JPS63111763A - Picture data converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize an inexpensive network system by converting and displaying the resolution of a retrieved picture in matching with the resolution of a display device at an intelligent terminal equipment so as to realize a function as a simple picture retrieval terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A LAN interface circuit 11 applies transmission/reception of a message with a LAN 18 corresponding to a communication interface means. A message sent from the LAN 18 is decoded by a decoder circuit 12 and stored in a picture memory 13 via an image bus 17 or displayed on the intelligent terminal equipment 8 directly through a bus interface circuit 16. Moreover, the picture stored in the picture memory 13 is displayed on the intelligent terminal equipment 8 via the bus interface circuit 16, but the resolution of the retrieved picture is converted by a reduction circuit 14 in matching with the resolution of the display device of the terminal equipment 8 and the result is displayed on the intelligent terminal equipment 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention mediates between an intelligent terminal that has an open bus and a network, reads images from an image file server on the network, and displays images on the intelligent terminal. Regarding data conversion equipment.

(Prior Art) In recent years, image file systems have been put into practical use, and document file systems in offices have become widespread. For example, Proceedings of the 1983 National Conference of the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, 831.
'Child filing system NEOFILE 1000
In Overview 1, an example of a conventionally used stand-alone type document file terminal is introduced. on the other hand,
As office automation systems become more integrated with networks, image file systems may also become more popular with network-based services.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in order to spread the image file network,
There are still some issues that need to be resolved regarding the device.

For example: (1) Conventionally, it has been common to use a dedicated terminal with a high-resolution display dedicated to displaying images, which is expensive.

■ These dedicated terminals occupy a large amount of space.

■ It is difficult to integrate with code information geography, such as document creation and database integration processing, because it is used in a dedicated operating system.

If there is a search terminal that can search images, image file services can be expected to become even more widespread. This terminal does not necessarily need to have the files itself; for example, it only needs to be able to access a conventional image file server through a network and search for and display images. However, until now, such inexpensive terminals have not been provided.
At present, inexpensive intelligent terminals whose main purpose is code information processing, such as personal computers and office workstations, are rapidly becoming widespread in offices, and their networking is progressing. These intelligent terminals K.

If an image file search function is provided, a network of image file services can be constructed very efficiently.

Moreover, the drawbacks of conventional image file terminals as mentioned above can also be solved.

The image data conversion device according to the present invention is located in a network having an image file server, mediates between the network and an existing intelligent terminal that has an open bus, and adjusts the resolution of the searched image according to the display resolution of this intelligent terminal. The purpose is to realize the function as a simple image retrieval terminal by converting and displaying the images, solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional image file terminals, and realize an inexpensive image retrieval network system. .

(Means for Solving the Problem) According to the present invention, there is provided a communication interface means for transmitting and receiving image data to and from an image file server connected to the communication line via a communication line, and the encoded image. a decoding means for decoding data; a storage means for storing decoded image data transferred from the decoding means; and a storage means for enlarging or enlarging the image data stored in the storage means at a specified ratio. resolution conversion means for reducing the resolution and converting the resolution and writing it to another location of the storage means; sequence control means for managing the operation sequence of each of the means; connected to the bus of the intelligent terminal which has opened the bus; It is possible to realize an image data conversion device characterized by comprising a bus interface means for exchanging commands and image data between the intelligent terminal and the sequence control means.

(Function) The image data conversion device according to the present invention solves the drawbacks of the prior art by adopting the above-described configuration.

The intelligent terminal is provided with a search access for image searching, and this search access is used to communicate commands and data with the image file server via the sequence control means and communication interface means of the image data conversion device according to the present invention. Suppose you want to send and receive . In the search process, an initialization command is issued to the sequence control means in advance to cause each means to initialize. For procedures related to logging into the image file server and opening image files, the remote access function provided by the image file server is used as is.

When performing an image search, image size, scanning line density, and encoding method are required as parameters of the searched image. The search process queries the image file server for this and obtains the parameters. The search process notifies the sequence control means of these parameters and the resolution of the display, and requests image data readout.◇The sequence control means determines the resolution conversion rate from the given parameters and sends the result to the decoding means. Notifies image size, scanning line density, and encoding method. Further, the communication interface means is caused to transmit an image data read command.

