JPH01177169A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the processing load of a control part and to increase the picture editing speed by erasing the information on a specified area in the picture information stored in a memory area of a memory part independently of the control part. CONSTITUTION:An editing processor 119 prepared independently of a control part 11 contains a searching function to search the boundary point of a specific closed area to be erased. In other words, the processor 119 checks whether a boundary point is included or not in the picture data 121a received from a picture memory 121. If not, the new pattern data containing the same number of bits is written into the same address. While the write of said pattern data is stopped if a boundary point is detected. At the same time, the bits including the head one of a word where a boundary point is detected through the bit existing at the boundary point, i.e., the bits of odd numbers are successively erased by an I/O line method. As a result, the processing load of the part 11 is reduced and the picture data processing speed is increased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention stores a large amount of image information, searches and outputs the stored image information as necessary, and performs information processing. The present invention relates to an information processing device, and particularly to an information processing device having a function of quickly erasing specific image information stored in a storage unit.

(Prior Art) In recent years, in addition to sequentially reading a large number of documents such as printed matter with an image scanner and storing them as image information in a storage unit, it is also possible to combine such stored image information or to create new image information. 2. Description of the Related Art Information processing apparatuses have been proposed that are equipped with a so-called image information editing processing function.

In a conventional information processing apparatus having such an editing processing function, a control unit that controls the entire apparatus executes processing related to editing of image information according to a program.

For example, when erasing image data within a specific closed area that includes multiple lines, first mark the inside of the closed area to be erased as "0".
” and set the point on the border of the closed area to “1”.
Set to . Next, based on a command from the control unit, image data for each word formed by a predetermined number of bits is sequentially read from the storage unit, and whether or not “1” exists in the image data for each read word is checked. In other words, it is determined whether a boundary point exists. When the existence of a boundary point is determined, the image data corresponding to the address where the boundary point was detected is erased bit by bit from the address of the point where the search for the boundary point was started.

As described above, once the image data has been erased on one line, it moves to the next line, and searches for boundary points in the same way. Image data is erased bit by bit.

In this way, image data within a specific closed area including a plurality of lines is sequentially erased line by line and bit by bit.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional devices, processing related to erasing image data is executed based on commands from the control unit that controls the entire device, and Since the boundary points of the open area are searched thoroughly, bit by bit, and the image data in the closed area is sequentially erased bit by bit, it takes time to detect the boundary points and it is difficult to erase the image data. Such processing cannot be executed at high speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that can quickly erase image data in a specific area.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, an information processing device provided by the present invention stores supplied image information in a predetermined storage area of a storage unit, and stores this image information in a predetermined storage area of a storage unit. In an information processing device that processes information based on a control command from a control unit, independently from the control unit,
a detection means capable of detecting a boundary point between a specific area of image information stored in the storage area and another area; and a detection means capable of erasing information in the specific area upon receiving a detection signal output from the detection means. The present invention is configured to include erasing means for performing the erase operation.

(Function) In the information processing device according to the present invention, the detection means detects the difference between a specific area and other areas in the image information stored in the storage area, independently of the control unit that processes the supplied image information. A boundary point is detected, and upon receiving this detection signal, an erasing means performs high-speed erasing processing of information in the area up to the boundary point.

HI→← (Example) Hereinafter, an example according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the overall configuration of an image information storage and retrieval device as an information processing device to which the present invention is applied will be explained with reference to FIG.

The image scanner device 1 is a device for reading the content written on a document such as a photograph or a document as image information from a reading section configured by an image sensor such as a COD. The image scanner device 1 includes an operation section 3 for setting parameters such as the document size, document density, and reading density of the document to be read, a memory (not shown) for storing these set parameters, and the like. A CPLJ (not shown) that controls the entire image scanner device 1, a display unit 5 that displays input information such as setting conditions and processing time,
An automatic paper feed mechanism (AD
Each of them has F>7.

The till control unit (CPU) 11 controls the overall operation and data flow of the information processing device.

That is, the control unit 11, the DMA 13 (to be described later), the main memory 51, the buffer 7 memory 53a, and the page memory 53b.
1 code/image converter 71, display memory 73, IP
LI90, CODEC95, etc. are system bus 20
connected via.

