A systolic architecture for labeling the connected components of multi-valued images in real time

A system capable of labeling the connected components of multi-valued images at video rates is described. The technique uses a simple linear systolic array to modify the labels of recently visited pixels in a raster scan. The array removes the need for the complex processing of label equivalence tables used in previous algorithms. A two-pass system is designed using the same custom VLSI chip for both passes with minimal support circuitry. This has an advantage over previous hardware implementations where more complex algorithms require separate hardware modules for each pass