US Patent 7690004 Method of providing consistent interface to image acquisition devices

An image acquisition facility for linking a user of an application to an image acquisition device independent of an interface protocol of the image acquisition device. The image acquisition facility establishes a communication channel between the user and the image acquisition device and manages communication across the established channel. In this manner, the user of the application is free to select a desired image acquisition device for interfacing with and interacting with the selected image acquisition device independent of the interface bus standard, communication protocol and driver type supported by the selected image acquisition device.