Fuzzy inference apparatus and methods, systems and apparatuses using such inference apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A fuzzy inference apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of inputs for receiving time-varying input signals;
at least one output for outputting a time-varying output signal dependent on the input signals; and
a processing apparatus configured to;
perform, on the time-varying input signals, a fuzzification process, thereby providing fuzzified data, the fuzzification process being performed in accordance with fuzzy membership functions contained within a knowledge base; and
perform, on the fuzzified data, fuzzy inference to generate the output signal, the fuzzy inference being performed in accordance with fuzzy inference rules contained within the knowledge base;
whereinthe knowledge base comprises fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy inference rules, the fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy inference rules having been defined in advance;
the knowledge base comprises at least two alternative definitions of the membership functions and inference rules, and the processing apparatus is operable to apply different ones of the definitions at different times; and
the processing apparatus is arranged to optimize its fuzzy rule set automatically during operation, between fuzzification of the input signals and completion of the fuzzy inference.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A health monitoring system for complex networked apparatus includes a number of neuro-fuzzy inference apparatuses feeding inference results into a data fusion hierarchy. At each level in the hierarchy, fuzzy inference is applied to generate a desired output signal by processing selected input signals in accordance with a knowledge base defining fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy inference rules defined in advance. The knowledge base includes alternative definitions of membership functions and/or inference rules. The apparatus selects which definition to use according to environmental or other conditions, and predetermined selection criteria.
16 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A fuzzy inference apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of inputs for receiving time-varying input signals; at least one output for outputting a time-varying output signal dependent on the input signals; and a processing apparatus configured to; perform, on the time-varying input signals, a fuzzification process, thereby providing fuzzified data, the fuzzification process being performed in accordance with fuzzy membership functions contained within a knowledge base; and perform, on the fuzzified data, fuzzy inference to generate the output signal, the fuzzy inference being performed in accordance with fuzzy inference rules contained within the knowledge base;
whereinthe knowledge base comprises fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy inference rules, the fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy inference rules having been defined in advance; the knowledge base comprises at least two alternative definitions of the membership functions and inference rules, and the processing apparatus is operable to apply different ones of the definitions at different times; and the processing apparatus is arranged to optimize its fuzzy rule set automatically during operation, between fuzzification of the input signals and completion of the fuzzy inference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method of generating a time-varying output signal in response to a plurality of time-varying input signals, the method comprising:
-
(a) storing in a processing apparatus a knowledge base comprising definitions of membership functions for the input and output signals and fuzzy inference rules for use in fuzzy inference processing; (b) receiving the input signals; and (c) operating the processing apparatus to; perform, on the time-varying input signals, a fuzzification process, thereby providing fuzzified data, the fuzzification process being performed in accordance with fuzzy membership functions contained within the knowledge base; and generate the time-varying output signal by performing fuzzy inference processing on the fuzzified data, the fuzzy inference being performed in accordance with the fuzzy inference rules stored in the knowledge base; wherein step (a) includes storing at least two alternative definitions of the membership functions and inference rules, and step (c) includes making a selection between the alternative definitions so as to perform the inference processing using different definitions at different times; and the processing apparatus is arranged to optimize its fuzzy rule set automatically during operation, between fuzzification of the input signals and completion of the fuzzy inference. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
Specification