System, method and apparatus for pattern recognition with application to symbol recognition and regeneration for a caligraphic display

Abstract

The invention provides a technique for pattern recognition that employs a state machine that incorporates a sequence of table-look-up operations. A sequence of input parameters, which could be derived according to some application-specific algorithm, is used to generate a corresponding sequence of memory addresses that is used for the table-look-up operations. The memory tables are organized in a hierarchical, or tree-like, structure that corresponds to the input sequence. The table data is designed for the recognition of a specific set, or library, of input patterns. A given input sequence traces an input-specific path through the memory tables until one of the patterns in the library is recognized or until it is determined that the input sequence is inconsistent with any of the patterns in the library. For each pattern in the library, the table data is designed to accommodate the variations in the input values that are specific to the application (e.g., variations due to noise and/or tolerances). The input sequence is compared simultaneously to all of the patterns in the library, rather than being compared sequentially to only a single pattern at a time.