Abstract: Plural independent delay lines are connected in parallel and receive a first signal taken from a first point. Samples of the first signal are taken at different sampling frequencies and are respectively stored in the several delay lines. Samples of a second signal are taken from a second point and are stored in a direct line at one of the frequencies. The correlation function between the samples of the direct line and the samples of one of the delay lines is calculated. Exemplary applications include measuring the speed of a linearly translating object, such as a web of paper.

Abstract: In a routing method for efficiently routing interconnections of a printed circuit board, an ordered list of interconnections to be made is first developed, each interconnection consisting of a source and a target. The interconnection medium is notionally divided into cells and, in a flooding routine for deriving the route between a particular source and target, cells at a progressively increasing distance from the source are considered. The progressive flooding is performed under a preset control by associating a respective cost with each of a number of possible flooding directions. At any time, flooding occurs from that cell to which the accummulated cost of flooding from the source is a minimum. Eventually a target cell is reached and by tracing backpointer directions associated with the intervening cells, the least cost route is derived as a series of contiguous line segments having position, length and orientation.

Abstract: The electronic interface device permits remote control and monitoring of a power distribution panelboard coupled with a management system. In respect of each outgoing power line, a local control unit is connected to a remote control unit while a central unit is assigned to each local control unit to the remote control unit which then converts the data delivered by the local control unit into data which are compatible with the central unit. Exchange of data between each remote control unit and the management system is achieved by at least one microprocessor-based control circuit located in the central unit, through a series link or current loop.

Abstract: A weigh feeding system using a stochastic controller wherein the weight of material is sensed, and an estimate of the mass flow state of the material being discharged is created by use of a Kalman filter process. Plant noise processes and measurement noise processes, which affect the measured weight signal, are modeled as stochastic processes and are used, in combination with the sensed weight signal, to calculate the estimated mass flow state. The noise model is modified to account for severe disturbances. The estimated mass flow state signal is used to calculate a motor feedback signal which, in turn, is used to control the speed of the discharge apparatus. In this manner, the mass flow of the material actually being discharged is driven to a desired mass flow with minimum error variance in the presence of unavoidable plant and measurement noise.

Abstract: A signal processor is for receiving an input signal y. The input signal y has in it a signal x and has a conditional density function, given that the signal x is present, p(y.vertline.x). The signal processor includes a memory for storing the amplitude-density-function of the signal x, p(x). The memory is coupled to the processor input so that the memory is addressed by the input signal y. An amplitude-density-function generator is coupled to the processor input and to the memory generates the product of the conditional density function p(y.vertline.x) and the density function p(x). The processor of the invention also includes apparatus for detecting the peak of that product.

Abstract: Method for the simultaneous monitoring of yarn quality on a number of similar monitoring points of a textile machine, in which each monitoring point uses one measuring element together with the processors assigned to the measuring elements for processing the pulses supplied by the measuring elements, whereby the various data processing stages for the individual monitoring points run at different rates of repeat. Each group of several measuring elements is allocated to a common processor and the pulse procesing stages with the same rates of repeat are grouped into classes and the rate of running these classes is so controlled that with respect to the individual monitoring points, the relevant data processing stages are repeated approximately periodically.

Abstract: Apparatus for measuring the rate of sheet dissipation from a load immersed in a flowing fluid includes an upstream and downstream transducer. These transducers are located upstream and downstream of the load for providing an upstream and downstream signal signifying the temperature of the fluid upstream and downstream, respectively, of the load. A flow transducer is located in the flow of the fluid for providing a flow signal signifying the flow rate of the fluid. A processor is coupled to the flow transducer and the upstream and downstream transducer for providing a power signal proportional to the flow signal and to the difference between the downstream and upstream signal.

Abstract: A distributed control apparatus and method is disclosed to maintain the network stability in a packet switching local area network under changing traffic load conditions, by controlling the size of the packets transmitted by each node. The invention monitors the present information flow rate in the network and computes an average packet length which it then uses to adjust the size of the variable length data field in each message frame. In this manner, network flow control can be achieved without forcing data terminals connected to the nodes of the network to adjust their speed. The invention is applicable to a wide variety of local area network protocols for both ring and bus architectures.

Abstract: A "scanning" work-contact probe is deflectable with respect to a measuring-machine head which is driven by the three-coordinate drive system of the measuring machine. The arrangement is such that the probe continuously tracks (scans) a desired profile of a workpiece and, in doing so, measured probe increments (decrements) of deflection with respect to the head are so mathematically combined with head-position data that, in the further circumstance of holding path-velocity magnitude .vertline.V.sub.des. .vertline. of the measuring machine to a constant value, the orientation of the probe head with respect to the locally contacted slope of the workpiece can also be a constant.

Abstract: In a method of identifying or comparing compositions of material, the reflectivity of a material to be identified or compared is measured at index points distributed through the near infrared spectrum. A similar measurement is made for at least one standard or known material. From the reflectivity measurements, sets of values representing the first or higher order derivative curves are determined. These values mathematically define vectors by representing the coordinates of the end points of the vectors and multiple dimensional space. An index of a similarity between the composition of a test sample and a standard material is calculated by determining the cosine of the angle between the corresponding vectors.

