Control methods and apparatus for coupling multiple image acquisition devices to a digital data processor
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hub for controlling acquisition of images from a plural of sensors, the hub comprising:
- a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural sensors, each of the plural sensors being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein the sensor does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over an isochronous communications medium, image acquisition logic, coupled to the device interfaces and to the host interface, the image acquisition logic (i) selectively applying shutter signals to the device interfaces to cause the associated sensors to acquire image data, (ii) selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the associated sensors to output image data acquired by them, (iii) transferring image data received at the device interface to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, the image acquisition logic applying (i) shutter signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated sensors to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) readout signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated sensors to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another, wherein the image acquisition logic transfers substantially immediately to the host interface image data at a said device interface, and wherein the image acquisition logic buffers substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hub that controls the acquisition of images from a plurality of image sources utilizes image acquisition logic that selectively applies a first set of control signals (e.g., “shutter” signals) to imaging devices, causing them to acquire images. The logic applies a second set of control signals (e.g., “readout” signals) to the devices, causing them to output the images to the hub. Those images are transferred by the hub to a host over an isochronous communications medium.
-
Citations
38 Claims
-
1. A hub for controlling acquisition of images from a plural of sensors, the hub comprising:
-
a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural sensors, each of the plural sensors being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein the sensor does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over an isochronous communications medium, image acquisition logic, coupled to the device interfaces and to the host interface, the image acquisition logic (i) selectively applying shutter signals to the device interfaces to cause the associated sensors to acquire image data, (ii) selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the associated sensors to output image data acquired by them, (iii) transferring image data received at the device interface to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, the image acquisition logic applying (i) shutter signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated sensors to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) readout signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated sensors to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another, wherein the image acquisition logic transfers substantially immediately to the host interface image data at a said device interface, and wherein the image acquisition logic buffers substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. Control apparatus for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices, the control apparatus comprising:
-
at least one device interface that transfers information between the control apparatus and the plurality of image acquisition devices, each of the plural image acquisition devices being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein the image acquisition device does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that transfers information between the control apparatus and a host over an isochronous communications medium, image acquisition logic, coupled to at least one device interface and to the host interface, the image acquisition logic (i) selectively applying shutter signals to the at least one device interface to cause each of the plurality of image acquisition devices to acquire image data, (ii) selectively applying readout signals to the at least one device interface to cause each of the plurality of image acquisition devices to output image data acquired by them, (iii) transferring image data output by the image acquisition devices to the host over the communications medium, the image acquisition logic applying (i) shutter signals to the at least one device interface so as to cause the associated image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) readout signals to the at least one device interface so as to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data independently with respect to one another wherein the image acquisition logic transfers substantially immediately to the host interface image data at a said device interface, and wherein the image acquisition logic buffers substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
-
-
6. A hub for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices, the hub comprising:
-
a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural image acquisition devices, each of the plural image acquisition devices being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image acquisition devices does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over a communications medium that supports information transfers in accord with an IEEE 1394 standard, image acquisition logic, coupled to the device interfaces and to the host interface, the image acquisition logic (i) selectively applying shutter signals to the device interfaces to cause the associated image acquisition devices to acquire image data, (ii) selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the image acquisition devices to output image data acquired by them, (iii) transferring image data received at the device interfaces to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, the image acquisition logic applying (i) shutter signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) readout signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another, wherein the image acquisition logic outputs image data received at a device interface substantially immediately via the host interface, and wherein the image acquisition logic buffers substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (7)
-
-