Image data generally has a large amount of data and is communicated several times. When the communication interface means receives one batch of image data, it notifies the sequence control means. Upon detecting this, the sequence control means transfers the received data to the decoding means and instructs decoding. The decoding means decodes this data according to the specified method and stores it in an image buffer within the decoding means. When this buffer overflows, the decoding means requests the sequence control means to write an image into the storage means. The sequence control means detects this and writes the decoded data into the storage means.

When the writing is finished, the decoding means and the storage means each notify the completion. The sequence control means detects these, specifies a conversion rate to the resolution conversion means, and causes the resolution conversion means to perform resolution conversion processing. The resolution conversion means converts the image data to a specified resolution, stores it in another area of the storage means, and notifies the sequence control means of the completion. Upon detecting this, the sequence control means instructs the storage means to transfer the converted good image to the buffer area of the bus interface means. This buffer can be directly read/written by the CPU of the intelligent terminal. The CPU of the intelligent terminal reads the transferred data and transfers it to the display memory area (V RAM). thus,
The resolution-converted image is displayed on the display of the intelligent terminal.

The above processing is repeated until one page of image data is displayed. If the display of an intelligent device does not have sufficient resolution, it may be difficult to see, but the overall impression of the image is often a powerful guide to searches. Furthermore, by using a mouse, it is possible to specify a part of the reduced image that the user particularly wants to see, and then read out the area of the original image corresponding to this part from the storage means and display it in an enlarged manner. Furthermore, the function of scrolling the enlarged screen using a mouse can be realized in the same way, and effective searches can be performed. , a network of image search services can be constructed at low cost.

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

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image data conversion device according to the present invention. In the figure, the part surrounded by a broken line is the image data conversion device 10. The LAN interface circuit 11 corresponds to communication interface means and sends and receives messages to and from a local area network (LAN) 18. For this purpose, it has a communication buffer that stores communication messages. The decoding circuit 12 corresponds to a decoding means and has a decoding buffer for storing data to be decoded and an image buffer for storing decoded data. image bus 17
is a high-speed bus for transferring image buffer data to the image memory 13.

The image memory 13 corresponds to storage means, and the reduction circuit 14 corresponds to resolution conversion means. The sequence control circuit 15 is
Controls the operation sequence of circuits 11-14. The bus interface circuit 16 is the LAN interface circuit 11
, image memory 13, sequence control circuit 15, and intelligent terminal 8.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the bus interface circuit 16. The data buffer 21 is a LAN
It is used for exchanging communication messages or image data read from the image memory 13. These deliveries are
The sequence control circuit 15 takes control. The command/status buffer 22 is used as a button for passing control messages between the intelligent terminal and the sequence control circuit 15. On the other hand, a sequence control circuit 15, a LAN interface circuit 11, a decoding circuit 12, an image memory 13,
Control messages are also exchanged with the reduction circuit 14. In the following, ・ From the intelligent terminal to the sequence control circuit 15
Messages from the sequence control circuit 15 to the LAN interface circuit 11, decoding circuit 12, image memory 13, reduction circuit 14, and messages from the sequence control circuit 15 to the intelligent terminal @ LAN interface circuit 11 ．． Decode circuit 1
2. Messages sent from the image memory 13 and the reduction circuit 14 to the sequence control circuit 15 are called status. In addition, parameters accompanying commands and status are called arguments.

Data buffer 21, command/status buffer 2
2 is directly connected to the path of the intelligent terminal via the driver/receiver 23, and is connected to the CPU of the intelligent terminal.
The configuration is such that it can be accessed by memory read/write. For example, the data buffer 21 has a configuration as shown in FIG. The address conversion circuit 31 converts the address visible from the intelligent terminal side into a physical address of the buffer memory 32 when the buffer 32 is allocated to an empty area on the memory map of the intelligent terminal side. The selector 33 selects read/write from the internal circuit of the present invention and read/write from the intelligent terminal side.

In the MIX, the command/status buffer 22 is configured as shown in FIG. 4, for example. Command/status and arguments are written in the buffer register 43. command/
Status notification uses interrupts. From the intelligent terminal side, the buffer register 43 is accessed by memory read/write as in the case of FIG.

At this point, the address conversion circuit 41 converts the write address and sends it to the selector 42. The selector 42 is
Writing of a command string (command and argument) to the buffer register 43 is permitted from the converted address and a control signal (for example, a write signal) on the intelligent terminal side. As a result of this write, an interrupt signal is generated from the buffer register 43. At this time, the gate circuit 44 sends a signal including the sequence control circuit 1sKIIID to notify the command.

