Parallel associative memory having improved selection and decision mechanisms for recognizing and sorting relevant patterns
First Claim
1. A method of recognizing patterns, said method comprising the steps of:
- storing a plurality of recognition patterns in at least one memory, and storing in said memory respective parameters defining respective radii of attraction for the recognition patterns;
receiving a recall pattern;
comparing certain bits of said recall pattern to certain bits of said plurality of recognition patterns and rejecting certain of the recognition patterns based on the bit-wise comparison;
correlating said recall pattern with at least said plurality of recognition patterns in said memory which are not rejected to determine respective measures of closeness for the recognition patterns which are not rejected, wherein said correlating includes adjusting the respective correlations by the respective parameters to determine the respective measure of closeness for the recognition patterns which are not rejected; and
inspecting said measures of closeness to identify at least one closest one of the recognition patterns which are not rejected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A parallel associative memory provides a way of recognizing or identifying observed data patterns. Each of a plurality of memories stores a plurality of recognition patterns. In response to receipt of a recall pattern to be identified, the recall pattern is contemporaneously compared to the recognition patterns stored in the memories and an exact or best match recognition pattern is selected. In a preferred embodiment, the memories may store multiple data bases each of which includes patterns having different lengths and different radii of attraction. The comparison process is controlled by masks which specify respective portions of the patterns which may include the radii of attraction, bits which must identically match, bits which are ignored, bits which are compared in a bit-wise fashion, and bytes which are compared by multiplication. A correlation is computed and selectively adjusted by the respective radii of attraction. A specified number of the patterns having the best correlation are identified, subject to selected threshold conditions, and sorted according to their respective correlations. The parallel nature of the memory lends itself to a hierarchical organization for increased storage capacity and to parallel processing which increases the speed of the identification or recognition process and thereby allows a broad range of applications. These applications includes fast retrieval of exact or inexact data, diagnosis, image processing and speech recognition.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of recognizing patterns, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of recognition patterns in at least one memory, and storing in said memory respective parameters defining respective radii of attraction for the recognition patterns; receiving a recall pattern; comparing certain bits of said recall pattern to certain bits of said plurality of recognition patterns and rejecting certain of the recognition patterns based on the bit-wise comparison; correlating said recall pattern with at least said plurality of recognition patterns in said memory which are not rejected to determine respective measures of closeness for the recognition patterns which are not rejected, wherein said correlating includes adjusting the respective correlations by the respective parameters to determine the respective measure of closeness for the recognition patterns which are not rejected; and inspecting said measures of closeness to identify at least one closest one of the recognition patterns which are not rejected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A parallel associative memory, comprising:
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means for inputting a recall pattern; a plurality of associative memories, each associative memory comprising; means for storing a plurality of recognition patterns, means for receiving said recall pattern from said means for inputting, and means for outputting an indication of at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern from said plurality of recognition patterns in said means for storing; means for selecting at least one recognition pattern that most closely corresponds to said recall pattern indicated by the outputs of said plurality of associative memories; and means for outputting an indication of said at least one recognition pattern selected by said means for selecting; wherein each of said plurality of associative memories further comprises; means for comparing said recall pattern from said means for receiving to said plurality of recognition patterns in said means for storing, and means for selecting as the output of said means for outputting an indication of said at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern based upon the comparison by said means for comparing; and wherein said means for storing a plurality of recognition patterns includes means for storing recognition patterns of different bit lengths in sequence in contiguous addressable memory locations, and wherein said means for comparing includes. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A parallel associative memory, comprising;
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means for receiving a recall pattern; a plurality of addressable memory means for storing and recalling a plurality of recognition patterns at respective addresses; means for addressing said addressable memory means to contemporaneously recall a sequence of said stored recognition patterns from each of said addressable memory means; means for contemporaneously comparing said recall pattern to the recognition patterns recalled from each of said addressable memory means; means for selecting at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern based upon the comparison by said means for comparing; and means for outputting an indication of at least one recognition pattern selected by said means for selecting, wherein said addressable memory means include means for storing and recalling recognition patterns of different lengths in sequence in contiguous addressable memory locations, and wherein said means for contemporaneously comparing includes means for comparing said recall pattern from said means for receiving to recognition patterns of different lengths. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A parallel associative memory, comprising;
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means for receiving a recall pattern; a plurality of addressable memory means for storing and recalling a plurality of recognition patterns at respective addresses; means for addressing said addressable memory means to contemporaneously recall a sequence of said stored recognition patterns from each of said addressable memory means; means for contemporaneously comparing said recall pattern to the recognition patterns recalled from each of said addressable memory means; means for selecting at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern based upon the comparison by said means for comparing; and means for outputting an indication of at least one recognition pattern selected by said means for selecting, wherein said addressable memory means includes means for storing and recalling a parameter defining a radius of attraction for each recognition pattern, and said means for comparing includes means for correlating the recall pattern with each recalled recognition pattern and adjusting the correlation for each recalled recognition pattern by an amount based on the respective parameter. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A parallel associative memory, comprising;
- means for receiving a recall pattern;
a plurality of addressable memory means for storing and recalling a plurality of recognition patterns at respective addresses; means for addressing said addressable memory means to contemporaneously recall a sequence of said stored recognition patterns from each of said addressable memory means; means for contemporaneously comparing said recall pattern to the recognition patterns recalled from each of said addressable memory means; means for selecting at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern based upon the comparison by said means for comparing; and means for outputting an indication of at least one recognition pattern selected by said means for selecting, wherein said means for comparing includes means for providing respective numerical values indicating the closeness of the recognition patterns compared to the recall pattern, and wherein said means for selecting includes means for identifying a certain number of the closest recognition patterns which are compared to the recall pattern, and means for sorting said certain number of the closest recognition patterns according to their respective numerical values indicating their closeness. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
- means for receiving a recall pattern;
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23. A parallel associative memory, comprising;
- means for receiving a recall pattern;
a plurality of addressable memory means for storing and recalling a plurality of recognition patterns at respective addresses; means for addressing said addressable memory means to contemporaneously recall a sequence of said stored recognition patterns from each of said addressable memory means; means for contemporaneously comparing said recall pattern to the recognition patterns recalled from each of said addressable memory means; means for selecting at least one recognition pattern that closely matches said recall pattern based upon the comparison by said means for comparing; and means for outputting an indication of at least one recognition pattern selected by said means for selecting, wherein; said means for comparing includes means for providing respective numerical values indicating the closeness of the recognition patterns compared to the recall pattern, said means for selecting includes means for identifying a certain number of the closest recognition patterns which are compared to the recall pattern, and means for sorting said certain number of the closest recognition patterns according to their respective numerical values indicating their closeness, said addressable memory means includes means for storing and recalling a parameter defining a radius of attraction for each recognition pattern, and said means for providing numerical values includes means for correlating the recall pattern with each recalled recognition pattern and adjusting the correlation for each recalled recognition pattern by an amount based on the respective parameter, and said means for selecting includes means for rejecting recognition patterns which have portions selected by a "Subspace Mask" which fail to match corresponding portions of the recall pattern. - View Dependent Claims (24)
- means for receiving a recall pattern;
Specification