A PROGRAMMABLE IMAGE DATA COMPRESSION SUBSYSTEM FOR WORKSTATIONS

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A PROGRAMMABLE IMAGE-DATA- COMPRESSION SUBSYSTEM CONTAINING MULTIPLE DSP CHIPS TO PROVIDE HIGH-SPEED COMPRESSION OF IMAGES. THE SUBSYSTEM WILL PLUG INTO AN INEXPENSIVE WORKSTATION AND PROVIDE AN EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE, GENERAL-PURPOSE, IMAGE-COMPRESSION STATION. IT WILL BE READILY PROGRAMMED TO COMPRESS HIGH- RESOLUTION, MULTISPECTRAL IMAGES OF ANY SIZE IN LOSSLESS ANDLOSSY COMPRESSION MODES. IT IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE A SET OFDIFFERENT ALGORITHMS (LOSSLESS, DCT, DPCM, LAPLACIAN PYRAMIDCODING) THAT WOULD BE SUITABLE IN A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS. THIS COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH WILL ALLOW THE SAME CAPABILITIES TO BE PROVIDED TO MANY SCIENTISTS WHO CAN EACH INVESTIGATE THE PARTICULAR PROPERTIES OF COMPRESSION FOR THEIR IMAGING REQUIREMENTS. THIS IS DESIRABLE SINCE EACH SITUATION IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT, AND ANY COMPRESSION SYSTEM THAT FAILS TO RETAIN THE FEATURES OF INTEREST IN A GIVEN APPLICATION WILL RENDER THE IMAGE UNUSABLE. THE PRODUCT OF THIS PROJECT WOULD APPLY TO IMAGE COMMUNICATION FOR TELERADIOLOGY, VIDEO CONFERENCING, AND SURVEILLANCE AND TO IMAGE DATABASE APPLICATIONS INCLUDING PICTURE ID SYSTEMS, DIGITAL MAPPING, REAL ESTATE.