Pipelined computing device for connecting contour elements from image data

Pipelined computing device for connecting contour elements from image data, comprising at least one pipelined processor device, which is designed,

• in a first process, to generate a list of coordinates of starting points and endpoints of chains and to store the list of coordinates in a memory,
• and, in a second process, for each starting point and endpoint, to search the list of coordinates of starting points and endpoints for the last occurrence of the same coordinates or coordinates lying within a neighborhood of a specified size,
• and, in a third process, to assign to each starting point or endpoint a vertex index and an instance index, wherein the vertex index is a running index of vertices and the instance index represents a running index of the starting points and endpoints belonging to a vertex, wherein associated points from the set of starting points and endpoints receive the same vertex index and wherein associated points are those points from the set of starting points and endpoints that have the same coordinates or coordinates that lie within a neighborhood of a specified size.