Patent ID: 6429949
Filing Date: 2002-08-06
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
An apparatus for rendering color or black and white information for printing in a contone system, comprising:an interpreter for receiving an incoming data file which represents a page or a set of pages that is to be printed, wherein said data file includes an object that is to be rendered by said interpreter and wherein said interpreter requests an uncompressed representation of a patch, where said patch intersects with said object that is to be rendered; a patch cache for holding a collection of patches; means for making room in said patch cache by compressing least recently used patch data if a requested patch is not in said patch cache; a compression mechanism for decompressing said requested patch in said patch cache and compressing â€œrawâ€  or native data, wherein said compression mechanism holds a collection of compressed patch data that tiles an entire page to be printed and wherein each patch is compressed independently from one another such that a logical page representation is broken down into said patches, where said breakdown is known to said interpreter and said compression mechanism; a stitcher that uses a stitching process to turn said patch page representation into any of a compressed line, band, or full page representation; a frame buffer for storing said page representation; and means for decompressing said frame buffer pursuant to printing said page.