Similarly, the control unit 11 includes a page memory 53, a code/image conversion unit 71, a display memory 73, an IPU 90, a C0DEC 95, etc. that are connected to an image bus 4 for transmitting image information.
They are connected to each other via 0.

The control unit 11 also includes an interface circuit 11a.
An external data input device 100 is connected via. For example, the data input device 100 is used to input character information when creating a document using a word processing function, or when performing a search or image processing. A keyboard 101 and a mouse 103 are connected, respectively, for inputting search information, various command information, arrangement formats, etc. for movement and switching of various functions.

DMA <D 1rect Memory Accesses
s) 13 transfers data regardless of the operation of the control unit 11, and for example, transfers data between the main memory 51 and the storage device 30, which will be described later, via the interface circuit 13a. Let's do it.

The storage device 30 includes a magnetic disk device 31 that stores information for specifying desired image information from a large amount of image information, that is, search information, etc., and a magnetic disk device 31 that stores information for specifying desired image information from among a large amount of image information, and a magnetic disk device 31 that stores information for specifying desired image information from among a large amount of image information, and a magnetic disk device 31 that stores information for specifying desired image information from among a large amount of image information. It is composed of an optical disk device 33 and the like that stores search information and the like.

The main memory 51 stores operating programs for the control section 11 and the like.

The page memory 53 has a storage capacity that can accommodate, for example, 10 pages of an A4-sized document, and stores image information input from the image scanner device 1 or image information retrieved from the optical disc loading port 33. Remember.

For example, the code/image converter 71 converts the keyboard 10
It converts the character code data input from 1 into image data and outputs it to the display memory 73, and if necessary, performs reverse conversion to correct the characters converted into image data on the screen. .

The display memory 73 is a memory that temporarily stores image information when the display device 77 displays an image based on the image information from the page memory 53 or the like.

The display control unit 75 controls the drive of a display device 77 such as a CRT, and displays image information stored in the display memory 73.

The C0DEC95 is an encoding/decoding circuit unit that performs compression processing of image information, that is, by reducing redundancy, it is possible to save the storage area of a storage medium such as an optical disk used at the time of registration. This is a circuit unit that expands the processed image information, that is, restores the reduced redundancy and outputs it as the original image information.

This C0DEC95 has a built-in IPU (1 ma (10 Process)
ssing, Unit) 90 is connected.

Furthermore, output devices such as the image scanner device 1 and the printer 9 are connected to the interface circuit 95a.

The printer 9 is a device that prints out image information as visible information such as characters on a recording medium such as paper, and is, for example, a laser printer.

Next, the image information storage and retrieval device to which the present invention is applied, shown in FIG. Explain step by step.

After turning on the power to this image information storage and retrieval device, reading the original and transferring the read image information to the predetermined optical disk device 33 according to the instructions on the initial information processing screen displayed on the display screen of the display device 77. A command or the like for continuous registration is input from the keyboard 101 to put the image information storage and retrieval device into the "read registration" mode.

Next, a large number of originals are stacked and placed on a predetermined position such as the original mounting table of the image scanner device 1 constituting this image information storage and retrieval device, and furthermore, a number of originals are stacked and placed on a predetermined position such as the original mounting table of the image scanner device 1 constituting this image information storage and retrieval device. After setting the automatic document feed (ADF) J mode, input the document size, document density, reading density, etc. of this document from the keyboard 101 or the operation unit 3 of the image scanner device 1.

Further, after the image information from the image scanner device 1 is temporarily stored in the page memory 53, the optical disk device 3
3 so that it can be registered on an optical disc (not shown).

Using the keyboard 101, search information such as the title, information sheet, and arrangement format of the manuscript to be registered is input in accordance with the traditional format displayed on the screen of the display device 77.

This format is used to input and set search key items to identify the document to be registered and facilitate the search process, and is used to specify the maximum remaining capacity of the storage device 30 when the image scanner device 1 reads the document. Various information about the hat, Table J for inputting key items for the search, and functions of the function keys when input using the function keys configured on the keyboard 101 are displayed.

When reading the original, the image scanner device 1
The image information read from the image information is temporarily recorded in the page memory 53 via the interface circuit 95a. Subsequently, after the image information is compressed by the CODEC 95, the search information is registered in the magnetic disk device 31 via the interface circuit 13a, and the search information and image information are registered in the optical disk device 33.

