Method and apparatus for automatically detecting patterns in digital point-ordered signals

Claim 2

An automated, computer-implemented method for detecting signal information representing a physical feature of a test piece by detecting a pattern in a signal representing data from inspection of the test piece, comprising the steps of: measuring a physical parameter of the test piece; generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter; decomposing the digital point-ordered signal into three components, based on resolution, comprising a coarse resolution baseline signal, a fine resolution background noise signal, and an intermediate resolution peaks/troughs signal; locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and outputting peaks/troughs information identifying those signal patterns that indicate the presence of physical features of the test piece.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein the test piece is a mechanical object and the measured physical parameter is the acceleration measured at a location on the mechanical object.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1, wherein the test piece is a metallic piece and the measured physical parameter is the impedance produced by electromagnetic probing of the metallic piece.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1, wherein the test piece is a living organism and the measured physical parameter is the electrical activity within the living organism.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, wherein the decomposing step comprises the steps of: generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal; generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal; and generating a peaks/trough signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, wherein the baseline signal comprises coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5, wherein the background noise signal comprises fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal.

Claim 9

The method of claim 5, wherein the peaks/troughs signal comprises intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal.

Claim 10

The method of claim 8, wherein the decomposing step is performed at a first resolution level and the method further comprises the step of: decomposing the peaks/troughs signal constructed at the first resolution level into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal constructed at a second resolution level, the second resolution level being finer than the first resolution level.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 wherein the signal representing data from inspection of the test piece is a non-periodic signal.

Claim 12

An automated, computer-implemented method for detecting a physical feature of a test piece by detecting a pattern in a signal representing data from inspection of the test piece, comprising the steps of: measuring a physical parameter of the test piece; generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter; generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal, the baseline signal comprising a coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal; generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal, the background noise signal comprising fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal; generating a peaks/troughs signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal the peaks/troughs signal comprising intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal; locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the physical feature of the test piece.

Claim 13

An automated, computer-implemented method for detecting a physical feature of a test piece by detecting a pattern in a signal representing data from inspection of the test piece, comprising the steps of: measuring a physical parameter of the test piece; generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter; generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal, the baseline signal comprising a coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal; generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal, the background noise signal comprising fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal; generating a peaks/troughs signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal the peaks/troughs signal comprising intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal; locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the physical feature of the test piece.

Claim 14

In a test system comprising a test piece, means for measuring a physical parameter of the test piece and means for generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter, an apparatus for detecting signal information representing a physical feature of the test piece by detecting a pattern in the signal representative of the measured physical parameter, comprising: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for decomposing the digital point-ordered signal into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal; wherein the decomposing means comprises: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the morphological filtering means, for generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal; means, coupled to the baseline signal generating means, for generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal; and means, coupled to the background noise seal generating means, for generating a peaks/troughs component signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the decomposing means, for locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and means, coupled to the locating means, for outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the presence of physical features of the test piece.

Claim 15

In a test system comprising a test piece, means for measuring a physical parameter of the test piece and means for generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter, an apparatus for detecting signal information representing a physical feature of the test piece by detecting a pattern in the signal representative of the measured physical parameter, comprising: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for decomposing the digital point-ordered signal into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal; wherein the decomposing means comprises: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the morphological filtering means, for generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal; means, coupled to the baseline signal generating means, for generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal; and means, coupled to the background noise seal generating means, for generating a peaks/troughs component signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the decomposing means, for locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and means, coupled to the locating means, for outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the presence of physical features of the test piece.

Claim 16

The test system of claim 12, wherein the test piece is a mechanical object and the measured physical parameter is the acceleration at a location on the mechanical object.

Claim 17

The test system of claim 12, wherein the test piece is a metallic piece and the measured physical parameter is the impedance produced by electromagnetic probing of the metallic piece.

Claim 18

The test system of claim 12, wherein the test piece is a living organism and the measured physical parameter is the electrical activity within the living organism.

Claim 19

The system of claim 12, wherein the baseline signal comprises coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal.

Claim 20

The system of claim 12, wherein the background noise signal comprises fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal.

Claim 21

The system of claim 12, wherein the peaks/troughs signal comprises intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal.

Claim 22

The system of claim 18, wherein the peaks/troughs component signal generating means generates a peaks/troughs component signal at a first resolution level and the system further comprises: means for decomposing the peaks/troughs signal constructed at the first resolution level into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal constructed at a second resolution level, the second resolution level being finer than the first resolution level.

Claim 23

In a test system comprising a test piece, means for measuring a physical parameter of the test piece and means for generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter, an apparatus for detecting a physical feature of the test piece by detecting a pattern in the signal representative of the measured physical parameter, comprising: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the morphological filtering means, for generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal, the baseline signal comprising coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal; means, coupled to the baseline signal generating means, generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal, the background noise signal comprising fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal; means, coupled to the background noise signal generating means, generating a peaks/trough signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal the peaks/troughs signal comprising intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal; means, coupled to the peaks/trough component signal generating means, for locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and means, coupled to the locating means, for outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the physical feature of the test piece.

Claim 24

In a test system comprising a test piece, means for measuring a physical parameter of the test piece and means for generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter, an apparatus for detecting a physical feature of the test piece by detecting a pattern in the signal representative of the measured physical parameter, comprising: means, coupled to the means for generating the digital point-ordered signal, for generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; means, coupled to the morphological filtering means, for generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal, the baseline signal comprising coarse resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the background noise signal and the peaks/troughs signal; means, coupled to the baseline signal generating means, generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal, the background noise signal comprising fine resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the peaks/troughs signal; means, coupled to the background noise signal generating means, generating a peaks/trough signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal the peaks/troughs signal comprising intermediate resolution behavior of the digital point-ordered signal relative to the baseline signal and the background noise signal; means, coupled to the peaks/trough component signal generating means, for locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and means, coupled to the locating means, for outputting peaks/troughs information indicating the physical feature of the test piece.

Claim 25

The system of claim 20, wherein the peaks/troughs component signal generating means generates a peaks/troughs component signal at a first resolution level and the system further comprises: means for decomposing the peaks/troughs signal constructed at the first resolution level into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal constructed at a second resolution level, the second resolution level being finer than the first resolution level.

Claim 26

An automated, computer-implemented method for detecting a physical feature of a test piece by detecting a pattern in a signal representing data from inspection of the test piece, comprising the steps of: measuring a physical parameter of the test piece; generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter; decomposing the digital point-ordered signal into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal; wherein the decomposing step comprises the steps of: generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal; generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal; and generating a peaks/troughs signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal; locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and outputting peaks/troughs information identifying those signal patterns that indicate the presence of physical features of the test piece.

Claim 27

An automated, computer-implemented method for detecting a physical feature of a test piece by detecting a pattern in a signal representing data from inspection of the test piece, comprising the steps of: measuring a physical parameter of the test piece; generating a digital point-ordered signal representative of the measured physical parameter; decomposing the digital point-ordered signal into a baseline signal, a background noise signal, and a peaks/troughs signal; wherein the decomposing step comprises the steps of: generating a morphologically filtered signal from the digital point-ordered signal; generating a baseline signal from the morphologically filtered signal; generating a background noise signal from the baseline signal and the digital point-ordered signal; and generating a peaks/troughs signal from the baseline signal, the background noise signal and the digital point-ordered signal; locating peaks/troughs from the peaks/troughs signal; and outputting peaks/troughs information identifying those signal patterns that indicate the presence of physical features of the test piece.