Image Data Processing Device Memory Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image data processing devices face memory issues due to excessive intermediate data generation during the conversion of page description language (PDL) data to print data, as previous methods inadequately reduce the amount of intermediate data, leading to memory inflation.
Innovation Solution
An image data processing device comprising an interpreter and a rasterize portion, where the interpreter generates intermediate data including image data and enlargement ratio information, allowing the rasterize portion to produce device image data efficiently, thereby reducing memory usage by utilizing the original image data for enlargement and reducing unnecessary data storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If enlargement processing is performed during intermediate data generation, then the device image can be generated from the source image, but the amount of intermediate data increases excessively causing memory inflation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the intermediate data into two distinct components: (1) original source image data that remains at its native resolution, and (2) separate enlargement ratio data that specifies the scaling factors. This segmentation prevents the creation of redundant enlarged image data in memory, as the enlargement is performed on-demand using the stored ratio information rather than pre-computing and storing the entire enlarged image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from storing complete enlarged image data (spatial dimension) to storing compact enlargement ratio parameters (numerical dimension). By representing the enlargement information as simple ratio values rather than full image pixels, the data occupies a different dimensional space that is far more space-efficient, reducing memory requirements while preserving the capability to generate enlarged images when needed.
2Loss of information
If all image data is stored in intermediate format, then complete image information is preserved, but memory pressure increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential enlargement ratio information from the complete image data transformation process. Instead of storing all possible transformed image data, it extracts and stores merely the scaling ratios needed to reconstruct the enlarged image later. This extraction principle maintains the necessary image information while dramatically reducing the quantity of data stored in memory.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation from storing actual pixel values at enlarged resolution to storing compact ratio parameters that define the enlargement. This parameter transformation allows the system to preserve the capability to generate any enlargement while using minimal memory, as the ratio parameters are vastly smaller than the full enlarged image data they represent.
Data Source
AI summary
An interpreter portion obtains page description language data that includes image data of an image source and image-size specifying data of both the image source and a device image. The interpreter portion generates intermediate data based on the image data of the image source and the image-size specifying data. If the image-size specifying data specifies enlargement from the image source to the device image, the interpreter portion generates the intermediate data that includes intermediate image data that is the same data as the image source data and enlargement ratio data. A rasterize portion generates print data in an output memory based on the intermediate data.