Abstract: A realtime high speed data capture is provided in response to a trigger bit pattern detected in a serial bit stream. An Event Driven Interface is connected to a data communications network to receive a serial bit stream. A capture buffer is connected to the network to store at least a portion of the serial bit stream. The capture buffer is selectively connected to the network by means of a gate. The Event Driven Interface is programmed to recognize a trigger bit pattern in the serial bit stream and to output an enable signal to the gate. In response to this, the capture buffer will store a predetermined portion of the serial bit stream from the network.

Abstract: A queue manager manages multiple interfaces among a network, a host bus and a storage means including multiple circular FIFO's in a data communication system handling packet and multimedia data transferred, in either direction, between the host bus and the network. The queue manager includes a programmable parameter RAM interface, computation logic and status means. An efficient queue management algorithm dynamically manages storage of data in the circular multiple FIFO's as data is transferred, in either direction, between the host bus and the network. System bandwidth is allocated by the queue manager to the queues which have the most activity thereby improving the speed of transferring data while reducing the amount of bandwidth that would otherwise be required by prior systems. The programmable interface permits a user to define and dynamically configure the multiple circular FIFO storage means to include other parameters useful in the management of data transferred between the host bus and the network.

Abstract: An instantaneous context switching speech recognition system is disclosed which enables a speech recognition application to be changed without loading new pattern matching data into the system. Selectable pointer maps are included in the memory of the system which selectively change the relationship between words and phonemes between a first application context and the pattern matching logic to a second application context and the pattern matching logic.

Abstract: A dynamic realtime, inband routing mechanism is disclosed for a data communications network, which provides an Event Driven Interface to perform realtime, inband directed routing for load distribution and load balancing of data frames over one of a plurality of destination paths. The Event Driven Interface is programmed with control vectors to identify load balancing and load distribution bit patterns in the data frames on the data communications network. Enabling signals produced by the Event Driven Interface are applied to the control input of a multiplexer whose data input is connected to the data communications network. The multiplexer will steer the data frames from the data communications network to one of a plurality of output alternative routing paths, in response to the enabling signals it receives from the Event Driven Interface.

Abstract: A queue pointer manager contained in an integrated data controller is capable of controlling high speed data transfers between a high speed controlled data channel, a local processor bus and a dedicated local data bus. The overall design utilizes enhanced features of the Micro Channel architecture and data buffering to achieve maximum burst rates of 80 megabytes and to allow communications with 8, 16, 32 and 64 bit Micro Channel devices. Queued demands allow flexible programming of the Micro Channel master operations and reporting of completion statuses. The hardware control of command and status queuing functions increases the processing speed of control operations and reduces the need for software queuing. Extensive error checking/reporting, programming parameters, internal wrap self-test capability give the integrated data controller advanced functions as an input/output processor. The queue pointer manager also manages queue read and write pointers.

Abstract: A data processing system and method are disclosed for selecting which one of several character recognition programs should be used to optimize the accuracy in recognizing characters in a field in an image of a document form. Consideration is taken of the character form and field type for particular characters and an optimized selection is performed on a realtime basis among the several candidate character recognition programs which could be applied. The resulting character recognition operation has its accuracy maximized for reading a wide variety of character forms and field types in recognition of preprinted forms.

Abstract: A data entry system generates an electronically stored coded representation of a character sequence from one or more electronically stored document images. The system comprising optical character recognition logic for generating, from the document image or images, character data specifying one of a plurality of possible character values for corresponding segments of the document images. The system also has an interactive display means for generating and sequentially displaying, one or more types of composite image, each composite image comprising segments of the document image or images arranged according to the character data, and a correction mechanism responsive to a user input operation to enable the operator to correct the character data associated with displayed segments.

Abstract: An improved forms recognition method and system are disclosed, that minimizes the time required to perform the forms recognition process, by adaptively changing the processing sequence. In accordance with the invention, when new master forms are defined in the system, a new processing template is also defined. The processing template includes tables and indexes that give the profile of all the master forms that have been defined in the system. The processing template is then referred to at the time of forms recognition processing, to adaptively choose which forms recognition operations to perform, to minimize the time required to finish processing a particular completed form.

Abstract: Controlled current pulses applied to a shaped resistive heating element formed on the bonding surface of a base or substrate component provide sufficient heat to the bonding interface formed between a chip and the base bonding surface to produce a high bonding temperature at the bonding interface while maintaining an opposite surface of the chip at or below a relatively low temperature critical for components formed or mounted on the chip surface. A layer of a thermally setting thin-film bonding agent is applied over a serpentine-shaped resistive heating element having a relatively narrow linewidth formed on the base component bonding surface. The chip to be bonded is retained in a desired position against the bonding surface over the heating element and bonding agent layer while a current pulse is applied to the heating element via contact pads.

Abstract: A system and method for conveying information to a user on the behavior of a dynamic display image or object which uses a display attribute table that maps an object type's attribute values to the object type's display attributes. Each display attribute in the display attribute table consists of an attribute value and an attribute value priority. The display attributes of a particular object are determined by selecting the display attribute values having the highest display attribute value priority given all the particular object's attribute values. As events change a particular object's attribute values the display attributes for the object are changed on the display by a display update means.

Abstract: A multimedia document form system enables the definition, manipulation, storage and editing of a form which contains multimedia objects. Image objects and text objects can be displayed on the form in the conventional manner. Nonvisual presentation objects such as video objects and audio objects are represented by check boxes on the form. If a nonvisual object is to be associated with the form, then a mark is applied to the corresponding check box on the form. When the form is scanned-in in an optical scanner, presence of a mark in the check box prompts the operator to enter the nonvisual object. For example an audio object will be entered in digitized form and stored in association with the form. When the form is then displayed on a visual display device, the corresponding check box is highlighted to indicate to the operator the presence of a nonvisual presentation object which is stored in association with the form.

Abstract: An Asynchronous Communications Interface to Synchronous Circuit having three stages is disclosed. The first stage captures the control and data signals from an asynchronous bus and converts them into signals which are synchronous to the internal clocks of the interface chip. The second stage of the interface is a synchronous state machine which utilizes the synchronized signals generated by the first stage to determine the current state of the asynchronous bus. The third stage of the interface uses the data generated by the synchronous state machine and the control and data signal capture logic to validate the data in a synchronous manner. This allows further processing of the data from the asynchronous bus without the use of any further asynchronous logic or timing.

Abstract: A system and method provide a security agent, consisting of a monitor and a responder, that respond to a detected security event in a data communications network, by producing and transmitting a security alert message to a network security manager. The alert is a security administration action which includes setting a flag in an existing transmitted protocol frame to indicate a security event has occurred. The security agent detects the transmission of infected programs and data across a high-speed communications network. The security agent includes an adaptive, active monitor using finite state machines, that can be dynamically reprogrammed in the event it becomes necessary to dynamically reconfigure it to provide real time detection of the presence of a suspected offending virus.

Abstract: An explanation system for use in an expert system is described. The rule base used in the inference engine of the expert system is divided into groups of rules called rule classes. With each rule class, three types of explanations are associated: strategy explanations, reason explanations and inference explanations. The rule classes are arranged in a hierarchical explanation tree structure. Each time a first rule is fired within a rule class, a frame is created into which the explanations relating to that rule class are copied. After the completion of the reasoning process, the frames can be used to generate an explanation of the reasoning process.

Abstract: An Image processing apparatus and method for character slant detection and correction is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: scanning logic for scanning a word image and applying a local slant test to each pixel to determine whether in the image at the pixel there is local character slant to the left, to the right or neither and storing a local slant flag accordingly. Also disclosed is logic for combining the local slant flags for the pixels in each row and applying a significance test to the result to obtain, for the row, a row-slant flag indicative of whether in the row there is greater number of pixels having a local character slant to the right, a greater number of pixels in the row having a character slant to the left or neither. The logic for combining the row-slant flags for all of the rows to determine a shear parameter and logic for applying a shear transformation to the image in accordance with the shear parameter is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for efficiently distinguishing between different types of input signals simulated by a pointing device coupled to a multi-tasking computer system. The pointing device may be a stylus, finger or other device that moves across the surface of a touch screen or the like to generate positional information. Depending on the response of a delay timer, the motion of the pointing device is recognized by software application programs as input information either from a mouse or from a gesture or a handwriting input mode. If motion cessation across the screen is detected with a predetermined time-delay period, the system accepts the input information in a mouse-emulating mode. If motion is detected within the predetermined time-delay period, the timer is reset. Thus, the system overhead associated with managing the timer can be reduced because the timer is periodically reset and need not be reset after each movement of the pointing device as in the prior art.

Abstract: A pyrotechnic shock testing machine employs flexure plates attached to an anvil lying in a vertical plane of a supporting frame to apply pyrotechnic shock pulses to a test unit attached to the anvil when a hammer is dropped to strike the anvil. The dimensions of the flexure plates can be selected to control the lower frequencies of the shock pulse. The anvil materials and their coupling can be selected to control the higher frequencies of the shock pulse whereby shock pulses in the range of 100 to 10000 hertz and accelerations in the range of 50 to 10000 g's can be applied to a test unit in the x, y and z directions. The shock testing apparatus is compact and portable and without the need to have complex hammer raising and dropping mechanisms.

Abstract: A 1-bit token ring arbitration architecture where a plurality of chips which require access to a shared bus are coupled together in a ring is described. Each chip receives an arbitration in signal from the preceding member of the ring which is used to receive the token. Each chip transmits an arbitration out signal to the following member of the ring to send the token to the following member. In the preferred embodiment, the token appears as a 1 cycle active low pulse. An error signal notifies all the bus participants that a ring error has been detected. Preferably, the number of cycles the error signal is held active, the more severe the error. A request of bus (ROB) signal notifies the chip holding the token that another bus member needs to use the bus. The ROB signal allows the current holder of the token to maintain control of the bus if it has further processing on the bus as long as no other bus member needs the bus.

Abstract: A Time Reference Manager for providing a time reference value to the nodes of a ring topology local area network. A time reference is implemented on a distributed system data bus at a low level interface to provide highly accurate time reference values at each node of the LAN with no settling time required. One node on the network is designated as the Time Reference Manager and broadcasts the Time Reference Protocol data around the ring of the LAN network. Time delay correction is provided by an algorithm performed in a time reference software process. Clock accuracy is selectable by the number of bits used in the clock-counter.