US 8,897,602 B2 · Imaging system with multiframe scaler

Abstract

An electronic device may have a camera module and a host subsystem. The camera module may include a camera sensor and associated image processing and data formatting circuitry. The image processing and data formatting circuitry may include an image processor that produces unscaled images frames using data from the camera sensor. Unscaled image frames may be processed in multiple paths between the image processor and the host subsystem such as a path that includes an image compression circuit block, a parallel path that includes a preview scaler, and a parallel path that includes a multiframe scaler and a frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry. The multiframe scaler may scale unscaled frames for buffering and processing by the frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry to produce analysis results. The analysis results may be appended to compressed unscaled image frames sent to the host subsystem.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method for capturing images in an electronic device that has a host subsystem, comprising:

receiving unscaled image frames that are at a first resolution using image processing and data formatting circuitry that includes a multiframe scaler and that includes frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry;
scaling the unscaled image frames with the multiframe scaler to produce scaled image frames at a second resolution that is less than the first resolution;
buffering the scaled image frames with the frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry;
analyzing the scaled image frames with the frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry to produce analysis results;
sending the analysis results to the host subsystem;
sending the unscaled image frames to the host;
and
appending the analysis results to the unscaled image frames that are sent to the host.

5 more elements

A method for capturing images in an electronic device that has a host subsystem including storage and processing circuitry and that has a camera module coupled to the host subsystem, wherein the camera module comprises a camera sensor and has image processing and data formatting circuitry that receives data from the camera sensor and wherein the image processing and data formatting circuitry includes a multiframe scaler and includes frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry, the method comprising:

receiving unscaled image frames at a first resolution with the multiframe scaler;
scaling the unscaled image frames with the multiframe scaler to produce scaled image frames at a second resolution that is less than the first resolution;
buffering the scaled image frames with the frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry;
analyzing the scaled image frames with the frame buffer and multiframe image processor circuitry to produce analysis results;
compressing the unscaled image frames with an image compression circuit in the image processing and data formatting circuit to produce compressed unscaled image frames;
appending the analysis results to the compressed unscaled image frames;
and
sending the compressed unscaled image frames to the host subsystem from the camera module.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Imaging system with multiframe scaler

Life of this patent

Imaging system with multiframe scaler

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims14