Combining estimates using fuzzy sets
First Claim
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1. A distributed sensor system for estimating a value of a physical parameter, comprising:
- a plurality of sensors for detecting a physical process and quantifying said physical process as a parameter;
a plurality of sensor processors, each of said sensor processors being associated with one of said sensors, respectively, wherein each of said sensor processors is programmed to calculate an estimate and a variance for each observation of said sensors;
a central unit in communication with said sensor processors, wherein said central unit is programmed to convert said estimate from each of said sensor processors in accordance with fuzzy logic and a membership function from a plurality of membership functions and combining said plurality of membership functions and determining a minimum area under a curve corresponding to said combined membership functions, to determine a final estimate; and
a communications link from each of said sensor processors to said central unit.
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Abstract
A system for obtaining a estimate of a physical parameter. The system is a multiple point system, in that estimates are obtained from a number of distributed sensors at a single observation time, or alternatively, from a single sensor at a number of observation times. Each sensor point is associated with a processor that calculates an estimate pair, consisting of an estimate of the parameter and a variance. Each estimate pair is used to construct a membership function. The membership functions are combined, and the combined function is optimized to determine a final estimate.
68 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A distributed sensor system for estimating a value of a physical parameter, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors for detecting a physical process and quantifying said physical process as a parameter; a plurality of sensor processors, each of said sensor processors being associated with one of said sensors, respectively, wherein each of said sensor processors is programmed to calculate an estimate and a variance for each observation of said sensors; a central unit in communication with said sensor processors, wherein said central unit is programmed to convert said estimate from each of said sensor processors in accordance with fuzzy logic and a membership function from a plurality of membership functions and combining said plurality of membership functions and determining a minimum area under a curve corresponding to said combined membership functions, to determine a final estimate; and a communications link from each of said sensor processors to said central unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A single-sensor system for estimating a value of a physical parameter, comprising:
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a sensor for detecting observation values at a predetermined number of observation times; a first processor associated with said sensor, wherein said first processor calculates an estimate and a variance for each observation corresponding to said observation values; and a second processor associated with said sensor, wherein said second processor is programmed to convert each estimate corresponding to said sensor in accordance with fuzzy logic and a membership function from a plurality of membership functions and to combine said plurality of membership functions to determine a minimum area under a curve corresponding to said combined membership functions to determine a final estimate. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A distributed sensor system for estimating a value of a physical parameter, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors for detecting a physical process and quantifying said physical process as a parameter; a plurality of sensor processors, each of said sensor processors being associated with one of said sensors, respectively, wherein each of said sensor processors is programmed to parallel process and to calculate an estimate and a variance for each observation of said sensors; a central unit in communication with said sensor processors, wherein said central unit is programmed to convert each estimate from each of said sensor processors by using fuzzy logic and a membership function from a plurality of membership functions and to combine said membership functions to determine a minimum area under a curve corresponding to said combined membership function a final estimate; and a communications link from each of said sensor processors to said central unit.
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Specification