Measuring device and measuring method with histogram formation

Abstract

Measuring device for storing measured values ​​and associated addresses, with a first memory area (30, 40) and a second memory area (33, 43), wherein the first memory area (30, 40) consists of a first number of memory cells (32, 42) of a first cell size (31, 41), wherein the second memory area (33, 43) consists of a second number of memory cells (35, 45) of a second cell size (34, 44), characterized by that the measuring device has a third memory area (36, 46) from the second number of memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e), that each memory cell (35, 45) of the second memory area (33, 43) is permanently assigned a memory cell (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46), that the memory cells (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46) have different cell sizes (47), and that the control device (53) is designed to store measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (31, 41) together in memory cells (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40) and memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46), which together are sufficiently large for these measured values.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a measuring device and a measuring method, in particular for storing measured values.

[0002] Traditionally, measuring devices record measured values ​​and display them on a display. The display is typically formed by a large number of pixels. Often, multiple measurement curves are displayed overlappingly on the display. Individual pixels are part of multiple measurement curves. In order to display all measurement curves without loss of information, it is necessary to maintain a corresponding memory depth for each individual pixel. This results in very high memory requirements, particularly with high display resolutions and a large number of displayable measurement curves.

[0003] DE 10 2008 053 ​​204 A1 discloses a method for histogram generation using a mixed-compartment memory. By exploiting prior knowledge regarding the probability of occurrence, different memory depths are maintained for fixed addresses. The method presented there is disadvantageous because it only functions by exploiting prior knowledge regarding the probability of occurrence.

[0004] US 7 467 055 B2 discloses a method for setting the operating state of a measuring device and a method for managing the measurement result of a measuring device, a measuring system and a data processing apparatus for a measuring device and storage medium.

[0005] The invention is based on the object of creating a measuring method and a measuring device which enable efficient storage of the measured values ​​without prior knowledge of the measured values.

[0006] The object is achieved according to the invention for the measuring device by the features of independent claim 1 and for the method by the features of independent claim 9. Advantageous further developments are the subject of the dependent claims which refer back to this claim.

[0007] A measuring device according to the invention for storing measured values ​​and associated addresses has a first memory area and a second memory area. The first memory area consists of a first number of memory cells of a first cell size. The second memory area consists of a second number of memory cells of a second cell size. The measuring device further has a third memory area also consisting of the second number of memory cells. Each memory cell of the second memory area is permanently assigned to a memory cell of the third memory area.

[0008] In a method according to the invention for storing measured values ​​and associated addresses, a first memory area consists of a first number of memory cells of a first cell size, and a second memory area consists of a second number of memory cells of a second cell size. A third memory area consists of a second number of memory cells. Measured values ​​that do not exceed the first cell size are stored exclusively in memory cells of the first memory area. Measured values ​​that exceed the first cell size are stored jointly in memory cells of the first memory area and memory cells of the third memory area.

[0009] This allows for very efficient storage of measured values, with very little unused storage space.

[0010] The invention is described below by way of example with reference to the drawing, which illustrates an advantageous embodiment of the invention. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 a first exemplary memory area; Fig. 2 a second exemplary memory area; Fig. 3 a third exemplary memory area; Fig. 4 a fourth exemplary memory area; Fig. 5 shows a first embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention; Fig. 6 shows a memory diagram of a second embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention; Fig. 7 shows a memory diagram of a third embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention; Fig. 8 a first embodiment of the measuring method according to the invention, and Fig. 9 a second embodiment of the measuring method according to the invention.

[0011] First, the Fig. 1 - 4 explains the problem underlying the present invention. Subsequently, Fig. 5 - 7 the structure and operation of the measuring device according to the invention is explained. Finally, Fig. 8 and Fig. Figure 9 shows the functionality of the measuring method according to the invention. Identical elements were sometimes not shown and described repeatedly in similar figures.

[0012] In Fig. Figure 1 shows a first memory area 10 of a measuring device. The memory area 10 has numerous memory cells 12, each with a cell size of 11. Each square shown corresponds to one bit. Each of the memory cells 12 corresponds to an address. The address corresponds, for example, to one pixel in a screen column.

[0013] In Fig. 2 is a first exemplary allocation of the memory area 10 from Fig. 1. In the case shown here, all measured values ​​occur at a single address, i.e., in a single memory cell 13. The remaining memory of memory area 10 remains unused. Only ten bits can be stored in memory cell 13 at a time.

[0014] Fig. 3 shows a second exemplary memory allocation of the memory area 10 from Fig. 1. Here, the measured values ​​to be stored are evenly distributed across all memory cells 12 of the memory area 10. Thus, only the first two bits 14 of all memory cells 12 are occupied. The number of stored measured values ​​corresponds to the number of stored measured values ​​at Fig. 2. Here, too, the remaining memory in memory area 10 is unused. This exemplary method is therefore very flexible, but at the same time very memory-intensive. In particular, it is necessary to maintain a maximum possible memory depth for all addresses.

[0015] In Fig. 4 shows an alternative exemplary memory design. The measured values ​​to be stored are stored in two separate memory areas 20 and 21. The address, e.g., of the pixel at which the measured value occurred, is stored in a first memory area 20. The associated measured values ​​are stored in a second memory area 21. Each memory cell in memory area 20 is permanently assigned to a memory cell in memory area 21. This means that as soon as a measured value with a specific address occurs for the first time, this address is stored in a memory cell in the first memory area 20. The measured value is stored in the associated memory cell in memory area 21.

[0016] Advantageously, only one measured value of one is stored for each occurrence of a measured value at an address. As soon as a second measured value occurs at an address already stored in the first memory area 20, this measured value is written cumulatively to the corresponding memory cell of the second memory area 21. This means that if a measured value is already stored there, the new measured value is added to the original measured value. Advantageously, the corresponding memory cell of the memory area 21 increments by one when the second measured value occurs at the given address.

[0017] This storage method is very efficient when the measured values ​​are concentrated in a few addresses. It is then only necessary to store the addresses in the first memory area 20 and the measured values ​​in the second memory area 21. This results in a very small unused memory area in the memory area 21. However, if the measured values ​​are distributed across a large number of addresses, a very large first memory area 20 is required to store this large number of addresses. At the same time, however, the second memory area 21 is only used to a small extent.

[0018] Fig. Figure 5 shows a first embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention. An analog-to-digital converter 50 is connected to a trigger device 51. The trigger device 51 is in turn connected to a memory device 52. The memory device 52 is connected to a control device 53, a first pixel memory 54, and a second pixel memory 55. The control device 53 is also connected to the first pixel memory 54 and the second pixel memory 55. The pixel memories 54 and 55 are further connected to a graphics processing device 56. This, in turn, is connected to a display device 57.

[0019] An analog measured value is fed to the analog-to-digital converter 50 and converted by it into a digital measured value. A series of such measured values ​​is fed to the trigger device 51, which carries out a triggering. The triggered measured values ​​are fed to the memory device 52, which temporarily stores the measured values. The control device 53 determines in which of the pixel memories 54, 55 the measured values ​​temporarily stored by the memory device 52 are stored. The exact function of the control device 53 and the pixel memories 54, 55 is explained with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. The graphics processing device 56 reads the pixel memories 54, 55 and generates a control signal for the display device 57.

[0020] In Fig. Figure 6 shows a second embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention. It shows several memory areas 30, 33, 36, which are stored in the pixel memories 54, 55 of Fig. 5 are arranged. A first memory area 30 corresponds to the pixel memory 54. A second memory area 33 and a third memory area 36 correspond to the pixel memory 55. The first memory area 30 has a first number of memory cells 32, each having a first cell size 31. The second memory area 33 has a second number of memory cells 35, each having a second cell size 34. The third memory area 36 has a third number of memory cells 38, each having a third cell size 37.

[0021] The first number of memory cells 32 corresponds to the number of possible addresses, e.g., the number of pixels of the display device 57 from Fig. 5. Each of the memory cells 32 has a cell size 31 of only five bits. Incoming measured values ​​are initially stored in the first memory area 30. Each of the memory cells 32 is permanently assigned to an address. In all exemplary embodiments, only one bit is advantageously stored for each measured value. This corresponds to the occurrence of a measured value at the respective address. When measured values ​​occur repeatedly at the addresses, the stored measured value is thus advantageously incremented by one. Thus, only 32 measured values ​​can be stored in the cell size 31 provided here.

[0022] As long as this number is not reached, the data will continue to be stored only in the first memory area 30. However, as soon as a 33rd measured value occurs at a specific address, the control device 53 stores Fig. 5 stores this address in the second memory area 33 in a memory cell that has not yet been used. The additional measured value is stored in the third memory area 36 in the memory cell that corresponds to the address. For this address, the maximum memory depth is thus extended by the cell size 37 of the third memory area 36. This is five bits here. This means that up to 10 bits of measured values ​​can be stored for this address.