The sequence control circuit 15 also inputs a status column (status trigger a) to the buffer register 43 by means of the selector 42.
) write. From now on, the gate circuit 44 will send an interrupt signal to the intelligent terminal side and notify the intelligent terminal of the status. To reset the interrupt, use buffer register 4.
Write to 3.

In this embodiment, the following commands and statuses are considered.

Command ■ Sequence control circuit 15 from intelligent terminal
Initialize Initialize and send all circuits Send message in data buffer 21 - Read image Read image data from image file server φ Image display Display image data in image memory 13 ■ From sequence control circuit 15 to LAN interface circuit O initialization for 11 Circuit initialization O transmission Transmission of message in data buffer 21 ■ From sequence control circuit 15 to decoding circuit M12.
Initialization Initialize the circuit/mode set Mode set/mode before starting decoding
Decoding Start decoding data in the decoding buffer Data writing Writing data in the image buffer to the image memory 13 Initialization from the sequence control circuit 15 to the image memory 13 Initializing the circuit Data writing from the decoding circuit 12 Reading from the data buffer 21 from the sequence control circuit 15 to the reduction circuit 14 Initialization Circuit initialization and reduction Start status of reduction processing ■ From the sequence control circuit 15 to the intelligent terminal Reception Received data in the data buffer 21 Ready for storage/image display Store the face image data in the data buffer 21 Finish image readout End image readout process ■ LAN
From the interface circuit 11 to the sequence control circuit 15
To Receive Receive data to communication buffer ■ From decode circuit 12 to sequence control circuit 15 Data request Request data input to decode buffer/Write data Request data in image buffer
Write request fist data to evening image memory 13 End of data in image buffer
End of writing to the evening image memory 13/end of decoding End of decoding of the last data ■ Data writing from the image memory 13 to the sequence control circuit 15 End of writing from the decoding circuit 12 - End of evening writing Direct left of image data End of data barafood Readout to A21 End ■ Command from reduction circuit 14 to sequence control circuit 15 End of reduction End of reduction processing Now, the intelligent terminal we are considering now has a search process running, and the search header is the one we want to use. It shall comply with the remote access function provided by the image file server. At the start of the search process, an initialization command is issued to the sequence control circuit 15 to initialize each circuit. In initializing the image memory 13, the original image area and the reduced image area are allocated within the image memory 13.

Subsequently, the search process uses the send command and reception status provided by this embodiment to log in to the image file server and perform image file open processing. This is a communication between the intelligent terminal and the image file server, so it will be omitted here.

Below, FIG. 5 shows the general flow of 0 processing, which describes the processing from reading out image data to displaying it after opening an image file.

First, a read request message to the image file server is sent to the data buffer 21 by the search process.
Write inside. Image size, scanning line density, and encoding method are required as parameters for image read processing, and it is assumed that these parameters are inquired of in advance from the image file server &C1. The search process issues an image read command using these parameters and the display resolution as arguments. Upon receiving this, the sequence control circuit 15 issues a transmission command to the LAN interface circuit 11 to cause the message in the data buffer 21 to be transmitted. Also, the reduction rate is determined from the passed argument. I will explain later how the decision was made. Furthermore, a mode set command is issued to the decoding circuit 12 with reference to the argument. The decoding circuit 12 issues a data request status to prepare for decoding.

Since an image generally has a large amount of data, it is assumed that the communication is performed several times. It is assumed that the size of one communication data is, for example, 32 kilobytes, and that the communication buffer of the LAN interface means 11 and the decoding data of the decoding circuit 12 have this size. When the received data is stored in the communication buffer, the LAN interface means 11 issues a reception status. When the sequence control circuit 15 detects this, it transfers the received data to the decode buffer of the decode circuit 12 and issues a decode command using the data length as an argument. With this, the decoding process begins.

The decoding circuit 12 stores the decoded image data in an image buffer. The size of I-Mejibatshwa is
For example, let it be 64 kilobytes. During decoding, when the image buffer becomes full, the decoding circuit 12 issues a data write request status. At this time, the number of lines of data to be written becomes an argument. When the sequence control circuit 15 detects this, the image memory 13
, and issue data write commands to the decoding circuit 12, respectively. The writing start address in the image memory 13 and the size of the data to be written are given to the image memory 13 as arguments. This is given, for example, by the number of dots (X) in the main scanning direction and the line a (Y) in the sub-scanning direction, as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 will be described later.

