Method and apparatus for interpreting and organizing timing specification information
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of reducing an unstructured electronic timing specification to a consistent format, comprising the steps of:
- a. storing the unstructured specification as a character string;
b. performing sequential, character-by-character matching analysis between the character string and a set of lexicon entries having varying degrees of ambiguity, a match between an entry and the character string indicating whether the character string contains information representative of one or more classifications;
c. selecting the least ambiguous matches between the lexicon entries and the character string; and
d. based on the matching analysis, generating a symbolic description of the specification according to a known standard.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for converting unstructured descriptions of signal timing constraints, which can be entered by a user in a natural-language format, into unambiguous symbolic specification descriptions. The invention also generates file structures containing both the signal characteristics entered by the user and timing-constraint information that may be derived therefrom.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of reducing an unstructured electronic timing specification to a consistent format, comprising the steps of:
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a. storing the unstructured specification as a character string; b. performing sequential, character-by-character matching analysis between the character string and a set of lexicon entries having varying degrees of ambiguity, a match between an entry and the character string indicating whether the character string contains information representative of one or more classifications; c. selecting the least ambiguous matches between the lexicon entries and the character string; and d. based on the matching analysis, generating a symbolic description of the specification according to a known standard. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of reducing to a consistent format an unstructured electronic timing specification containing information representative of at least one classification and at least one signal, comprising the steps of:
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a. storing the unstructured specification as a character string; b. performing sequential, character-by-character matching analysis between the character string and a set of lexicon entries sorted in order of increasing ambiguity until the least ambiguous match or matches are found, a match between an entry and the character string indicating that the character string contains information representative of one or more classifications; c. based on the classification information derived from the matching analysis, generating a tentative symbolic description of the specification according to a known standard; and d. verifying that the signal information is consistent with the classification information. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. An apparatus for reducing an unstructured electronic timing specification to a consistent format, comprising:
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a. operator-responsive input means for receiving an unstructured timing specification; b. means, operatively coupled to the input means, for receiving therefrom the unstructured specification and storing the same as a character string; and c. processor means for; 1) retrieving the character string; 2) performing sequential, character-by-character matching analysis between the character string and a stored set of lexicon entries having varying degrees of ambiguity, a match between a lexicon entry and the character string indicating that the character string contains information representative of one or more classifications; 3) selecting the least ambiguous match or matches between the lexicon entries and the character string; 4) based on the classification information derived from the matching analysis, generating a symbolic description of the specification according to a known standard; and 5) storing the symbolic description. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for reducing to a consistent format an unstructured electronic timing specification containing information representative of at least one classification and at least one signal, the apparatus comprising:
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a. operator-responsive input means for receiving an unstructured timing specification; b. means for storing; 1) the unstructured specification as a character string; 2) a set of lexicon entries sorted in order of increasing ambiguity, each entry being indicative of one or more classifications and also corresponding to a symbolic description; and 3) information representative of the signal characteristics associated with the one or more classifications; c. means, operatively coupled to the input means, for receiving therefrom the unstructured specification and storing the same in the storage means; and d. processor means, operatively coupled to the storage means, for; 1) performing sequential, character-by-character matching analysis between the stored character string and the stored set of lexicon entries until the least ambiguous match or matches therebetween is found; 2) based on the matching analysis, associating the specification with the symbolic description corresponding to each matched lexicon entry, and storing the tentative description; and 3) comparing the signal characteristics associated with the classification corresponding to each matched entry with the stored signal characteristics from the specification. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification