WO1994005113A1 - Procede et appareil de transmission, de stockage et d'extraction de documents dans un domaine electronique - Google Patents

Procede et appareil de transmission, de stockage et d'extraction de documents dans un domaine electronique

Info

Publication number
WO1994005113A1
WO1994005113A1 PCT/US1993/007968 US9307968W WO9405113A1 WO 1994005113 A1 WO1994005113 A1 WO 1994005113A1 US 9307968 W US9307968 W US 9307968W WO 9405113 A1 WO9405113 A1 WO 9405113A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
segment
electronic image
analog signal
memory
frame
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1993/007968
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Thomas E. Ramsay
James C. Elkins
Original Assignee
Ramsay Thomas E
Elkins James C
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ramsay Thomas E, Elkins James C filed Critical Ramsay Thomas E
Priority to AU50899/93A priority Critical patent/AU5089993A/en
Publication of WO1994005113A1 publication Critical patent/WO1994005113A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/21—Intermediate information storage
    • H04N1/2166—Intermediate information storage for mass storage, e.g. in document filing systems

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to interactive document processing in an electronic domain, and particularly to a new modality incorporating hybrid (digital and analog) signal processing for the transmission, storage, and retrieval of documents to optimize informational content and processing time.
  • each image may be stored on a unit of storage medium and addressed by a volume and frame number, and wherein a field may be added to established databases in order to correlate batch-processed documents with their original source documents or transactions, or conversely a separate database may be utilized as a "look-up table" to identify or retrieve the volume and frame number of the stored image corresponding to a specific source document or transaction.
  • Those basic technologies are storage/retrieval servers comprising file storage and indexing capabilities, transformation servers to permit complete or universal compatibility of document formats, communication servers that provide transmission interfaces for both networks and remote transmissions (i.e., satellite, fiber optic, telephone), recognition servers capable of capturing and preserving the fundamental information from tangible documents, and document managers to track the location, flow, and transformation of documents.
  • an electronic publishing and archive system such a system having previously been postulated to maintain every "original" document in storage on only one of a plurality of file servers that may each be accessed independently by any operator within the system, and in which distinct documents may be connected to one another using hypertext pointers
  • the invention comprises a method and apparatus for the high speed conversion of tangible source documents to the electronic image domain, and the subsequent transmission or storage and retrieval of those electronic images, utilizing hybrid (analog and digital) signal processing.
  • the system employs a higher bandwidth analog signal for image capture and lower bandwidth analog signal for transmission or storage and retrieval, with an intervening digital memory buffer utilized to construct a bitmap of the image to facilitate various dissection and seaming schemes which optimize image content and processing time depending upon the size of the source document, the informational content or "resolution" necessary for the particular application, and the particular storage medium or transmission pathway being considered.
  • the system is designed around a conventional bus structure, and the memory buffer may also serves as a transparent and universal junction with conventional interactive document processing systems including personal computers, networks, transmission systems, and various types of peripheral input/output devices.
  • the system also processes electronic images in a manner that provides complete compatibility with formats and standards for digital storage, image transformation and compression, local area networks, and communications systems.
  • the electronic image corresponding to a tangible source document such as an 8-1/2" x 11" page is captured using a camera producing an analog output signal with conventional raster synchronization.
  • the vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses are stripped from the analog signal, which is then digitized in 8-bit grayscale and multiplexed to the memory buffer where the image exists as a digital array or bitmap that may be divided into a plurality of segments.
  • the digital content is read from the memory buffer according to this dissection scheme, converted to an analog signal, and control signals are added.
  • the control signals include horizontal and vertical synchronization pulses (and interval blanking), a pilot signal to maintain alignment along the seams between adjacent segments of the electronic image when it is reconstituted,
  • the resultant analog signal is stored on a randomly accessible storage medium such as a conventional analog optical laser disk recorder (LDR) as one or more frames (each frame corresponding to a segment of the electronic image), or the resultant signal may alternately be transmitted to a remote location and reassembled, or up converted and displayed on a conventional monitor.
  • LDR analog optical laser disk recorder
  • Figure 1 is a diagrammatic depiction of an interactive document processing network utilizing the electronic document transmission, storage, and retrieval system of this invention for the capture, transmission, storage, and retrieval of electronic image documents;
  • Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the components of an embodiment of the electronic document transmission, storage, and retrieval system of this invention particularly adapted for the capture, transmission, storage, and retrieval of electronic image documents;
  • Figure 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of an 8-1/2" x 11" tangible source document oriented in the upright or vertical position;
  • Figure 4 is a diagrammatic depiction of the source document of
  • Figure 3 oriented in the sideways or horizontal position, with a phantom line showing the source document divided corresponding to two horizontally adjacent image segments, and further showing two sub-sections corresponding to the front and back of a conventional negotiable instrument (check) superimposed over the right segment of the source document;
  • Figure 5 is a diagrammatic depiction of the source document of
  • Figure 3 oriented in the sideways or horizontal position showing the orientation of typed lines
  • Figure 6 is a diagrammatic depiction of a source document such as a C-size drawing, with phantom lines showing the source document divided into four horizontally and vertically adjacent regions corresponding approximately in size to the source document of Figure 3;
  • Figure 7 is a diagrammatic depiction of a source document (such as a seismic tracing) corresponding approximately in size to several of the source documents of Figure 3;
  • a source document such as a seismic tracing
  • Figure 8 is a diagram showing three grayscale gradients in which 8A is a 4-bit grayscale gradient printed at 300 dpi showing 12 gray levels including black and white, 8B is 8-bit grayscale printed at 300 dpi resolution showing the dithering pattern appearing as dots of progressively increasing diameter from top to bottom, and 8C is the same 8-bit grayscale printed at
  • Figure 9 is a diagrammatic depiction of a single capture device utilized to capture an image associated with the source document of Figures 4 or 5, with a phantom line showing the source document divided corresponding to two horizontally adjacent image segments;
  • Figure 10 is a diagrammatic depiction of a plurality of capture devices utilized to capture an image associated with a source document greater in size than the source document of Figure 3, with a phantom line showing the source document divided corresponding to two adjacent image segments;
  • Figure 11 is a diagrammatic depiction of a plurality of capture devices utilized to capture an image associated with both the front and back faces of a source document such as the negotiable instrument (check) shown in Figure 4;
  • Figure 12 is a diagrammatic depiction of a plurality of linear array type capture devices configured in an array utilized to capture an image associated with a source document greater in size than the source document of Figure 3, with phantom lines showing the source document divided corresponding to an equal plurality of adjacent image segments;
  • Figure 13 is a diagrammatic depiction of a line array type capture device utilized to capture an image associated with a source document, with phantom lines showing the source document divided corresponding to an image segment;
  • Figure 14 is a waveform diagram in which 14a shows synchronization pulses and blanking intervals on opposing sides of a segment of analog signal; 14b shows the analog signal of Figure 14a after digitization; 14c shows the digital signal split and expanded to form two digital segments; 14d shows the two digital segments of Figure 14c converted to analog
  • 14e shows two positive-going calibration pulses
  • 14f shows a negative-going synchronization pulse
  • 14g shows a low level pilot signal
  • 14h shows a composite waveform of the two active signals of Figure 14d summed with the signals of Figures 14e-14g overlaid over the sum of the
  • Figure 15 is a diagram showing the arrangement of segments and frames in Mode Cl (line delay) overlying a raster image composed of horizontal scanning lines;
  • Figure 16 is a diagram showing the arrangement of segments and frames in Mode C2 (field delay) overlying a raster image composed of horizontal scanning lines
  • Figure 17 is a diagram showing the arrangement of segments and frames in Mode C3 (one frame delay) overlying a raster image composed of horizontal scanning lines
  • Figure 18 is a diagram showing the arrangement of segments and frames in Mode C4 (two frame delay) overlying a raster image composed of horizontal scanning lines. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
  • FIG. 1 An interactive document processing environment is shown which includes a low speed local area network (LAN) 12 such as a Novell or Ethernet network or a peer-to-peer network system linking a plurality of nodes which may be occupied by personal computers 14, terminals, or workstations.
  • the network 12 is optionally linked to a mainframe 16 or file server along a conventional digital communications pathway.
  • Each computer 14 on the network 12 is linked to various peripheral devices including a digital document input device 18 such as a document scanner, an output or representation device 20 such as a laser printer or film recorder, and a transmission interface 22 such as a modem or facsimile machine.
  • a digital document input device 18 such as a document scanner
  • an output or representation device 20 such as a laser printer or film recorder
  • a transmission interface 22 such as a modem or facsimile machine.
  • Each computer 14 or terminal preferably has various input and output devices for the operator including a keyboard, mouse, trackball, or pressure sensitive tablet, storage mediums such as a magnetic or optical disk, tape cartridge, or compact disc drive, and at least one presentation system such as a raster display or LCD projection screen associated therewith.
  • a keyboard mouse, trackball, or pressure sensitive tablet
  • storage mediums such as a magnetic or optical disk, tape cartridge, or compact disc drive
  • presentation system such as a raster display or LCD projection screen associated therewith.
  • Each of the computers 14 in the network 12 are simultaneously connected to a separate high speed network 28 which includes an interface module (not shown) installed in or linked to each of the computers 14.
  • the interface module will preferably have the capability for at least retrieval and transmission of documents utilizing the high speed network 28, and may optionally include storage capability.
  • the network 12 may also be connected to a remote network 24 through a conventional transmission pathway 26 such as telephone lines or a dedicated cable system, and a "high-speed" transmission pathway 26' capable of transmitting electronic documents at rates equivalent to the faster operating speeds of the high speed network 28 of the system 10.
  • the high speed network 28 is linked to an electronic image server
  • the mass storage device 34 is connected to the electronic image server 30 by both a conventional digital communication pathway and a high speed pathway.
  • the mainframe 16 is also connected to the electronic image server 30 along a digital communications pathway.
  • the electronic image server 30 may be self-contained within its own housing and include the necessary ancillary components such as a power supply, operator interface, and the like, or may be fabricated on a separate interface module mounted in a host processor such as a personal computer or workstation. It is understood that each computer 14 in the network 12 that is linked to the high speed network 28 will also include a separate EIS interface 30 which has some or all of the processing capabilities of the electronic image server 30. Thus, for purposes of clarity, the term electronic image server 30 will be used to refer to the separate unit as shown in Figure 1 that is used primarily for capture and batch processing operations, and the term EIS interface 30 will be used to refer to a computer-based interface associated with each computer 14 or workstation.
  • Each EIS interface 30 may include some or all of the components necessary for storage, retrieval, transmission, or presentation depending on the number and extent of document processing operations that will be performed at that station or node.
  • the EIS interface 30 is hereafter assumed to have the full functional capabilities of, and be functionally indistinguishable from, the separate electronic image server 30 unless otherwise noted, and the schematic shown in Figure 2 will therefore delineate the relationships of both the separate electronic image server 30 and the computer-based EIS interface 30 as being mounted on a host processor such as a personal computer or workstation.
  • images from tangible source documents will be captured using the capture device 32 and stored on the mass storage device 34.
  • a volume and frame number for each image will be written to a database in the mainframe 16 using the conventional digital communications pathway.
  • the mainframe 16 will issue a retrieval command to the mainframe 16 for a particular document image, and the mainframe 16 will access the database to determine the correct volume and frame numbers for the image.
  • mainframe 16 will issue an instruction through the digital communication pathway (and electronic image server 30) to the mass storage device 34, which will retrieve the appropriate number of frames from the storage medium in the mass storage device 34 and transmit those frame over the high speed network 28 to the requesting computer 14.
  • the EIS interface
  • an image may be retrieved from the mass storage device 34, reconstituted in the electronic image server 30, and transmitted along the digital network 12 through the mainframe 16 and to the requesting computer 14.
  • the operator working at one of the computers 14 or workstations makes a transformation to the electronic image and wishes to store that derivative image or a newly created electronic image
  • the operator could issue a store command which would cause the electronic image to be transmitted over the high speed network 28 to the mass storage device 34, with a corresponding instruction being sent to the mainframe 16 over the conventional communications pathway which would update the database with any information concerning the processing history of the electronic image, and also initiate the appropriate subroutine in the mainframe 16 to instruct the mass storage device 34 to receive and store the correct number of frames, and obtain the volume and frame numbers from the mass storage device 34 to be placed in the database.
  • the operator could send the electronic image in digital form through the mainframe 16 to the electronic image server 30 using the conventional digital communication pathways, where the image would be converted to frames and stored on the mass storage device 34 with the database in the mainframe 16 being similarly updated.
  • the remote network 24 will ordinarily be associated with a separate mainframe 16' or fileserver, and a separate high speed network 28' with a separate mass storage device 34' as well as at least one separate electronic image server (not shown) and the associated peripherals and components. If an operator wishes to transmit an electronic image to the remote network 24, the electronic image 24 may be transmitted over the high speed transmission pathway 26' to a high speed network 28' linking the nodes of the remote network 24, where it may be saved on a separate mass storage device 34' and a database in the remote mainframe 16' will perform the necessary cataloging and indexing functions.
  • images may be downloaded in batches directly from one mass storage device 34 to another 34' using the associated high speed networks 28, 28' and the high speed transmission pathway 26', with the corresponding database information being transmitted from one mainframe 16 to the other mainframe 16' along the conventional digital
  • the capture device 32 could be any conventional high speed image capture device, although as discussed herein the capture device 32 and electronic image server 30 are preferably designed, structured, and tuned to match the particular document processing applications for which the high speed network 28 will be utilized.
  • the host processor includes a communications pathway such as a bus structure 36 which may be of any conventional type defining or defined by the architecture of the 1. Although an external bus of the type utilized for real time data acquisition and control systems could be utilized, it has proven suitable to design the embodiments discussed herein around the main bus structure 36 of the host processor. It is understood that the bus structure 36 of most personal computers and work stations is hierarchical, including a backbone or system bus, and one or more subsystems such as an instruction exchange bus, a data exchange bus, an arbitration bus to allocate access among competing devices, and an interrupt bus to accept attention request signals from devices.
  • the bus architecture also dictates such features as the motherboard, slot, and card dimensions, grouping and cooling of components, power distribution, and connector configurations and arrangements.
  • Adapters may also be attached to the system bus to access specialized interface buses such as the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) for disk drives, scanners, and most other input/output devices, and the General Purpose Instrumentation Bus (GPIB) for measurement and control devices.
  • SCSI Small Computer System Interface
  • GPIB General Purpose Instrumentation Bus
  • Some of the bus structures contemplated for use with the electronic document transmission, storage, and retrieval system 10 include PCBus (IBM PC class), ISA (IBM AT class), MicroChannel (IBM 32-bit OS/2 class), STD Bus, EISA (Compaq 32-bit), S-100 and SBus (Sun Microsystems), VME (Motorola), open Unibus and QBus (Digital/DEC), and MultiBus and MultiBus II (Intel). It may be readily appreciated that since any component connected to a personal computer bus structure 36 must operate with the host processor and all other peripheral devices, the bus structure 36 of the host processor will dictate many of the design characteristics of the EIS interface
  • the bus structure 36 of the host processor is preferably equipped for connection to a digital capture device 38 such as a document scanner through a peripheral interface 40, a local area network 12 or peer-to-peer network through a separate network interface 42, an on board or external device capable of image compression 44 using any conventional compression standard such as JPEG, and an output device 46 such as a laser printer of film recorded connected through a serial or parallel output interface 48.
  • a digital capture device 38 such as a document scanner through a peripheral interface 40, a local area network 12 or peer-to-peer network through a separate network interface 42, an on board or external device capable of image compression 44 using any conventional compression standard such as JPEG, and an output device 46 such as a laser printer of film recorded connected through a serial or parallel output interface 48.
  • the bus structure 36 may of course be connected to many other types of peripheral devices, however these are the basic devices utilized in the capture, representation, and transmission of electronic image documents over existing networks 12 adapted for interactive document processing.
  • the operator will have direct command access to both the bus structure 36 and the interface for the EIS interface 30 through a keyboard 50 or other devices such as a mouse, trackball, tablet, or the like, as well as through any input/output and peripheral devices connected to the bus structure 36.
  • High speed document capture is accomplished using a capture device 52 which provides an analog output signal timed with synchronization and blanking pulses corresponding to individual frames following the normal fast-scan television system standards of 30 frames per second with two interlaced fields or switchable to one progressively scanned field per frame, as modified according to the provisions discussed subsequently herein.
  • the capture device 52 may be any conventional charge-coupled device (CCD) or Vidicon tube type camera, but preferably has a progressive or sequential scan, horizontally and vertically synchronized analog output signal that is switchable between conforming to the fast-scan television system standards producing 30 frames per second and slower vertical sweep rates as required by high resolution modes of operation.
  • CCD charge-coupled device
  • Vidicon tube type camera preferably has a progressive or sequential scan, horizontally and vertically synchronized analog output signal that is switchable between conforming to the fast-scan television system standards producing 30 frames per second and slower vertical sweep rates as required by high resolution modes of operation.
  • An alternative would be to have two cameras to switch between. It may be appreciated that conventional CCD cameras having from less than 512 x 512 to greater than 2048 x 2048 pixel arrays will be suitable for many applications employing the modality disclosed herein, and that non-square, larger and small arrays, and linear array cameras or scanners may be equally suited for some applications.
  • the analog output signal from the capture device is processed through an analog-to- digital converter 54 timed using an input sync-generator 56, with the system being driven by a 124 Mhz clock speed oscillator (crystal) with input to the analog-to-digital converter 54 divided by four to achieve a 31 Mhz conversion clock speed. Since the resultant output signal is still a time-division multiplexed signal, a 31 Mhz to 3.9 Mhz demultiplexer 58 may be used to strip the timing and synchronization pulses from the output signal and distribute the remaining image signal to an input memory buffer 60 with a 3.9 Mhz clock rate that is compatible with a broader spectrum of suitable memory devices that are currently commercially available.
  • the image input memory 60 is preferably an SRAM semiconductor memory.
  • classification of semiconductor memory usually includes dynamic and static random access memory (DRAM and SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), as well as programmable ROMs (PROM), erasable ROMs (EPROM, EEPROM), nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM), and flash-memory such as charge-coupled devices (CCD) and magnetic bubble memory.
  • DRAM and SRAM dynamic and static random access memory
  • ROM read-only memory
  • PROM programmable ROMs
  • EPROM erasable ROMs
  • NVRAM nonvolatile RAM
  • flash-memory such as charge-coupled devices (CCD) and magnetic bubble memory.
  • CCD charge-coupled devices
  • Each type of memory may be classified as dynamic or static, read/write or read-only, random or serial access, volatile or nonvolatile, and erasable using magnetic or ultraviolet radiation. Because a CCD sensor chip is properly categorized as a type of serial access semiconductor memory, it is important to distinguish between the bitmap or digital array corresponding to an electronic image formed
  • LID such as a line-array scanner or an area imaging device (ADD) camera
  • ADD area imaging device
  • the memory buffer 60 connotes digital semiconductor memory other than the image sensor itself which permits interactive addressing and manipulation of pixels or swapping of information into memory from which pixels may be interactively addressed and manipulate, and which may be configured as an interactive junction with a bus structure 36 or similar interfaces.
  • the digital array associated with a particular electronic image may be stored to or retrieved from a conventional digital storage device 62 such as a magnetic or optical disk drive, or transmitted to or through any conventional peripheral, through the bus structure 36. It should also be noted that a previously stored electronic image document may be recaptured using the analog capture pathway by substituting an alternate
  • image input source 64 such as a write-once/read-many-times (WORM) optical laser disc player (LDP) connected through a mechanical or electronic switch 66 to the input channel of the analog-to-digital converter 54.
  • WORM write-once/read-many-times
  • LDP optical laser disc player
  • EIA Standard A Sony Model LDR-5000A optical disc recorder/player (EIA Standard)
  • the switch 66 also provides a suitable junction for linking the input of the analog-to-digital converter 54 to the high speed network 28, and it may therefore be appreciated that an electronic switching device such as a latch controllable by the EIS interface 30 or the mainframe 16 is desired for switching between the capture device 52, laser disc player 64, and high speed network 28 so that electronic images transmitted on the high speed network 28 will not be obstructed or delayed awaiting manual switching.
  • a manual switch 66 would preferably have a default setting to the high speed network 28, with user-selected switching to the capture device 52 or laser disc player 64 intended only for intermittent operation.
  • the electronic image document exists as a digital array or bitmap in active memory.
  • the digital array or bitmap may not have the same physical X-Y coordinate array as was present on a CCD sensor chip.
  • it has proven preferable to divide or section the image into blocks or segments, and to further deposit portions of each block or segment in distinct banks of memory.
  • each pixel remains mapped to a specific memory location by bank, row, column, and phase by a matrix or formula in the memory control module 68, and a set digital array or bitmap is preserved and recognized even though it may require calculation to correlate a pixel's location in memory to its position on a raster line or LCD display.
  • the electronic image document may then be stored on an analog storage device 70 such as an analog WORM optical laser disk recorder
  • LDR by dumping the digital array from memory 60 as a conventional 4 Mhz clock speed digital transmission signal and processing that signal through the first step of a sequential frequency converter 72 (up converter) to achieve a 16 Mhz bandwidth, an 8-bit digital-to-analog converter 74, and multiplexer 76 producing a 6 Mhz bandwidth output and the appropriate timing and synchronization pulses expected by the storage device 70.
  • a switching device 66 may also be utilized to provide a suitable junction for linking the output of the multiplexer 76 to the high speed network 28 for transmission of electronic images, and it may be appreciated that conversion of the signal to the appropriate bandwidth for the high speed transmission pathway may require that the up converter 72 or the multiplexer 76 be instructed by the EIS interface 30 to perform the appropriate signal conversion steps to match the bandwidth of the analog signal to the corresponding transmission pathway.
  • converter 72 may also be processed in a second step to achieve a 124 MHz clock rate signal, converted to analog using a digital-to-analog converter 78, and presented on a conventional raster display 80, preferably such as a high resolution computer monitor.
  • a conventional raster display 80 preferably such as a high resolution computer monitor.
  • separate input and output memories may be utilized, and the output memory may be read at a speed directly compatible with monitor inputs.
  • the image may also be presented on a conventional LCD display screen 82 or projector, although the necessary signal form may need to be created as required by the LCD display 82.
  • a database 84 is utilized to record an accession number, index, or address for the initial frame and size (or for each of the separate frames) associated with a specific document to permit cataloging and selective retrieval of any document stored on that medium.
  • the database 84 may be located in the mainframe 16 or fileserver, a separate CPU associated with a remote EIS interface 30 device, or be resident in the computer housing the bus structure 36.
  • each stored image will be identified by a volume number corresponding to the serial number of the specific disc or recording medium, and a frame number.
  • a single frame number will be satisfactory when all batch-processed images are stored using the same quantity of frames for each image, and the combination of the volume and frame numbers may be treated together as a single index, address, or accession number.
  • the database 84 may be an already-existing database used for processing transactions involving the source documents to which one or two fields are appended corresponding to the volume and frame numbers for the stored image, or may be a separate database 84 which provides a "look ⁇ up table" relating an identifying characteristic of the source document (such as the computer-readable MICR code on negotiable instruments or checks) with the corresponding serial and frame numbers of the stored image.
  • an infeed control interface 86 must be connected to the EIS interface 30 so that the EIS interface 30 can receive ready-state acknowledgements from the automatic document feeder and step or advance commands can be sent to the automatic document feeder, and a corresponding indexing or accession control interface 88 would be connected between the EIS interface 30 and the storage device 70 to correlate the volume serial numbers and frame numbers with the
  • a manual infeed control interface 86 would be used when documents are positioned manually by the operator.
  • a separate storage device 70' such as a second analog WORM optical laser disc recorder (LDR) may be utilized at a remote location for batch downloading or backup of images stored on the first storage device
  • LDR WORM optical laser disc recorder
  • Source Document Orientation The embodiments of the system 10 discussed herein have been specifically tailored to optimize the processes of capturing and storing electronic images from tangible source documents that are especially common to many financial and business transactions conducted in the United States, or for specialized applications that are considered document intensive.
