Abstract
One of the main problems of digital image processing is the vast amount of calculations required to implement even the simplest operations. Usually, the time available to implement these operations is also limited, due to the demands of real-time processing or system interactivity. A dedicated hardware implementation of these operations only offers a partial (and temporary) solution, as the field of digital image processing is still changing thoroughly. In this paper we present a digital image processing system satisfying the following main objectives. First, the system posesses a high degree of flexibility, allowing it to execute a broad range of possible applications. This flexibility is obtained by using general purpose microprogrammable logic (such as bit-sliced ALUs and memories). Second, the system is able to execute simple pointwise operations in real-time (20 to 40 ms/image), while most complicated operations on an entire image (such as the calculations of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)) only require a time of the order of one second (interactive operation). A number of benchmark problems, such as DFT calculations, digital filtering by means of number theoretic transforms and histogram determination, illustrate the possibilities of the system. Third, the system posesses fast and flexible interfaces, allowing it to operate in a great number of different environments. Typically, the system has an interface with a minicomputer. This minicomputer generates macro-commands with a high information contents that are consequently interpreted and executed by the microprogram of the image processor. Additional interfaces allow a high speed data communication with other (possible) image processors, and with the external world.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.