Image data is transferred from the image buffer to image memory 13 via image path 17 .

When the writing is completed, the decoding circuit 12 and the image memory 1
3 each independently issues a write end status. When the sequence control circuit 15 detects these, it issues a reduction command to the reduction circuit 14. As arguments, the reduction ratio described below, the read address and size of the original image, and the write address of the reduced image are given.

In this embodiment, the reduction ratio is determined so that the entire image is visible when the image is displayed on the display of the intelligent terminal. Taking a document image as an example, the sequence control circuit 15 stores the following table and determines the reduction rate from the given parameters.

Size Scan line density Display resolution Reduction ratio image resolution (horizontal x vertical) 8 lives/vtm 1120 x 750 1
/48')47/rx 640X400 1/
816 rai y/w 640 x 400 1
/ 168 lines x 1120 x 750
1/4 size scanning line density display solution
Reduction ratio image resolution (horizontal x vertical) 16 lines 640 x 400 1/16
When reading an A4 document image at a resolution of 8 lines/m,
The image data size is 1728 dots x 2376 lines. To display the entire image on a horizontal display with a resolution of 1120 x 750, it is easy to use 1/4 x 1/4
(432 dots x 594 lines).

The sequence control circuit 15 always grasps the following parameters (see FIG. 6).

About the original image Size of one line of the original image (number of dots) XI
The first line of the data to be written this time is in contrast ■Y1 The number of lines of the data to be written this time (relative line ωNl The first line to start reduction this time (absolute number of lines) Y2 The number of lines to be reduced this time (relative number of lines) N2 = (
((Yl-Y2)+N1)X r )/r ((a) is the largest integer not exceeding a.

However, r is the reduction ratio) Regarding the reduced image, the size of one line of the reduced image (number of dots) xl = xl
Xr First line of reduced data to be written this time (absolute line 噸y2 Number of lines of reduced data to be written this time (relative line/number) n 2 = (: ((Y I Y2) +N1)
Xr ] Take the above A4 image (r = 1/4) as an example. 29 from a 64KB image buffer
Assume that 5 lines of decoded data are transferred. In the first data write and reduction, Y1=OSN1=295, Y2=O1N2=[”295
/4]X4=292xL-432,72=O,n2=7
It becomes 3.

The reduction circuit 14 converts the original image data to a specified resolution, stores it in the reduced image area of the image memory 13, and issues a reduction processing completion status. Sequence control circuit 15
When detecting this, it issues a direct read command to the image memory 13 and causes the reduced image data to be transferred to the data buffer 21. Furthermore, among the above parameters, those related to the absolute number of lines are updated as follows.

Yl-Y1+NI Ch example dY1=295)Y2
=Y2+N2 (Y2=292)y2=y2+n2
(y2 value 73) Thereafter, the sequence control circuit 15 notifies the intelligent terminal of the image display ready status using the size of the transferred image data as an argument.

After this, the search process of the intelligent terminal reads the transferred data and transfers it to the VRAM. A4 above
In the case of images, the amount of data is small (432 dots x 73 lines = 3.942 kilobytes), so it is fast. In this way, the KM image converted image is displayed on the display of the intelligent terminal. The above processing is repeated until one page of image data is displayed. Note that the decoding circuit 12 issues the next data request status when all the data in the decoding buffer is decoded. When the last data of one page has been decoded, a decoding completion status is issued to Kawa. After reading the last data into the data buffer 21, the sequence control circuit 15 returns the image read end status to the intelligent terminal and finishes the process. In order to display one page at high speed, the LAN interface circuit 11, decoding Circuit 12, image memory 1
3. The reduction circuits 14 are operated in parallel, and messages are exchanged between them and the sequence control circuit 15.
This can be done with an interrupt. Furthermore, the communication buffer of the LAN interface circuit 11, the decode buffer and the image buffer of the decode circuit 12 may be double buffers.

If the display does not have sufficient resolution, the image may be difficult to see, but the overall impression of the image is often a powerful tool for searching. In addition, by using a mouse to point to a part of the display image that you particularly want to see, and enlarging the display (displaying the original image) around this part, you can perform an effective search. For this, the search process starts from the coordinates of the mouse cursor,
Calculates the address of the image data to be displayed and issues an image read command for the corresponding location. Upon receiving this, the sequence control circuit 15 reads out the data according to the direct read command. After the image display ready status is returned to the intelligent terminal, V is sent from the data buffer 21.
If RAM transfer is performed, an enlarged image can be displayed at high speed.