Abstract: A simulation system for visual signal processing circuits is presented which provides a detailed, pixel level analysis of the timing while actually performing the simulation at the frame level. Input to the circuit is the form of images captured by a video camera. The processing of a frame of image data by each circuit component is simulated and the resulting frames of image data are stored until they are no longer needed by other components. The output of the simulated circuit is displayed on a monitor.The timing of the circuit is analyzed for distinct groups of components which must operate in synchronism. Scaling factors are calculated for each net in the group from the incremental scaling rate of each component and the connectivity of the circuit. The scaling factors indicate the relative rate at which value pixels arrive at each net. The time at which a reference pixel arrives at each net is then computed to ensure that corresponding pixels arrive together at components with multiple inputs.

Abstract: To monitor machines for breakage and/or wear of the tool, the vibrations produced by dynamic forces generated by the machine parts are measured in the range of the natural frequency of the machine above the operating frequencies. The measured values are compared, as the desired states or conditions, with the respective momentary vibration behavior of these measuring locations and frequency ranges (i.e., the actual operating state or condition), and whenever there is a deviation of the actual state from the desired state by a given threshold value, a signal is emitted which may be used to shut down the machine.

Abstract: A waveform digitizer includes a sampling bridge for producing a sequence of analog samples of an input waveform, the samples being calibrated by an amplifier having adjustable offset and gain and then converted to digital quantities for storage in an addressable memory. The digitizer also includes memory and time base control circuits permitting real and equivalent time sampling of repetitive waveforms and logic circuits providing hardware averaging of multiple data samples.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for the automatic gauging of engineering components. The apparatus includes a clamp for holding a component to be gauged, probes for scanning a surface of the component, drives to provide relative motion between the component and the probes in three mutually perpendicular axes, measuring transducers associated with the drives and the probes to generate signals to measure the degree of movement between the component and the probes, computer memory for storing data relating to a reference profile having dimensions which it is desired to achieve, computer apparatus for comparing signals generated by the measuring transducers with the corresponding signals in the memory, computer apparatus for calculating any error between the stored data and signals generated by the measuring transducers to stack the component to maximize desired coincidence between the dimensions of the reference profile and the actual component.

Abstract: A temperature measuring apparatus has temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature and producing a signal representative thereof, an A/D converter for converting the signal into a digital output signal, a memory for storing as temperature data the output signal of the A/D converter, read-out means for reading out corresponding temperature data from the memory and applying it to a processor, and wait means for setting a wait state by the read signal from the processor until the A/D conversion of the A/D converter is completed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus classifies and grades glossiness based on the visible feeling by the light reflection intensity distribution of a surface of a body, wherein specular reflection intensities and total reflection intensities are detected for two known light fluxes projected at predetermined incident angles. The specular reflection intensities and the total reflection intensities are processed, to thereby determine the glossiness of the work to be measured.

Abstract: This invention provides for the non-destructive testing of a longitudinally displaceable ferromagnetic body for structural faults. This device sends a stationary magnetic field transversely across the body of the test piece. Changes in this magnetic field, due to structural defects of the test piece, are detected by the magnetic field detectors which are placed on the periphery of the test piece in alignment with the stationary magnetic field. The changes detected by the magnetic field detectors must be processed in order to be useful. This processing requires compensation for the varying strength of the magnetic field at the surface of each different magnetic field detector, compensation for unequal sensitivities of each individual magnetic field detector in detecting structural defects, and also compensating for the tolerances of circuits which are used in the previous compensations.

Abstract: In accordance with the method of the present invention, a local subscriber defines its own filter sets and/or local templates which are used to create new updateable local trading instrument displayable data records from a common remotely transmitted data stream of trading instrument data records, which are user created reconstituted data records different from the transmitted trading instrument data records. A common one of the defined filter sets and/or local templates may be used for a plurality of different data records having a common desired set of information categories. The transmitted data may be in a logical data format or a page display format, in which instance it is converted to a logical data format.

Abstract: A method and a computer program for performing the method are disclosed for optimizing signals being exchanged between a host unit and an addressable-buffer peripheral device. The program optimizes an outgoing signal from the host unit by (1) creating an updated-state map representing the state of the peripheral device buffer expected to exist after processing by the peripheral device of the outgoing signal, (2) performing an exclusive-or (XOR) operation using the updated-state map and a present-state map representing the existing state of the buffer, and (3) constructing and transmitting a substitute outgoing signal which represents only changes to the buffer, and in which all premodified field flags are turned off. Position-dependent characters, such as attribute bytes, are translated into nondata characters prior to incorporation into a map, and are retranslated into their original form for use in the substitute signal.

Abstract: An automatic transfer switch is taught which includes as part thereof a voltage sensing device which is interconnected with one of the lines to be monitored and controlled by the automatic transfer switch and neutral. This voltage may vary over a wide range and it is desired to provide a universal transfer switch control for operation over the wide range. The output analog voltage is provided to an analog-to-digital converter which has a maximum number of output bits. In order to keep the resolution of the output digital signal from the analog converter as high as possible, it is necessary to range the input voltage according to a menu of potential ranging values which are stored in the memory of a microprocessor. A programming device is utilized to input the line voltage and the microprocessor determines the maximum value for the ranging constant as a function thereof. The output analog voltage is reduced by this factor then provided to the analog-to-digital converter.