The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 23, 1992
James Matthews Kasson, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Sigfredo Ismael Nin, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Wilfred Edmund Plouffe, Jr, San Jose, CA (US);
Duaine Wright Pryor, Jr, Berkeley, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The invention provides approximation of the value of a function of three variables. The invention embraces three processes: function domain packing, polyhedron extraction, and volumetric interpolation. The processes are applied to a mathematical function to calculate an approximation for the function range output value at a point which has been arbitrarily selected from the input domain of the function. Function domain packing utilizes two interlocked domain subdivisions. A first subdivision and a second subdivision each divide the domain space into rectangular solids. Each subdivision is accomplished by means of a plurality of planes of constant value corresponding to each of the input dimensions. After a function domain has been so subdivided, a tetrahedral volume is extracted from the fraction domain space. This tetrahedral volume is defined by two points from the first subdivision and two points from the second subdivision. The third process of the invention is a function approximation method using volumetric interpolation. If the fraction domain is subdivided according to the present invention, a continuous approximation of function range output values will result. The volumetric interpolation process commences by subdividing the extracted tetrahedron into four sub-tetrahedra. The subdivision is implemented by drawing lines from each of the vertices of the extracted tetrahedron to the target evaluation point to form four sub-tetrahedra.