory;
reading said digital content from said output memory;
converting said digital content to a first analog signal as said digital content is read from said output memory;
adding a plurality of image control signals to said first analog signal to define a format, said format defining a frame;
selectively transmitting said first analog signal over the transmission pathway to the remote location or storing said first analog signal as at least one said frame on the storage device, the storage device being capable of receiving and storing said first analog signal on the storage medium along with a multiplicity of like frames, the storage device further being capable of randomly accessing and selectively retrieving and outputting a separate analog signal corresponding to said first analog signal stored as at least one said frame from among said multiplicity of lie frames, said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals;
retrieving said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals from the storage device;
stripping said plurality of image control signals from said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device;
converting said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device to a digital signal;
writing said digital signal to an input memory such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in said input memory,whereby the electronic image may subsequently be utilized in one or more document processing operations including the transformation, presentation, representation, transmission, or storage and retrieval of the electronic image,wherein the plurality of image control signals includes a plurality of raster synchronization pulses and corresponding blanking intervals, at least one pilot signal, and at least one set of calibration pulses.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for high speed conversion of tangible source documents to electronic images, and subsequent transmission or storage and retrieval of images, utilizing hybrid signal processing. The system employs a higher bandwidth analog signal for image capture and lower effective bandwidth analog signal for transmission or storage and retrieval, with an intervening digital memory utilized to construct a bitmap of the image to facilitate various dissection and seaming schemes which optimize image content and processing time. The system is designed around a conventional bus structure, and the memory serves as a junction with conventional personal computers, networks, and peripheral devices. In a representative embodiment, a tangible image is captured using a camera producing an analog signal with conventional raster synchronization. The synchronization is stripped from the analog signal, which is digitized for 8-bit grayscale and multiplexed to the memory where the image exists as a bitmap that may be divided into segments. The content is read from the memory, converted to an analog signal, and control signals are added. The control signals include horizontal and vertical sync pulses and interval blanking, a pilot signal to maintain alignment between adjacent segments along seams and to compensate for time-based errors, and calibration pulses to permit instantaneous adjustment of the gray level for each line, ensure accurate image content, and permit display enhancement. The resultant analog signal is stored on a randomly accessible storage medium as one or more frames, transmitted and reassembled, or displayed on a conventional monitor.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method for the storage and retrieval of a two-dimensional electronic image expressible as a digital array or bitmap for the purpose of interactive document processing, said method being utilized in association with a storage device having a storage medium, said method comprising the steps of:
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writing at least a portion of the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image to an output memory; reading said digital content from said output memory; converting said digital content to a first analog signal as said digital content is read from said output memory; adding a plurality of image control signals to said first analog signal to define a format, said format defining a frame; selectively transmitting said first analog signal over the transmission pathway to the remote location or storing said first analog signal as at least one said frame on the storage device, the storage device being capable of receiving and storing said first analog signal on the storage medium along with a multiplicity of like frames, the storage device further being capable of randomly accessing and selectively retrieving and outputting a separate analog signal corresponding to said first analog signal stored as at least one said frame from among said multiplicity of lie frames, said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals; retrieving said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals from the storage device; stripping said plurality of image control signals from said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device; converting said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device to a digital signal; writing said digital signal to an input memory such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in said input memory, whereby the electronic image may subsequently be utilized in one or more document processing operations including the transformation, presentation, representation, transmission, or storage and retrieval of the electronic image, wherein the plurality of image control signals includes a plurality of raster synchronization pulses and corresponding blanking intervals, at least one pilot signal, and at least one set of calibration pulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 51)
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31. A method for the storage and retrieval of a two-dimensional electronic image expressible as a digital array or bitmap for the purpose of interactive document processing, said method being utilized in association with a storage device having a storage medium, said method comprising the steps of:
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writing at least a portion of the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image to an output memory; reading said digital content from said output memory; converting said digital content to a first analog signal as said digital content is read from said output memory; adding a plurality of image control signals to said first analog signal to define a format, said format defining a frame; selectively transmitting said first analog signal over the transmission pathway to the remote location or storing said first analog signal as at least one said frame on the storage device, the storage device being capable of receiving and storing said first analog signal on the storage medium along with a multiplicity of like frames, the storage device further being capable of randomly accessing and selectively retrieving and outputting a separate analog signal corresponding to said first analog signal stored as at least one said frame from among said multiplicity of lie frames, said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals; retrieving said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals from the storage device; stripping said plurality of image control signals from said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device; converting said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device to a digital signal; writing said digital signal to an input memory such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in said input memory, whereby the electronic image may subsequently be utilized in one or more document processing operations including the transformation, presentation, representation, transmission, or storage and retrieval of the electronic image, wherein the two-dimensional electronic image is captured from a tangible document and converted to the digital array or bitmap, said method further comprising the steps of; capturing an initial image in a capture device, said initial image corresponding to a camera raster composed of X scanning lines having a predetermined scan rate, said capture device producing an analog output signal corresponding to sequentially outputting said X scanning lines at one half said predetermined scan rate, said analog output signal including a camera raster synchronization; stripping said camera raster synchronization from said analog output signal; converting said analog output signal to a digital input signal; and writing said digital input signal to a capture memory to form the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image, said digital array being composed of 2X lines. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An apparatus for the storage and retrieval of a two-dimensional electronic image existing as a digital array or bitmap in a memory for the purpose of interactive document processing by a user, said .apparatus comprising:
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a computer, said computer including a communications pathway, an electronic image processing interface operatively connected to said communications pathway, and the memory, the memory being operatively connected to said communications pathway; a storage device, said storage device being operatively connected to said electronic image processing interface and including a storage medium capable of receiving and storing an analog signal in a designated form in a predetermined format defining a frame; and said electronic image processing interface being capable of either; selectively storing the two-dimensional electronic image to the storage device by converting the digital array or bitmap in the memory to a first analog signal as said digital content is being read from the memory, and adding a plurality of image control signals to said first analog signal in the predetermined format corresponding to at least one of the frames, or selectively retrieving the two-dimensional electronic image from the storage device by retrieving the at least one of the frames as a separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals from said storage device, stripping said image control signals from said separate analog signal, converting said separate analog signal to a digital signal, and writing said digital signal to the memory such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in the memory, said apparatus further comprising; a transmission network said transmission network being operatively connected to the electronic image processing interface, wherein the transmission network is capable of transmitting the first analog signal including the plurality of image control signals to a remote location whereby the first analog signal may be received by a second computer having an second electronic image processing interface and a second memory, said second electronic image processing interface being at least capable of stripping said plurality of image control signals from said first analog signal, converting said first analog signal to a digital signal, writing said digital signal to said second memory associated with said second electronic image processing interface such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in the second memory of the second computer. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method for the storage and retrieval of a two-dimensional electronic image expressible as a digital array or bitmap for the purpose of interactive document processing, said method being utilized in association with a storage device having a storage medium, said method comprising the steps of:
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writing at least a portion of the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image to an output memory; reading said digital content from said output memory; converting said digital content to a first analog signal as said digital content is read from said output memory; adding a plurality of image control signals to said first analog .signal to define a format, said format defining a frame; selectively transmitting said first analog signal over the transmission pathway to the remote location or storing said first analog signal as at least one said frame on the storage device, the storage device being capable of receiving and storing said first analog signal on the storage medium along with a multiplicity of like frames, the storage device further being capable of randomly accessing and selectively retrieving and outputting a separate analog signal corresponding to said first analog signal stored as at least one said frame from among said multiplicity of lie flames, said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals; retrieving said separate analog signal including said plurality of image control signals from the storage device; stripping said plurality of image control signals from said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device; converting said separate analog signal retrieved from the storage device to a digital signal; writing said digital signal to an input memory such that the digital array or bitmap corresponding to the two-dimensional electronic image is reconstituted in said input memory, whereby the electronic image may subsequently be utilized in one or more document processing operations including the transformation, presentation, representation, transmission, or storage and retrieval of the electronic image, wherein the first analog signal has an initial bandwidth, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of; converting the initial bandwidth of the first analog signal to a resultant bandwidth prior to storing or transmitting the first analog signal; and converting said resultant bandwidth to the initial bandwidth subsequent to retrieving the separate analog signal or receiving the first analog signal. - View Dependent Claims (50)
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Specification