[0023] The second memory area 33 and the third memory area 36 have a significantly smaller number of memory cells 35 and 38, respectively, than the first memory area 30. The memory cells 35 and 38 are dynamically allocated. This means that they are not assigned to fixed addresses. Only when the first memory area 30 is insufficient at a fixed address is additional memory in the second memory area 33 and third memory area 36 allocated to this address. This significantly reduces the amount of unused memory. The pixel memories 54 and 55 of Fig. 5 can therefore be significantly smaller than a conventional memory, as used in Fig. 1 - Fig. 3 is shown.

[0024] Fig. Figure 7 shows a third embodiment of the measuring device according to the invention. This illustration corresponds to the illustration in Fig. 6. That is, a first memory area 40 corresponds to the first pixel memory 54 of Fig. 5, while a second memory area 43 and a third memory area 46 correspond to the second pixel memory 55 of Fig. 5. The first memory area 40 has a number of memory cells 42, which correspond to the number of possible addresses, e.g. the number of pixels of the display device 57 from Fig. 5. These memory cells 42 each have a cell size 41 of, for example, five bits. The second memory area 43 and the third memory area 46 have a number of memory cells 45.

[0025] Each memory cell 45 of the second memory area 43 is permanently assigned a memory cell 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e of the third memory area 46. The memory cells 45 of the second memory area 43 have identical cell sizes 44. This cell size 44 corresponds to the memory required to store an address. The memory cells 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, and 48e of the third memory area have different cell sizes 47. For example, the memory cell 48a has a cell size of five bits. The memory cells 48b have a cell size of four bits. The memory cells 48c have a cell size of three bits. The memory cells 48d have a cell size of two bits. The memory cells 48e have a cell size of one bit.

[0026] The basic functionality corresponds to that based on Fig. 6. As soon as the cell size 41 at an address of the first memory area 40 is not sufficient to store another measured value, the control device 53 Fig. 5, one memory cell each from the second memory area 43 and from the third memory area 46. The address is stored in memory cell 45 of the second memory area 43. The assigned memory cell 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e of the third memory area 46 is used together with the memory cell from the first memory area 40 to store the measured values.

[0027] In this case, the control device 53 assigns the smallest possible unoccupied memory cell 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e from the third memory area 46 and the corresponding memory cell from the second memory area 43. This means that if a 33rd measured value is stored here, one of the memory cells 48e and the corresponding memory cell 48d from the second memory area 43 is assigned, provided that one of the memory cells 48e has not yet been assigned an address. If all memory cells 48e are already occupied, one of the memory cells 48d and the corresponding memory cell of the second memory area 43 is assigned.

[0028] If the cell size 41 is insufficient to store all measured values, and thus a memory cell 48e and the associated memory cell from the second memory area 43 are already in use, the control device 53 allocates new memory cells in the second memory area 43 and the third memory area 46. It thus stores the measured value in one of the memory cells 48d while storing the address in the associated memory cell of the memory area 43. The original memory cells are then erased. This procedure further reduces the unused memory. Wider memory cells of the third memory area 46 are only used when necessary.

[0029] In Fig. 8 shows a first embodiment of the measuring method according to the invention. Only the storage process is discussed here. Otherwise, the measuring method corresponds to conventional measuring methods. In a first step 60, a measured value occurs at an address N. In a second step 61, the static memory N associated with the address is incremented by one. In a third step 62, a check is made to determine whether the static memory N has overflowed. If there is no overflow of the static memory N, the program continues with the storage of further measured values. If there is again a measured value at address N, the program continues with the first step 60. However, if there is an overflow of the static memory N, a check is made in a fourth step 63 to determine whether the address N is already stored in the dynamic memory. If this is not the case, the address N is generated in the dynamic memory in a fifth step 64.

[0030] Subsequently, in a sixth step 65, the value stored in the dynamic memory is increased. However, if it is determined in the fourth step 63 that the address N is already stored in the dynamic memory, the program continues directly with the sixth step 65. Subsequently, the program continues with the storage of further measured values. If a measured value occurs again at the address N, the program continues with the first step 60. The value determined based on Fig. The procedure described in section 8 corresponds to the procedure Fig. 6 described device.

[0031] Fig. Figure 9 shows a second embodiment of the measuring method according to the invention. Here, too, only the storage process is discussed. The embodiment shown here largely corresponds to the embodiment of Fig. 8. The steps 70 - 75 shown here largely correspond to steps 60 - 65 from Fig. 8. Only the fifth step 74 differs in that, instead of any dynamic memory, the smallest possible free dynamic memory is allocated. This means that, from the available memory cells of the dynamic memory, the smallest possible free memory cell required to store the current measured value is selected. After the sixth step 75 has been performed, a seventh step 76 checks whether the currently allocated dynamic memory N has overflowed. If this is not the case, the system continues storing further measured values.

[0032] If a measured value is again present at address N, the process continues with the first step 70. However, if there is an overflow of the currently allocated dynamic memory N, the dynamic memory N is assigned to a larger memory cell in an eighth step 77. This means that the value stored in the original memory cell is copied to a larger memory cell. The address is also assigned to the larger memory cell. The original memory cell is then erased. The process continues with the sixth step 75. The method shown here corresponds to the device from Fig. 7.

[0033] The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. Thus, different cell sizes than those specified can be used. A different number of memory cells is also conceivable. All features described above or shown in the figures can be advantageously combined with one another as desired within the scope of the invention.

Claims

[1] Measuring device for storing measured values ​​and associated addresses, with a first memory area (30, 40) and a second memory area (33, 43), wherein the first memory area (30, 40) consists of a first number of memory cells (32, 42) of a first cell size (31, 41), wherein the second memory area (33, 43) consists of a second number of memory cells (35, 45) of a second cell size (34, 44), characterized by , that the measuring device has a third memory area (36, 46) from the second number of memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e), that each memory cell (35, 45) of the second memory area (33, 43) is permanently assigned a memory cell (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46), that the memory cells (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46) have different cell sizes (47), and that the control device (53) is designed to store measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (31, 41) together in memory cells (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40) and memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46), which together are sufficiently large for these measured values. [2] Measuring device according to claim 1, characterized by , that the first number corresponds to the number of possible addresses, and that each memory cell (32, 42) of the first memory area (33, 43) is permanently assigned to an address. [3] Measuring device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by , that the second number is less than the first number, and that the second cell size (34, 44) corresponds to the required memory space for storing an address. [4] Measuring device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by , that the measuring device has a control device (53), that the control device (53) is designed to store measured values ​​measured by the measuring device cumulatively separated according to addresses in the memory areas (30, 33, 36, 40, 43, 46). [5] Measuring device according to claim 4, characterized by that the control device (53) is designed to store the measured values ​​only in the first memory area (30, 40) if the measured value of the respective address does not exceed the first cell size (31, 41). [6] Measuring device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized by , that the control device (53) is designed to store measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (31, 41) together in memory cells (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40) and memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46), and to store associated addresses of these measured values ​​in the corresponding memory cells (35, 45) of the second memory area (33, 43). [7] Measuring device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by that the memory cells (38) of the third memory area (36) have identical cell sizes (37). [8] Measuring device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by , that the control device (53) is designed to store measured values ​​which exceed the cell size (47) of the memory cell (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46) in which they are stored, into a larger memory cell (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46), and to update the address of the associated memory cell (45) of the second memory area (43). [9] Method for storing measured values ​​and associated addresses, wherein a first memory area (30, 40) consists of a first number of memory cells (32, 42) of a first cell size (31, 41), wherein a second memory area (33, 43) consists of a second number of memory cells (35, 45) of a second cell size (34, 44), characterized by , that a third memory area (36, 46) consists of the second number of memory cells (35, 45), that measured values ​​which do not exceed the first cell size (31, 41) are stored exclusively in memory cells (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40), and that measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (31, 41) are stored together in memory cells (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40) and memory cells (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46). [10] Method according to claim 9, characterized by , that addresses associated with measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (31, 41) are stored in memory cells (35, 45) of the second memory area (33, 43), that the first number corresponds to the number of possible addresses, that each memory cell (32, 42) of the first memory area (30, 40) is permanently assigned to an address, and that each memory cell (35, 45) of the second memory area (33, 43) is permanently assigned a memory cell (38, 48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (36, 46). [11] Method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized by , that the second number is less than the first number, and that the second cell size (34, 44) corresponds to the memory required to store an address. [12] Method according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized by that the measured values ​​are stored cumulatively separated by addresses in the memory areas (30, 33, 36, 40, 43, 46). [13] Method according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterized by that the memory cells (38) of the third memory area (36) have identical cell sizes (37). [14] Method according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterized by , that the memory cells (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46) have different cell sizes (47), and that measured values ​​which exceed the first cell size (41) are stored together in memory cells (42) of the first memory area and smallest possible memory cells (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46), which together are sufficiently large for these measured values. [15] Method according to claim 14, characterized by , that measured values ​​which exceed the size of the memory cell (48a, 48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46) in sum with the size of the memory cell (42) of the first memory area (40) in which they are stored are stored in a larger memory cell (48b, 48c, 48d, 48e) of the third memory area (46), and that in this case the address of the associated memory cell (45) of the second memory area (43) is updated.

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