Method of and apparatus for constructing a control system and control system created thereby
First Claim
1. A method of specifying a control system for a process or an apparatus to be controlled comprising:
- a) identifying one or more detectable conditions associated with the controlled process or apparatus;
b) providing a separate input name for each detectable condition wherein the presence of the respective detectable condition is indicated by the respective name having an asserted value;
c) storing the input names;
d) identifying one or more control actions which can be taken to control the process or apparatus;
e) providing a separate output name for each identified control action;
f) storing the output names;
g) automatically producing an application logic table, wherein each input name is represented by a predetermined number of bit positions and combinations of input names are logically coupled together by implied AND and OR operators and wherein such combinations of input names are associated with output names;
h) storing the table; and
i) loading the application logic table into the control system.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for constructing a control system and a control system created thereby which is based on a finite state machine with constant code (FSMcc). An input preprocessor module normalizes input signals as required by the FSMcc logical processing unit. An output postprocessor module changes the normalized finite state machine outputs to real signals required by the controlled process or apparatus. The input preprocessor allows for a different finite state machine required for an application to be executed by the same constant code contained in the FSMcc microcode storage. An application logic table for the FSMcc is constructed using a specific organization of data representing application logic conditions. This organization allows the entire application logic to be expressed in a table of a technically feasible size. The size of the FSMcc application logic table memory is greatly reduced. The symbolic application logic table is build in a simplified form using implied AND and OR logical operators. This symbolic application table is directly converted into the FSMcc application logic table.
96 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of specifying a control system for a process or an apparatus to be controlled comprising:
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a) identifying one or more detectable conditions associated with the controlled process or apparatus; b) providing a separate input name for each detectable condition wherein the presence of the respective detectable condition is indicated by the respective name having an asserted value; c) storing the input names; d) identifying one or more control actions which can be taken to control the process or apparatus; e) providing a separate output name for each identified control action; f) storing the output names; g) automatically producing an application logic table, wherein each input name is represented by a predetermined number of bit positions and combinations of input names are logically coupled together by implied AND and OR operators and wherein such combinations of input names are associated with output names; h) storing the table; and i) loading the application logic table into the control system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for constructing a control system for a controlled process or controlled apparatus comprising:
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a) input means for receiving (1) a plurality of input names wherein each name corresponds to a detectable condition of said controlled process or apparatus, and (2) output names corresponding to possible control actions which can be taken to control said controlled process or controlled apparatus, b) memory means for storing said input names and said output names, c) data processing means for using said stored input names and said stored output names to produce an application logic table associating combinations of input names with output names, and d) output means for loading said application logic table into a control system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification