Segmented-Memory High-Speed Camera for Overlapping Triggers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high-speed cameras face issues with incomplete recording of image frames due to trigger signal timing, leading to missed segments and incomplete capture of frames before and after the trigger signal, especially when trigger signals are inputted in an overlapping manner.
Innovation Solution
The camera employs a segmented video recording memory, region and sequence number management, pseudo trigger signal input, and delay/overlapping management to ensure all predetermined frames before and after the trigger signal are recorded, even when signals overlap.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If video recording is performed in a single segment with ring buffer overwriting, then the memory structure is simple, but trigger signals inputted in overlapping manner cause incomplete recording of image frames
Solution Approach 1:
The video recording memory is divided into multiple segments (first segment, second segment, third segment, etc.) that can be sequentially shifted. Each segment can independently store image frames, and when one segment is full, the system shifts to the next segment. This segmentation allows the system to handle overlapping trigger signals by ensuring that frames are recorded in different segments rather than being overwritten in a single ring buffer.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-shifting segments before recording is needed. When a trigger signal is detected, the system can pre-shift from the first segment to the second segment, ensuring that recording space is available. This preliminary segment shifting prevents overwriting issues and ensures complete frame capture even when trigger signals overlap.
2Reliability
If the video recording memory is frequently shifted to next segment, then complete frames can be captured, but the shifting operation increases system complexity and potential for missed segments
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback mechanisms to monitor the recording state of each segment. When a segment becomes full or when a trigger signal is detected, the system automatically initiates segment shifting. The feedback loop ensures that the system knows when to shift segments and when to continue recording in the current segment, eliminating the need for complex manual control while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The segment shifting operation is automated and self-managing. The system automatically detects when a segment is full or when triggering is needed, and performs the shifting operation without external intervention. This self-service approach reduces operational complexity while ensuring that segments are shifted at the appropriate times to maintain complete frame capture.
3Quantity of substance
If ring buffer overwriting is used in single segment, then memory utilization is high, but overlapping trigger signals cause some frames to be overwritten before recording
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the memory into multiple segments, the system can store more frames across different segments rather than overwriting in a single ring buffer. When segments are shifted sequentially, each segment can hold a portion of the frame sequence, increasing the total number of recordable frames while preventing overwriting of frames that need to be captured due to overlapping trigger signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-dimensional ring buffer to a multi-dimensional segmented structure. Instead of frames circulating in one continuous buffer where overwriting is inevitable, frames are distributed across multiple segments in a sequential hierarchy. This dimensional change allows the system to preserve frames across segment boundaries, effectively increasing storage capacity and recording reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A high-speed camera includes a video recording memory that is divided into a plurality of segments and into which writing is performed in a ring buffer shape, a video recording unit that sequentially preforms video recording in the video recording memory and stops, when a predetermined number of image frames previously set are video-recorded, the video recording on the basis of input of a trigger signal, to leave the predetermined number of image frames in the video recording memory, region information management memory for storing segment information and image frame information about in which of the segments image frames are recorded and which of the image frames is recorded in the segment, and image frame management software and/or circuitry for acquiring previously set predetermined numbers of image frames respectively preceding and succeeding an image frame at the time when a trigger signal is inputted in the certain segment on the basis of image frame information of the segment into which the trigger signal is inputted and image frame information of the other segment that are stored by the region information management software and/or circuitry.