  • tangible source documents include paper documents, as well as documents previously fixed in mediums such as microfilm and microfiche.
  • the following discussion of several paper-based source documents provides a sufficient basis for describing the particular modes of operation associated with the preferred embodiments.
  • Figure 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of a basic US letter-size page 90 generally approximating the horizontal and vertical dimensions or aspect ratio of a standard 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper (and similarly approximating an A-4 size page) in a vertical orientation.
  • Figure 4 is a diagrammatic depiction of the same page 90 shown in Figure 3 in a horizontal orientation.
  • the page 90 is divided along an imaginary vertical centerline 92 into two half-page segments 94, 96 having dimensions of approximately 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" each.
  • FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic depiction of the page 90 of Figure 3 showing the normal orientation of type written lines 100 of text on that page 90.
  • Figure 6 is a diagrammatic depiction of a drawing sheet 102 having dimensions greater than twice a basic page 90, with horizontal and vertical phantom lines 104 showing the drawing sheet 102 divided into four equal quadrants or segments along both horizontal and vertical seam lines.
  • Figure 7 is a diagrammatic depiction of a section of a large-scale document 106 such as a geophysical survey.
  • the section 106 has dimensions on the order of 36" x 48" and may correspond to about 4 miles
  • Figure 9 is a diagrammatic depiction of a single capture device 32 such as an area array CCD or Vidicon tube type camera disposed a predetermined distance or height above a source document such as a basic page 90 oriented horizontally, with a phantom line 92 identifying an imaginary centerline 92 dividing the basic page 90 into two half-page (one frame) segments A, B.
  • Figure 10 is a diagrammatic depiction of a pair of capture devices 32 disposed above a source document 108 such as a basic page 90 oriented vertically or two-page drawing sheet 102 oriented horizontally, with a phantom line 110 identifying an imaginary centerline or seam line dividing the source document 108 into two segments A, B (of two frames each).
  • Figure 11 is a diagrammatic depiction of a pair of capture devices 32 disposed above and below a source document 112 such as a check, with one capture device 32 capturing a segment A of the resulting half-page electronic image corresponding to the front face of the check or source document 112, and the other capture device 32 capturing a segment of the resulting half-page (one frame) electronic image corresponding to the opposing face (not shown).
  • Figure 12 is a diagrammatic depiction of a plurality of capture devices 32 disposed in a two dimensional (vertical and horizontal) array above a large-size source document 114, with each capture device 32 capturing a segment A-F of the resulting (multi-frame) electronic image which adjoin one another along both vertical and horizontal seam lines 116.
  • Figure 13 is a diagrammatic depiction of a capture devices 32 of the line array type disposed above a large-size source document 114, with the capture device 32 sequentially capturing a segment A-C of the resulting (multi-frame) electronic image which adjoin one another along parallel seam lines 116.
  • Modes A and “Mode “B” are particularly designed around document processing involving tangible source documents such as a US letter-size page 90 or smaller, 8-bit grayscale informational content, and wherein "normal” system resolution is suitable.
  • "normal” resolution refers to an arbitrary resolution as defined by the particular system mode and the application of that mode to a specific operating environment. In other applications, normal resolution might refer to fractions or multiples of the "normal” resolution as defined by Modes A and B.
  • bypassing the bandwidth filters or bandwidth limiters in conventional analog WORM-type LDRs 70 to operate with the "extended" bandwidth and additional lines of image content results in an approximately 30% increase in the effective resolution or storage capacity of the storage medium, without affecting its storage density.
  • Mode A refers to capturing and storing one half-page image of a US letter-size source document as a single frame
  • Mode B refers to capturing and storing the full-page image of a US letter-size source document as two frames.
  • Mode A can be considered a system bypass that does not require complex seaming to retrieve and reconstitute the electronic image
  • the same control signals including the pilot signal and calibration pulses as discussed below are applied to documents processed in Mode A, since those control signals are also useful for maintaining electronic image integrity throughout batch-processed source documents and between different operating environments or platforms.
  • Normal fast-scan television provides 30 frames per second with 525 horizontal lines swept at a 60 hz vertical rate and scanned at a 15,734 hz horizontal rate with a 4:3 aspect ratio, with two interlaced scanned fields
  • the image is sent as an amplitude-modulated (AM) signal, while audio is frequency-modulated (FM).
  • AM amplitude-modulated
  • FM frequency-modulated
  • European television (PAL standard) utilizes 625 lines, however the aspect ration remains approximately 4:3.
  • the capture device 52 produces a camera image of 1114 progressive (non-interlaced) lines refreshed every 70 milliseconds.
  • this will correspond to two images of 500 lines each with the excess lines accommodating the control signals as described.
  • the lines of the image are therefore being scanned at 14 hz in the vertical direction (approximately one quarter the normal sweep rate) and scanned horizontally at 15 khz.
  • a Dage-81 camera manufactured by Dage-MTI Incorporated of Michigan City, Indiana, provides a suitable capture device capable of being driven at the 14 hz vertical scan rate.
  • more accumulated charge may be discharged as useable signal by lengthening the time during which a document is being scanned using a capture device in which the accumulated charge on the target is time-dependent on incident source light such as a Vidicon tube type camera.
  • a capture device in which the accumulated charge on the target is time-dependent on incident source light
  • Tube type cameras are therefore advantageous in applications where a CCD type camera would not provide sufficient resolution or fast enough speeds given other practical considerations, or where the fixed pixel resolutions of current CCD cameras are otherwise inadequate.
  • the output signal from the capture device 52 is digitized at 31 Mhz and stored in a 1024 x 2048 x 8 input memory buffer 60.
  • the memory buffer 60 is preferably two banks of eight 128 kbit SRAMS with an 8 column by 9 row architecture and a corresponding video input latch.
  • the output signal is multiplexed into 8 segments which places 256 pixels in each row of memory. Any pixel can be identified by bank, row, column, and phase.
  • the configuration of the memory buffer 60 in Modes A and B can be made more efficient, however this configuration permits interchangeable
  • the EIS interface 30 circuitry may be divided into three groups.
  • the circuitry associated with the memory buffer 60 is one group.
  • the non-124 Mhz portion can be fabricated on a first integrated circuit board using transistor-transistor logic (TTL), whereas the 124 Mhz portion (including the digital-to-analog converter 74) can be fabricated as a third group using emitter-coupled logic (ECL) on a separate integrated circuit board.
  • the multiplexer 76 can be fabricated with the non-124 Mhz portion of the circuitry, or a remote multiplexer 76 may be connected to the non- 124 Mhz portion of the circuitry using sixty-four sets of twisted-pair wires.
  • the resultant analog signal associated with the electronic image may be stored on the storage device 70 in video format.
  • a 525 line 60 hz vertical scan rate WORM optical laser disc recorder (LDR) is conventional, and a Sony Model LVR-5000A (EIA Standard) laser videodisc recorder/player has proven suitable.
  • LDR compatible with the PAL (European) television and video recording standard may be preferred in situations where PAL- compatible LDRs are more readily accessible or in applications where the nature of the tangible source document makes 625 line capture the optimal alternative.
  • the increase in horizontal bandwidth from 4.2 Mhz to 6 Mhz may be compelling.
  • Such a conversion will either decrease the number of images storable on a conventional optical disc by 20% (from approximately 43,000 to 36,000) or increase the recording time by about 20% per frame,
  • the sync generator 56 can be modified to operate corresponding to the 625 line 50 hz vertical scan PAL standard.
  • the sync generator controls the drive frequency of the capture device 32 and supplies the timing waveforms for the input memory buffer 60. Consequently, selection of the appropriate capture device 32 and optimization of memory characteristics may be required.
  • a 525 line 60 hz vertical scan rate standard sync generator provides a composite synchronization train. After the first vertical synchronization pulse, the first 250 lines are read to the memory buffer 60. The read pauses to allow insertion of the second vertical interval, and then lines
  • the 251-500 are read.
  • the read pauses, and the vertical interval between the first and second frames is inserted, and the second frame is read in the same manner as the first frame.
  • the additional 50 hne times are consumed by the vertical blanking intervals.
  • the LDR begins recording the output from the digital-to-analog converter 74.
  • the image can be retrieved by reversing the storage process and reconstituting the two frames as a single electronic image document.
  • the tangible 8-1/2" x 11" original image is divided into four blocks or segments to be stored on two separate frames with two blocks per frame. These blocks or segments can be groups of sequentially adjacent lines, fractions or segments of adjacent lines, alternating or selected interlaced lines, or any other desired portion of the image.
  • An electronic image having a digital array composed of X lines of pixels would result in two frames each having X/2 lines of information, and the raster corresponding to those two frames would be composed of N horizontal scanning lines at a predetermined vertical scan rate plus a maximum time interval dictated by the remaining or excess 2N-X horizontal scanning lines and the predetermined vertical scan rate which is utilized to add the raster synchronization to the analog signal for each frame.
  • the retrieved electronic image can be processed in two ways. It can be mapped at 3.9 Mhz onto the bus structure 36 of the host processor and swapped to the video display RAM on the computer's motherboard or on a video/graphics interface card, stored in digital form on magnetic medium, transmitted over conventional transmission pathways, or downloaded to an
  • the signal may be up converted by the frequency converter 72 to correspond to the appropriate dot clock equivalent for a high resolution gray scale or color monitor.
  • Mode C Operation Modes A and B operation are considered biased in the horizontal direction.
  • Mode C operation is effective where either "square" resolution or a vertical bias are desired.
  • Mode C operation may be considered “high” resolution compared with Modes A or B, and provides twice the "normal" resolution of those modes.
  • the acquisition of the signal in Mode C is the same as in Modes A and B, however the image is dissected into 8 blocks and recorded as 4 frames.
  • the resolution of the tangible source document image (using the 8-1/2" x 11" example) becomes a 1024M X-Y pixel product (1248 pixels in the 11" inch direction and 1000 pixels in the 8.5" direction) while only requiring twice the capture and storage time.
  • Mode C There are three alternatives for operation in Mode C.
  • the horizontal line is split in half.
  • the read from the memory buffer 60 is performed at half the write speed (using a 7.5 khz horizontal sweep rate controlled by the read clock) to effectively expand or stretch the 12 Mhz bandwidth signal into a 6 Mhz bandwidth signal, which causes the half of the horizontal line segment to expand from 32 microseconds to 64 microseconds in duration, which appears normal to an LDR expecting a 6
  • Mhz analog signal with 64 microsecond line duration Each of the three alternatives to Mode C may be understood by considering a grid overlying a 1000 line raster image in which each line has a left and a right half.
  • the grid has one vertical column of eight horizontal rows. Each row of the grid therefore corresponds to one field of a frame. Each segment is therefore one vertical row consisting of 125 left halves alternating with 125 right halves of each line.
  • the segments are stored in ascending order, SI through S8, so that frame Fl contains segments SI and S2 as fields 1 and 2, frame F2 contains segments S3 and S4 as fields 1 and 2, and so forth.
  • This mode is the least expensive since it only requires a line delay, and has the advantage of providing a security function by "scrambling" the appearance of the stored images in the event an unauthorized individual attempts to access the medium using an incompatible EIS system or view the image on an interlaced monitor.
  • the grid has two vertical columns of four horizontal rows. Each segment therefore consists of either 125 left halves or 125 right halves of the lines.
  • the segments are again stored in ascending order, SI through S8, so that frame Fl contains
  • frame F2 contains segments S3 and
  • This mode is the more expensive since it requires a field delay, and also has the advantage of providing a security function by scrambling the appearance of the stored images.
  • the security feature of Mode C2 would produce significantly more flicker because of the difference between the horizontal sweep and vertical scan rates.
  • each segment therefore consists of either 125 left halves or 125 right halves of the lines.
  • the segments are not stored in ascending order. Instead, in Mode C3 the left halves of the lines corresponding to two segments SI and S2 are stored as the first and second fields in frame Fl, and the right halves of the lines corresponding to two segments S5 and S6 are stored as the first and second fields in frame F2.
  • the remaining segments S3, S4, S7, S8 are similarly stored as frames F3 and F4.
  • Mode C4 the left halves of the lines corresponding to two segments SI and S2 are stored as the first and second fields in frame Fl, and the left halves of the remaining lines corresponding to segments S3 and
  • S4 are stored as the first and second fields in frame F2.
  • the right halves of the lines corresponding to segments S5 and S6 are stored as frame F3, and the right halves of the lines corresponding to segments S7 and S8 are stored as frame F4.
  • Modes C3 and C4 have the advantages of allowing the direct display of a quadrant (two adjacent segments) of the image on a conventional sequential scan (non-interlaced) monitor, and in the event of discrepancies in or uncertainty about the information in the overlapping regions between quadrants, the adjacent quadrants may be viewed separately for comparison.
  • Mode C3 presents the disadvantage of requiring a one frame delay in order to seam the quadrants properly, and Mode C4 requires a two frame delay. Mode C3 is therefore more expensive than Mode C2, and
  • Mode C4 more expensive than Mode C3.
  • Mode C4 may provide an advantage in simultaneously viewing two vertically adjacent quadrants which represent a strip of an electronic image or tangible document which has a extremely long length equivalent to a continuous roll of paper.
  • Mode C2 is to place each half of the stretched line sequentially one after another.
  • the first vertical block or field would therefore have 256 lines of active video comprising 128 first halves alternating with 128 second halves. This continues for 8 blocks or fields, at which point 4 frames have been stored.
  • the added sync signals are removed and the second halves are delayed and joined to form continuous lines having a 12 Mhz bandwidth.
  • One technique for seaming horizontally adjacent quadrants is overscanning, in which the first halves each line segment extend 2% beyond the midpoint of the individual line segment to include a leading portion of the second half of the same line (in another segment and possibly in another frame), and the second halves begin 2% before the midpoint to include a trailing portion of the first half of the same line (also in another segment and possibly in another frame).
  • the overlapping or redundant information may be compared in dc or ac content, time, and amplitude to match the seam, with servo loops being employed to provide the necessary degree of precision required in the manner discussed below. Higher frequency content and increasing grayscale depth will dictate the type of servo loops used.
  • Mode N refers generally to any operating mode which employs one or more capture devices 32 to capture, dissect, and seam together or reconstitute an electronic image corresponding to a source document larger than a basic US letter-size page at "normal" resolution, or to a source document of any size that is captured and stored as more than four frames and more than eight segments. It may be readily appreciated from this discussion that it various embodiments may be designed around the use of a single capture device 32 with the source document being moved or advanced to present different regions that would correspond to different segments of a larger electronic image or document, or that several capture devices 32 could be utilized as shown in Figures 10 or 12, either with or without movement or advancing the source document.
  • a line-array type capture device 32 as shown in Figure 13 may be more practical for some continuous feed applications in which the documents have a fixed width but variable length.
  • an array of two capture devices 32 such as shown in Figure 11 are utilized to capture an images relating to the front and back faces of the source document, and those two images are subsequently placed together as a single half-page segment or frame. It may also be appreciated that several segments from several different capture devices 32 can be seamed together without regard to whether each
  • the raster synchronization discussed above that is added to the analog signal in order to define frames corresponding to the selected storage medium is a conventional format that may be recognized by commercial and consumer video equipment, however such a format is only a "coarse" timing reference compared to the degree of accuracy or precision necessary to dissect and reconstitute electronic image documents and still maintain the requisite level of qualitative integrity for the informational content described.
  • the vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses embedded in standard RS-170 formatted signal (used with standard television display and recording) are unsuitable for seaming adjacent segments of an electronic image.
  • Four types of image control signals are therefore utilized with the embodiments of the system 10 disclosed herein.
  • the first two sets of signals are the horizontal and vertical raster synchronization pulses (and corresponding blanking intervals) corresponding to the camera output and frame formats discussed above.
  • a 50 microsecond sampling of a 12 Mhz information signal 118 is shown bracketed by a pair of 13.5 microsecond blanking intervals 120 and a pair of 5 microsecond negative-going synchronization pulses 122.
  • the line thus has a duration of approximately 63.5 microseconds.
  • the third type of image control signal are calibration pulses 128 embedded as a part of the video signal just before and after the active video portions of the composite signal.
  • the calibration pulses are positive- going pulses inserted immediately before and after the synchronization pulses for each line (or line segment).
  • Each calibration pulse preferably has a width (duration) on the order of 750 nanoseconds and a height
  • the calibration pulses ensure matching of the DC levels and amplitudes of adjacent segments, incremental gain calibration between adjacent lines (or
  • Gain calibration is accomplished by subtracting black from gray, with true black being clamped at zero. If a calibration pulse is read at .4 V, for example, a servo correction brings that line down to .35 V to provide an accurate gray level for each "pixel" within the line.
  • the calibration pulse at the end of any line may be directly compared with the calibration pulse at the beginning of any adjacent line along the corresponding seam. Any divergence from the normal calibration amplitude results in shifting the level of the corresponding line so that each line exactly matches the adjacent lines and is set relative to a fixed base level, and the servo loops used for the calibration adjustments are therefore completely independent of informational content in the image.
  • the calibration pulses 128 provide reference to a predetermined "absolute gray” that also corresponds to a similar value for monitors and other devices, with the focus of the embodiments discussed being on a predetermined area of interest or range of grayscale levels that are commonly encountered in tangible source documents of the type used for business records, financial transactions, and so forth.
  • the amplitude of the calibration pulses 128 may be set at any desired value to provide control over the location of the examining area within the entire grayscale range by shifting the median grayscale of the image upward or downwardly compared to an "absolute gray” value expected by the monitor or other device, while still permitting "on the fly” correction around the calibration pulses 128 for line-to-line nd segment-to- segment precision.
  • a conventional negative-going synchronization pulse 130 is then inserted between the calibration pulses 128, as shown in Figure 14f.
  • the fourth type of image control signal is a low level (CW) pilot signal 132 or carrier tone that extends continuously throughout the stored analog signal, is synchronous with the calibration pulses 128, and is harmonically related to the clock speed.
  • the pilot signal 132 must be high enough frequency to permit harmonization with all other synchronizing or timing signals and pulses, and therefore compatible with all divisors of the main system clock rate, and is preferably at or near one half of the write clock frequency.
