Unified Interface for Image Acquisition Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for interfacing with image acquisition devices are cumbersome due to the lack of a common communication format or protocol, requiring developers to create multiple versions of applications specific to each vendor's device, and often necessitate knowledge of programming languages like C or C++.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that establish a communication channel between a user and an image acquisition device independently of the supplier, interface bus protocol, and acquisition technology, allowing users to interact with and configure devices without knowledge of lower-level programming languages or specific interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If vendors provide specific APIs for each image acquisition device, then device functionality can be fully accessed, but application complexity increases and developers must create multiple versions of applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a standardized interface layer that acts as an intermediary between the user/application and the image acquisition device. This interface layer handles the complexity of different vendor-specific protocols and translates them into a unified interaction model, allowing developers to write a single application that works with multiple devices without directly dealing with vendor-specific APIs
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal interface that can communicate with image acquisition devices from different vendors through a common protocol. This universal interface enables a single application to control various types of image acquisition devices (cameras, video cameras, etc.) without requiring separate application versions for each device type or vendor
2Adaptability or versatility
If vendors provide vendor-specific APIs, then device features can be fully controlled, but ease of operation decreases due to requirement of programming language knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized interface serves as an intermediary that translates high-level user commands into the low-level vendor-specific programming language calls. Users interact with a simplified, language-independent interface while the system handles the complexity of translating these commands into the required C or C++ API calls for the specific image acquisition device
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an abstracted representation or copy of the device interface that presents a simplified, standardized set of operations. This abstracted interface replicates the essential functionality of the actual device while hiding the underlying complexity and programming language requirements, allowing users to interact with a simplified model rather than the complex reality
3Reliability
If multiple application versions are created for different vendors, then device-specific functionality is optimized, but development time and resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables a single universal application to function with multiple image acquisition device vendors through a common standardized interface. This eliminates the need to create separate application versions for each vendor, significantly reducing development time and resources while maintaining the ability to access and optimize device features across all supported vendors
Data Source
AI summary
An image acquisition facility for linking a user of an application to an image acquisition device independent of an interface protocol of the image acquisition device. The image acquisition facility establishes a communication channel between the user and the image acquisition device and manages communication across the established channel. In this manner, the user of the application is free to select a desired image acquisition device for interfacing with and interacting with the selected image acquisition device independent of the interface bus standard, communication protocol and driver type supported by the selected image acquisition device.