When searching for and printing out specific image information from a large amount of image information registered in the optical disk device 33, enter a search command using the keyboard 101 and press " Set to "Search" mode.

Next, use the keyboard 101 to input search information for specifying desired image information, select the desired search information from a large number of search information recorded in the magnetic disk device 31, and apply the search information to the selected search information. Optical disc installation based on 33
Search for the desired image information registered in . moreover,
The CODEC 95'8 restores the retrieved image information by processing such as expansion, and displays it on the display device 77 via the display memory 73 or the like.

Further, when making a hard copy of the displayed image information, the user uses the keyboard 101 to specify the image information desired to be made into a hard copy, sets the number of copies to be output, etc., and prints out from the printer 9.

Next, an embodiment of the main part of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the functions of the control section 11 shown in FIG. 2 according to this embodiment.

A CPU 111 formed of a microcomputer or the like is connected to a memory 113. This memory 113 stores various control programs related to rewriting image data, compositing image data, and the like. CPLJllll
reads the control program stored in the memory 113, and sends out various control commands related to image data editing processing based on the read control program.

That is, CPLlll is connected to the address generation unit 115, and the CPU 111 sends a command signal to the address generation unit 11 to generate an address for a specific area to be erased.
Send to 5. Further, the CPU 111 sends information regarding the rewriting or compositing sequence of image data to the sequence circuit 117.

Zarani CPU 111 is an editing processing device 11 which will be explained later.
When it is determined that a boundary point of a specific closed area formed by a plurality of lines has been detected based on the information from 9, the address generation unit 115 and the sequence circuit send a command signal to search for a boundary point on the next line. 117. The sequence circuit 117 includes the CPU 111 and the address generation section 11
5 and the image memory 121, the sequence circuit 117 operates based on a control signal from the CPU 111, and transmits timing information regarding an image data rewriting sequence or an image data synthesis sequence to the address generation unit 115 and the image memory 121. Send. The address generation unit 115 is connected to the image memory 121,
This address generation unit 115 generates an address of a specific area to be erased designated by the CPU 111, and transfers this generated address information 115a to the image memory 120 in synchronization with timing information 117a from the sequence circuit 117.
Send to. The image memory 121 stores a large amount of image data. The image memory 121 is connected to the sequence circuit 117 and the editing processing device 119, and when address information 115a from the address generation section 115 is input, the image memory 121 receives the address information 115a from the address generation section 115.
The image data 121a at the address corresponding to a is sent to the editing processing device 119 in synchronization with the timing information 117b from the sequence circuit 117.

The pattern code register 123 contains a predetermined number of bits,
For example, pattern data for each word formed of 16 bits is stored. The pattern code register 123 is C.
This pattern code register 123 is connected to each of the PLllll and pattern ROM 125.
Based on the command signal from CPLIII, the stored pattern data is sent to pattern ROM 125. The pattern ROM 125 is connected to the editing processing device 119, and this pattern ROM 125 temporarily stores pattern data from the pattern code register 123 described above, and sends this temporarily stored pattern data to the editing processing device 119. do.

The editing processing device 119 has a so-called read-modify-write function for rewriting or composing image data in a specific area. That is, when the editing processing device 119 receives the image data 121a from the image memory 121, it writes new data, that is, new pattern data from the pattern ROM 125, into the image memory 121 in place of the image data 121a. In addition, the editing processing device 119
has a search function to search for boundary points of a specific closed region to be erased. That is, when the editing processing device 119 receives image data 121a from the image memory 121, it determines whether or not there is image data corresponding to a boundary point among the input image data 121a. For example, the image data corresponding to the address of a specific closed region to be erased is set to O, and the image data of the address corresponding to the boundary point on the boundary line of the closed region is set to "1", and the editing process The device 119 receives input image data 12
The existence of a boundary point is detected by determining the image data corresponding to "1" from 1a. When the editing processing device 119 detects a boundary point in this way, a signal indicating that the boundary point has been detected is sent to the CPU 111 and the sequence circuit 11.
Send to 7.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. First, as shown in Fig. 3, the image data corresponding to the address of the closed area F to be erased is set to "0", and the image data corresponding to the address of the boundary point existing on the boundary line E of this closed area F is set to "0". Set the image data to "1".

