Comparison between a chip for realtime skeleting of images and its corresponding discrete realisation-a case study

A chip and a corresponding PCB solution performing the special task of thinning is presented. Thinning, a common task in the field of image processing, preserves the overall structure of the image while making lines thinner and pixel spots smaller. While thinning (skeleting) is only available on special image processing architectures in realtime or has been implemented in `slow´ software, both solutions presented solutions make thinning (at realtime conditions) available for general purpose environments. This paper describes both realisations, based on the same architectural concept, and shows how to integrate into an image processing pipeline. This proceeding enables an objective comparison. At last the results, the chip-layout, and new ideas concerning testability aspects are presented