8. Control apparatus for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image sources, the control apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural image sources, each of the plural image sources being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image source does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, each device interface including a control line for transferring a shutter signal from the apparatus to the associated image source to cause it to capture an image, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over an isochronous communications medium, image acquisition logic, coupled to the device interfaces and to the host interface, the image acquisition logic (i) selectively applying shutter signals to the control lines to cause the associated image sources to acquire image data, (ii) selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the image sources to output image data acquired by them, (iii) transferring image data received at the device interfaces to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, the image acquisition logic applying (i) shutter signals to the control lines so as to cause the associated image sources to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) readout signals to the device interfaces so as to cause the associated image sources to output the acquired image data independently with respect to one another, wherein the image acquisition logic transfers substantially immediately to the host interface image data at the device interfaces, and wherein the image acquisition logic buffers substantially no image data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices, the method comprising:
-
A. providing a hub including a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural image acquisition devices, each of the plural image acquisition devices being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image acquisition device does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over an isochronous communications medium, B. selectively applying shutter signals to the device interfaces to cause the associated image acquisition devices to acquire image data, C. selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the image acquisition devices to output image data acquired by them, D. transferring image data received at the device interfaces to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium E. performing steps B and C so as (i) to cause the image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another, F. performing step D so as to transferred image data at a said device interface substantially immediately to the host interface, and buffering substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (19)
-
-
20. A method for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image sources, the method comprising:
-
A. providing a control device having at least one device interface that transfers information between the control device and the plurality of image sources, each of the plural image sources being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image source does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that transfers information between the control device and a host over an isochronous communications medium, B. selectively applying shutter signals to the image sources to cause each of them to acquire image data, C. selectively applying readout signals to the image sources to cause each of them to output, for tansfer to the control device, the image data captured by that image acquisition device, D. transferring image data output by the image sources to the host over the communications medium, E. performing steps B and C so as (i) to cause the image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data independently with respect to one another, F. performing step D so as to transferred image data at a said device interface substantially immediately to the host interface, and buffering substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
-
23. A method for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices, the method comprising:
-
A. providing a hub including a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural image acquisition devices, each of the plural image acquisition devices being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image source does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over a communications medium that supports information transfers in accord with an IEEE 1394 standard, B. selectively applying shutter signals to the device interfaces to cause the associated image acquisition devices to acquire image data, C. selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the image acquisition devices to output image data acquired by them, D. transferring image data received at the device interfaces to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, E. performing steps B and C so as (i) to cause the image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another F. performing step D so as to transferred image data at a said device interface substantially immediately to the host interface, and buffering substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A method for controlling acquisition of images from a plurality of image sources, the method comprising:
-
A. providing a control apparatus including a plurality of device interfaces, each of which exchanges information with an associated one of the plural image sources, each of the plural image sources being responsive to an applied shutter signal to acquire a frame of image data and being responsive to an applied readout signal to initiate output of that frame of image data, wherein each image source does not acquire a new frame of image data prior to output of a previously acquired frame of image data, each device interface including a control line for transferring a shutter signal from the apparatus to the associated image source to cause it to capture an image, a host interface that exchanges information with a host over an isochonous communications medium, B. selectively applying shutter signals to the control lines to cause the associated image sources to acquire image data, C. selectively applying readout signals the device interfaces to cause the image sources to output image data acquired by them, D. transferring image data received at the device interfaces to the host interface for output to the host over the communications medium, E. performing steps B and C so as (i) to cause the image acquisition devices to acquire image data substantially simultaneously with respect to one another, (ii) to cause the associated image acquisition devices to output the acquired image data in a sequence with respect to one another F. performing step D so as to transferred image data at a said device interface substantially immediately to the host interface, and buffering substantially no more image data than required to construct data packets from data received at a said device interface prior to output to the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
-
Specification
-
- Resources
Litigation Campaign Assessment
Thank you for your request. You will receive a custom alert email when the Litigation Campaign Assessment is available.
×
-
Current AssigneeCognex Technology & Investment Corporation (Cognex Corporation)
-
Original AssigneeCognex Technology & Investment Corporation (Cognex Corporation)
-
InventorsWolff, Robert
-
Primary Examiner(s)Rao; Andy
-
Assistant Examiner(s)Parsons; Charles E
-
Application NumberUS09/452,612Time in Patent Office1,518 DaysField of Search348/212 370/402 700/19 713/324 395/290 725/105US Class Current725/105CPC Class CodesH04N 21/21805 enabling multiple viewpoint...H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras o...H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control...H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or c...H04N 5/268 Signal distribution or swit...