On the other hand, the address generation unit 115 sends address information 115a corresponding to the address of the closed area F to be erased to the image memory 121 based on a command from the CPU 111.

At this time, the open area F includes a plurality of lines 11, 12 . L3・
..., and the address generation unit 115 sequentially sends address information for each line to the image memory 121.

In step 201, as shown in FIG. 3, a point P on the reference line H, which is the center line of the closed area F, is set as a search start point, and a line LIR starting from this search start point P is set.
Set the address. Next, in step 203, the image data corresponding to the address of the line LIR is stored in the image memory 12 as word-by-word data formed by a predetermined number of bits.
Read from 1. Next, in step 205, it is determined whether a boundary point on the boundary line E has been detected from among the image data read from the image memory 121, that is, whether image data associated with "1" has been detected. If no boundary point is detected, the process proceeds from step 205 to step 207.

In step 207, new pattern data for each word formed by a predetermined number of bits is written from the pattern ROM 125 into the image memory 121. At this time, the new pattern data written to the image memory 121 is written to the address corresponding to the image data read in step 203r. Subsequently, in step 209, an address corresponding to the next word of data of the image data recorded on the line LIR is set. The process advances from step 209 to step 203, where data of a word formed by a predetermined number of pins 1 to 1 corresponding to the newly set address is read. Similarly, the image data stored in the line LIR is sequentially read as word-by-word data formed by a predetermined number of bits, and it is determined whether a boundary point exists in the read data. If the existence of a boundary point is detected in step 205, the process proceeds from step 205 to step 211. In step 211, a detection signal (BSTSI) indicating that a boundary point has been detected is sent. Subsequently, in step 213, the offset address, that is, the address of the bits from the first bit of the word in which the boundary point was detected to the boundary point is determined. Next, in step 215, data of the bit corresponding to the offset address is transferred to I10.
Erase by writing method.

When the search for the image data at the address corresponding to the line L1R is completed in this way, the search for the image data corresponding to the address on the left side of the reference line H, that is, the line LIL is started. If there is no boundary point in the image data from this line LIL, while erasing the image data for each word formed with a predetermined number of bits, new pattern data formed with the same number of bits is created with the same number of bits. Write to the address. In addition, when a boundary point is detected by searching this line LIL, the address of the bit from the first bit of the word in which the boundary point was detected to the boundary point is determined in the same way as described above, and the offset determined in this way is The data in the bit corresponding to the address is erased by the I10 write method.

When the search for image data corresponding to the addresses of lines LIR and LIL is completed as described above, the process moves to the next line and starts searching for boundary points in the same way. Thereafter, a line-by-line search is performed in the closed region F in the same manner.

In this way, data for each word formed with a predetermined number of bits is sequentially read from the double-sided memory 121, and if there is no boundary point in the read image data, new data formed with the same number of bits is Write pattern data to the same address.

In this way, while erasing information for each word formed by multiple bits, new information is registered in the erased area in parallel, allowing image data editing processing to be executed quickly. be able to.

In addition, when a boundary point is detected, writing of new pattern data is stopped, and the so-called fractional bits of the bits from the first bit of the word where the boundary point was detected to the boundary point are written using the I10 write method. It is erased sequentially by

In the above-described embodiment, the case where image data is rewritten using the so-called read-modify-7-write function of the editing processing device 119 was explained as an example. The predetermined image data stored in the memory 121 and the predetermined pattern data stored in the pattern ROMI 25 can be combined.

With this configuration, the processing load on the control unit is reduced, and control regarding information processing can be quickly executed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the information in the specified gi area in the image information stored in the storage area of the storage unit is erased independently of the control unit. Because it is possible to
It is possible to reduce the processing load on the control unit for controlling the entire apparatus, and it is also possible to quickly execute image data editing processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of essential parts according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information processing device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control flow of FIG. 1. 11...Control unit 119...Editing processing device 121...Image memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an information processing device that stores supplied image information in a predetermined storage area of a storage section and processes this image information based on a control command from a control section, , a detection means capable of detecting a boundary point between a specific area of image information stored in the storage area and another area, and erasing of information in the specific area upon receiving a detection signal output from the detection means. An information processing device comprising: erasing means for performing.