Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices – circuits – and – Specific signal discriminating without subsequent control – By amplitude
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-01
2001-02-13
Callahan, Timothy P. (Department: 2816)
Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices, circuits, and
Specific signal discriminating without subsequent control
By amplitude
C327S069000, C327S071000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06188251
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an analog circuit that finds from among a set of analog voltages applied to its input terminals which input terminal has applied to it the maximum analog voltage among the set of analog voltages applied to its input terminals, and the analog circuit outputs the maximum voltage value found. The present invention also relates to an analog circuit controlled by logic signals that sorts the set of analog voltages at the input terminals in descending order of the value of the analog voltages in the set.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In fuzzy logic systems there is a need to find the largest voltage produced by a set of M voltage sources. In pulse position demodulation there is a need to find which voltage pulse in a set of M voltage pulses has the greatest voltage value. In artificial neural networks there is a need to output a response depending on the strongest input. In processes involving comparison of a plurality of signals such as in: anti-lock braking, power distribution, synchronization, resource management, multi-regulation and multi-equalization (for example in blending of chemicals), fuel mixture control in multi-carburetor applications, color mixing control, automated guidance, balancing and dynamic balancing, tracking, dispensing, scheduling distribution of materials and resources, tuning, metering, stabilization, quality control, medical monitoring, and others there is a need to sort to some extent these signals resulting in differing actions. In contests, servicing, testing, arranging, and general purpose computation there is a need to find the largest voltage, find the next to the largest voltage, and even sort all of the M analog voltages produced by a set of M voltage sensors, sending units, or sources.
By analog to digital conversion, these tasks can be accomplished with a digital computer, and there are many well known maximum finding and sorting algorithms. Such algorithms are distinguished one from another by their computational complexity and the time required to sort.
We provide a parallel processing analog circuit and means to sort a set of analog voltage sources. The complexity of the analog circuit is proportional to the number of voltage sources to be sorted. The analog circuit is constructed of simple and readily available components making it easy and inexpensive to produce.
In the prior art there are analog circuits that output the maximum voltage from among a set of analog input voltages. However, these so called, “winner take all”, circuits do not identify which voltage source produces the maximum voltage, and they do not sort analog voltage sources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a circuit comprising N Q-element inputs, each input having a voltage W
i
applied thereto, where N is any positive integer. Also provided are first and second Q-element outputs. The first Q-element output provides a voltage V
x
such that
V
=
{
σ
,
σ
>
0
0
,
σ
≤
0
where
σ
=
∑
i
=
1
N
W
i
.
The second Q-element output provides a voltage V
y
such that
V
y
=−V
x
.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a circuit for identifying a highest voltage of a plurality of voltages comprising a plurality of input terminals, each input terminal having a voltage applied thereto and a plurality of output terminals, each of the output terminals associated with a corresponding input terminal. A maximum voltage identification circuit determines the highest voltage of each of the input terminals and provides an output voltage on the output terminal associated with the highest voltage. The maximum voltage identification circuit provides a predetermined voltage on the remaining output terminals.
For an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference is made to the following description of example embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3609565 (1971-09-01), Arnold
patent: 4419595 (1983-12-01), Reiner
patent: 5408194 (1995-04-01), Steinbach et al.
patent: 5414310 (1995-05-01), Fattasuro
patent: 5905387 (1999-05-01), Chinosi et al.
“A Voltage Based Winner Takes All Circuit For Analog Neural Networks”, J. Starzyk and Y. Jan, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, pp. 501-504, 1997.
Dranger Thomas S.
Priemer Roland
Callahan Timothy P.
Nguyen Hai L.
LandOfFree
Analog voltage maximum selection and sorting circuits does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Analog voltage maximum selection and sorting circuits, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Analog voltage maximum selection and sorting circuits will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2611305