Furthermore, the same function can be achieved by using the mouse to scroll the enlarged screen. The same applies to switching to a reduced image.

When using a display with a low resolution, for example, 640x400, if the original image data is displayed as is, it may be enlarged too much, making the image difficult to see.

In the case of the above A4 image, for example, 1/2X1/2 (86
It is conceivable to display a reduced image (4 dots x 188 lines) in the area 9 of the original image.

In this embodiment, the image file server is queried for display image parameters in advance, but if these image data are included in the header, the image data is first read from the server, and the sequence control circuit 15 reads the header. It may be analyzed and then a mode set command may be issued to the decoding circuit 12. In this way, even if images of different sizes and encoding methods coexist in one image file, adaptive resolution conversion can be easily realized for each piece of data. Further, in the embodiment, a case where the original image is reduced is shown, but it is naturally possible to enlarge a small document image such as a slip, for example. in this case,
An enlargement circuit may be added to the reduction circuit 14. In the embodiment, the sequence control circuit 15 also determines the reduction rate,
Although the write address information is updated, the image memory 13 and the reduction circuit 14 may be used to update the write address information. Alternatively, the search process of the intelligent terminal may make the determination of the reduction ratio. Furthermore, after first receiving and decoding one page of image data, resolution conversion and display may be performed all at once.

In order to make the communication processing more efficient, the configuration may be such that the communication buffer of the LAN interface circuit 11 can be directly read/written by an intelligent terminal so that the configuration area can be directly read/written, and the data buffer 21 is not provided. .

Further, a communication buffer of the LAN interface circuit 11,
It is also possible to consider a configuration in which the decoding buffer of the decoding circuit 12 is made into one buffer and communication and decoding processing are performed synchronously. Furthermore, although we have taken as an example a service via a local area network, depending on special circumstances such as remote locations, a case may also be considered in which a private line or a public line may be used. In this case, it is possible to replace the LAN interface circuit 11 with a line interface circuit and realize the same functions, although the communication response time is inferior.

This embodiment assumes that an existing operating system of an intelligent terminal is used. Therefore,
There is no need to change the software previously used on the terminal. Furthermore, by integrating the image search function according to this embodiment and the conventional code information processing function, it is possible to integrate the image search function according to the present embodiment with the conventional code information processing function. The multi-window allows you to flexibly switch between viewing code information and images. Various applications can be considered using this environment. For example, you can save the searched images on the intelligent terminal and create a personal image file. Manage the Intex files of these images using existing database software and
It is conceivable to organically search a database and personal image files. Alternatively, it is also possible to realize an image editing function (image cutting, enlarging/reducing, rearranging) and combine it with a word processing function to create an integrated document combining text and images.

All of the above variations are included in the present invention.

(Effects of the Invention) The above-described image data conversion device enables image file search network services to be provided easily and inexpensively by using existing intelligent terminals without using a dedicated image file terminal. realizable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data conversion device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a detailed configuration of a bus interface section, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a detailed configuration of a bus interface section. Block diagram showing a detailed configuration example, K4
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of a detailed configuration of the command/status buffer 22 in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the sequence of image read processing, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing address information of the original image and reduced image. It is a diagram. In the figure, 10 is an image data conversion device, and 11 is a LAN.
An interface circuit, 12 a decoding circuit, 13 an image memory, 14 a reduction circuit, 15 a sequence control circuit,
16 is a bus interface circuit, 17 is an image bus,
21 is a data buffer, 2zrri command/status buffer, 23 is a driver/receiver, 31 is an address conversion circuit, 32 is a buffer memory, 33 is a selector, 41 is an address conversion circuit, 42 is a selector, 43 is a buffer register, 44 is a It is a gate circuit. Agent Patent Attorney Shinsuke Honjo No. 6 N Procedural Amendment (Voluntary)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Communication interface means for transmitting and receiving image data to and from an image file server connected to the communication line via a communication line; decoding means for decoding the encoded image data; A storage means for storing decoded image data transported from the decoding means; resolution converting means for writing to another location of the above-mentioned means; a sequence control means for managing the operation sequence of each of the above-mentioned means; and a sequence control means that is connected to the bus of an intelligent terminal which has opened the bus, and between the intelligent terminal and the above-mentioned sequence control means. 1. An image data conversion device comprising a bus interface means for exchanging commands and image data.