Patent ID: 8194279

Claim:
An image data combining apparatus for combining m lines (where m is an integer equal to or greater than 2) of image data that has been output from a reading unit, wherein the reading unit divides one line of an image into m lines of image data and outputs the m lines, wherein p pixels that have been extracted every p×(m−1) pixels (where p is an integer equal to or greater than 1) from the one line of the image are disposed in each of the m lines of the image data, and the output m lines of image data are stored in a memory, said apparatus comprising: an access unit configured to access the memory; and a determination unit configured to determine an upper address used for accessing the memory by said access unit, based upon first data that indicates a position in the memory, along the height direction, and determine a lower address used for accessing the memory by said access unit, based upon second data that indicates a position of the memory along the length direction, wherein the lower address is obtained by rearranging the sequence of bits constituting the second data such that when the first data and the second data increase sequentially, pixel data read from the memory using the upper address and the lower address are in an order of the length direction of the one line of the image, wherein the lower address includes values in which one or more first bits and one or more second bits of the second data are interchanged, the one or more first bits is a bit or bits obtained by removing the number of bits necessary to represent the numerical value p−1 from the bits which are obtained by extracting the number of bits necessary to represent a numerical value p×m−1 from the least significant side of the second data, and the one or more second bits is a bit or bits obtained by removing, from the second data, the number of bits necessary to represent the numerical value p×m−1 from the least significant side of the second data.