Importance

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Abstract

The disclosure relates generally to a computer generated synthesized imaging system. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing fast access to a two axis memory wherein consecutive data elements in both row and column orientation of a data set represented as a matrix may be obtained at a rate faster than the access time of memory elements utilized. A speed-up of access speed by a factor N may be achieved, where N is a power of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16 . . . ). The memory elements are organized in N independently addressable banks of data memories. The matrix oriented data is mapped into these N banks such that any N contiguous data elements of any row or any column reside in different memory banks. Any N contiguous data elements of any row or column may then be accessed within the access time of any one memory bank. The N contiguous data elements may then be read from memory in a single memory cycle. These N data elements can then be multiplexed in the proper sequence into a data stream operating N times faster than the basic access speed of the memory elements used.

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First Claim