Patent Document ID: 7702133
Application ID: 10563486
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image-processing camera system for a vehicle, comprising: an optical system having a lens, a diaphragm, and an image pickup element, and being mounted on the vehicle; an optical system controller which is mounted on the vehicle and controls the optical system; a first application program which uses image data acquired by the optical system according to a first set of camera parameters, and at a first image data acquisition rate, and performs first image processing for influencing driving of the vehicle; at least a second application program which uses image data acquired by the optical system according to a second set of camera parameters, and at a second image data acquisition rate, and performs second image processing for influencing driving of the vehicle; memory for storing information i) for scheduling acquisition of the image data from the optical system, repeatedly without overlapping in time, in a manner that is consistent with the first and second image data acquisition rates and the first and second sets of camera parameters, respectively, in order to provide the image data used by the first and second application programs, and ii) for scheduling execution of processing of the first and second application programs in coordination with said acquisition of image data; an application scheduler which generates instructions that provide a schedule for acquiring the image data and for executing processing of the first and second application programs, based on the stored information, according to progress of time; and an image pickup element controller which sets up the optical system controller based on the first and second sets of camera parameters of the first and second application programs, responding to the instructions from the application scheduler; wherein, the setting up of the optical system controller and the acquiring of the image data from the optical system are repeated according to the schedule, based on progress of time; and processing of the first and second application programs are performed according to the schedule using the acquired image data.