DIGITAL AND OPTICAL DATA BUSES FOR VISION SYSTEMS

WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE DIGITAL VERSUS OPTICAL TRADEOFFS FOR DATA BUSES IN DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS. THE RESEARCH IS MOTIVATED BY THE ENORMOUS NUMBER OF PIXELS IN TYPICAL IMAGES OF INTEREST, AND THEE COMPARATIVELY LONG TIMES ASSOCIATED WITH DATA TRANSFER BOTH INTO THE IMAGE PROCESSING WORKSTATION AND EVEN WITHIN THE PROCESSOR ITSELF. OPTICAL DATA BUSES ARE OF INTEREST DUE TO THEIR COMPARATIVELY HIGH BANDWIDTH AND THEIR FREEDOM FROM MUTUAL INTERFERENCE. THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IS TO IDENTIFY WHAT ROLE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS MIGHT PLAY IN SYSTEMS OF THIS KIND. IN PHASE I THE RESEARCH WILL YIELD A COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSOR CONCEPT FOR VISION SYSTEM WORKSTATIONS REQUIRING HIGH THROUGHPUT RATES WITH AN OPTIMIZED INTERNAL COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE OF THE DIFFERENT MODULESWITHIN A VISION SYSTEM. THIS DESIGN WILL BE BASED ON THE STATE OF THE ART DIGITAL/OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE OR EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE BY NEXT YEAR. THE PROPOSED CONCEPT WILL BE COMPLETED TO THE POINT THAT ITS FEASIBILITY IS ESTABLISHED BEFORE INITIATING PHASE II.