Method and system for cell based image data compression
US5450130A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1994 |
| Grant date | Sep 12, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N19/61
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and system for compressing color video or other image data for transmission over a low cost, low bandwidth bus (or other transmission link). Preferred embodiments implement lossless compression and include a frame buffer for storing data compressed in accordance with the invention, and circuitry for decompressing and transforming compressed data read from the frame buffer. The image data are typically organized as a sequence of frames, each comprising a sequence of pixels. Data compressed in accordance with the invention are stored in cells in memory, with each cell storing the same number of pixels. The inventive method is denoted as "cell based image compression" ("CBC"). Advantages of CBC include increasing available data transmission bandwidth and lowering required system power as a result of minimizing transfer of redundant color information to and from memory as well as fast random single pixel reads and writes. Some embodiments interface with a fast, narrow, single ported frame buffer, such as a RAMBUS or SDRAM memory, and compress image data not to minimize memory requirements, but to minimize bus bandwidth requirements for transferring data to and from memory. Wit…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.