Propagation in Cellular Arrays

Abstract

A special feature which distinguishes the CLIP4 array fromothers of its kind is a provision for the global propagation of datathrough the array. The operations which permit this fast passage of datathrough distances of many pixels help to overcome one of the fundementallimitations inherent in locally connected networks of processors. Theyare therefore of considerable importance but are unfortunately, amongstthe most difficult functions to understand. A substatial part of PaulOtto's thesis 'Algorithms for image processing on the CLIP4 cellulararray processor' is concerned with the understanding and use of theseglobal propagation operators. The material in this chapter is drawn fromvarious sections of his thesis and presents a coherent description of 2important functions of this type namely counting and object labelling.