Method of providing consistent interface to image acquisition devices

A method performed in an electronic device for communicating with a selected image acquisition device associated with the electronic device, the method comprising:

• establishing a first communication link between a user of the electronic device and an image acquisition engine the first communication link operating independently of a hardware interface of the selected image acquisition device;
• and
• establishing a second communication link between the image acquisition engine and an interface of the selected image acquisition device, the second communication link operating independently of an interface protocol of the selected image acquisition device to allow the user to communicate with the selected image acquisition device, wherein the second communication link has one or more communication procedures, the one or more communication procedures providing instructions for at least one of:
• logging data to file, buffering data received from the selected image acquisition device, configuring selected properties associated with the selected acquisition device, generating events and translating error codes from the selected image acquisition device;
• configuring properties of the image acquisition device supported independently of the interface protocol of the image acquisition device and accessing a feature of the image acquisition device using the communication channel to receive a response in the specified format, where configuring the properties of the image acquisition device further comprises specifying a color space for images acquired by the image acquisition device.

A device readable storage medium holding device executable instructions for performing a method in an electronic device for accessing an image acquisition device associated with the electronic device independently of an interface protocol of the image acquisition device, the method comprising:

• accessing a first image acquisition device from a plurality of image acquisition devices, the plurality of image acquisition devices implementing a plurality of different interfaces, by:
• automatically determining available types of triggers supported by the first image acquisition device;
• providing information on the available types of triggers supported by the first image acquisition device;
• accepting a request to access the first image acquisition device;
• creating a communication channel with the first image acquisition device, the communication channel operating independently of the interface protocol of the first image acquisition device, wherein the communication channel includes
• one or more communication procedures providing instructions on how data transfers are managed across the communication channel, wherein the one or more communication procedures provides instructions for at least one of:
• logging data to file, buffering data received from the first image acquisition device, configuring selected properties associated with a particular image acquisition device, generating events, and translating error codes from the first image acquisition device;
• and
• accessing a feature of the first image acquisition device using the communication channel operating independently of the interface protocol of the first image acquisition device, the feature affecting a resulting image acquired from the particular image acquisition device.

A program holding product having instructions executable by an electronic device which, when executed by a processor of the electronic device allows a user of the electronic device to communicate with a selected image acquisition device associated with the electronic device by:

• interfacing a user of the electronic device with one of a plurality of image acquisition engines, the plurality of image acquisition engines implementing a plurality of different image acquisition interfaces;
• linking the image acquisition engine and an interface of the selected image acquisition device using a communication channel operating independently of an interface protocol of the selected image acquisition device to allow the user to communicate with the selected image acquisition device, wherein the communication channel includes one or more communication procedures that provide instructions on how data transfers are managed across the communication channel, wherein the one or more communication procedures provide instructions for at least one of:
• logging data to file, buffering data received from the selected image acquisition device, configuring selected properties associated with the selected image acquisition device, generating events and translating error code from the selected image acquisition device;
• automatically determining available types of triggers supported by the selected image acquisition device;
• and
• providing information to the user on the available types of triggers supported by the selected image acquisition device.