  • the pilot signal 132 should also be a frequency just above the predetermined bandwidth of the storage medium, but sufficiently distinguishable that a bandpass filter can be used to strip the pilot signal 132 without clipping active video content 118 from the signal. Since the operational spectrum for conventional laser disc medium falls off rapidly above the 6 Mhz bandwidth, a low level pilot signal 132 on the order of 6.89 Mhz has proven suitable for use with conventional LDRs, and may be
  • the pilot signal 132 therefore provides many times more vernier than the standard synchronization pulses for time- based corrections in positioning and aligning adjacent segments of the image when seaming those segments together along horizontal seam lines (parallel with raster lines) or vertical seam lines (perpendicular to raster lines).
  • the pilot signal 132 is also necessary to provide a time-based correction capability to compensate for timing errors in conventional LDRs, and the use of the recovered pilot signal 128 which is retrieved as a part of the stored signal to generate the write clock as data is written to the memory buffer 60 allows the use of this modality in connection with other storage and communications systems that produce time-based errors or which do not regulate absolute timing relative to an external reference or source.
  • the composite signal 134 of Figure 14h is retrieved from the storage medium, and a square wave from the write clock at 15.5 Mhz (derived from a recovered 6.89 Mhz pilot signal) is used to quantitize or digitize the signal and write the signal to the memory buffer
  • the processed signal does not correspond to a 1:1 quantization that would produce a true 256 level grayscale range for the electronic image. Instead, it has proven suitable in the embodiments discussed to incorporate an approximately 20% margin to provide overhead for calibration adjustments and offset. As such, the effective grayscale range would be on the order of 200 to 210 levels, which accommodates the vast majority of interactive document processing applications including high resolution medical imaging for X-rays and MRIs screwand is state-of-the-art for commercially available LDRs. Applications requiring enhanced grayscale differentiation may result in sacrificing a portion of the margin, or increasing the bit depth of the system.
  • the transmission of an electronic image as an analog signal provides significant improvement in transmission rates compared with even the fastest conventional digital transmission by modem or facsimile or over network lines.
  • segmenting of the electronic image in the memory buffer 60 and conversion to a resultant analog signal of appropriate bandwidth permits additional increases in transmission rates over conventional transmission pathways having limited bandwidths, as well as high speed transmission pathways having larger bandwidths.
  • the Nyquist frequency of the analog signal from the capture device 32 and from the initial digital-to- analog conversion is on the order of 12 Mhz, whereas the sampling rate uses a 31 Mhz clock rate.
  • the actual bandwidth of the analog signal may be reduced to a lower bandwidth that corresponds to a digital clock rate at or below the maximum transmission clock rate of the digital transmission pathway, and then transmitted at that speed (which would be slower than if transmitted at the original bandwidth over a line having the same effective bandwidth or clock speed.)
  • the electronic image may be divided into a plurality of segments each having an effective bandwidth corresponding to the maximum transmission clock rate of a particular digital pathway, and then transmitted in parallel and reconstituted.
  • a transmission pathway having more than one parallel lines or channels such as a conventional ISDN transmission pathway comprising three parallel channels of which two are allocated for digital transmission
  • the segments of the electronic image in the memory buffer 60 can be read in parallel and transmitted simultaneously on the separate
  • Subsequent frequency conversion of the type obtained using a line multiplexer may also be applied in applications such as fiber-optic transmission, permitting a multiplicity of segments of an electronic image to be transmitted simultaneously.
  • the analog signal may also be divided accordingly and transmitted over an analog transmission pathway at the maximum bandwidth permitted.
  • the high speed network 28 and transmission pathway 26' are broadband cables capable of transmitting television-type signals, utilizing a conventional handshake recognition and latch to lock out non-requesting nodes from the communication procedure once a request is received by the mainframe or controller and an instruction to retrieve and transmit an image is received and completed by the electronic image server 30 and mass storage device 34.
  • Image requests, sequencing or cataloging information, and ready-state or other control signals may be transmitted over a conventional digital network such as a Novell or Ethernet system.
  • the system 10 may be optimized to permit transmission on these existing communication lines, including satellite and microwave transmission, multichannel RF television, as well as transmission over home-broadcast cable television systems.
  • the transmission operation is also completely compatible with and transparent to any conventional communications- related security technology, such as those employing modulated line scrambling devices and signal encryption algorithms.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Image Processing (AREA)

Abstract

Procédé et appareil de conversion rapide de documents de source tangible en images électroniques, et de transmission ou de stockage et d'extraction ultérieure d'images, utilisant un traitement de signal hybride. Le système utilise un signal analogique de largeur de bande supérieure pour l'acquisition d'images et un signal analogique de largeur de bande effective inférieure pour la transmission ou le stockage et l'extraction, une mémoire numérique intermédiaire étant utilisée pour élaborer un mode point de l'image afin de faciliter divers procédés de dissection et d'assemblage optimisant la teneur de l'image et le temps de traitement. Le système est conçu autour d'une structure de bus classique et la mémoire sert de jonction avec des ordinateurs personnels, des réseaux et des dispositifs périphériques classiques.
PCT/US1993/007968 1992-08-24 1993-08-23 Procede et appareil de transmission, de stockage et d'extraction de documents dans un domaine electronique WO1994005113A1 (fr)

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WO1995024794A1 (fr) * 1994-03-11 1995-09-14 Sietec Systemtechnik Gmbh & Co. Ohg Procede et dispositif d'archivage electronique des documents traites par un ordinateur
EP1353492A2 (fr) * 1996-11-20 2003-10-15 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Système de stockage et d'utilisation de données d'image enregistrées par une caméra électronique

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GB2282725A (en) * 1993-10-07 1995-04-12 Julien Snell Facsimile information library
WO1995024794A1 (fr) * 1994-03-11 1995-09-14 Sietec Systemtechnik Gmbh & Co. Ohg Procede et dispositif d'archivage electronique des documents traites par un ordinateur
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EP1353492A3 (fr) * 1996-11-20 2004-05-12 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Système de stockage et d'utilisation de données d'image enregistrées par une caméra électronique

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