Serial Bit Stream Regular Expression Engine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing test and measurement instruments face complexity in processing serial bit streams using regular expressions, as direct implementation in machine language is tedious and error-prone, and higher-order programming languages lack support for all machine language instructions, making it difficult to efficiently analyze and manipulate serial bit streams.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a regular expression engine within test and measurement instruments that can process serial bit streams, allowing for the application of regular expressions with alignment and state information, enabling efficient pattern matching, filtering, and data extraction by converting serial bit streams into a format that can be processed using regular expressions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If regular expressions are implemented directly in machine language for processing serial bit streams, then processing capability is achieved, but implementation complexity and error-proneness increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer between machine language and regular expression processing. A specialized regular expression engine is implemented that provides a higher-level abstraction for pattern matching on serial bit streams, eliminating the need for users to write complex machine language code while maintaining full processing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of direct machine language programming with an automated regular expression processing system. The engine automatically compiles and executes regular expressions against serial bit streams, substituting manual programming efforts with an intelligent processing mechanism.
2Ease of operation
If higher-order programming languages are used for regular expression processing, then ease of implementation improves, but support for all machine language instructions is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal regular expression engine that combines the ease of higher-order programming with the versatility of machine language support. The engine can process any serial bit stream pattern while providing a user-friendly regular expression interface, achieving both simplicity and comprehensive functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of programming abstraction level by introducing regular expressions as an intermediate representation. This allows users to work at a higher abstraction level for ease of use while the engine handles the low-level details for maintaining full instruction support and processing capability.
3Measurement precision
If complete regular expression descriptions are used for serial bit stream processing, then processing accuracy improves, but description complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex task of serial bit stream analysis into manageable regular expression patterns. Users can define specific patterns for different protocol elements, making the description more manageable while maintaining precise matching capability through the structured regular expression syntax.
Data Source
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AI summary
A test and measurement instrument includes a user interface (1020) and a controller (1005). The controller is configured to receive a serial bit stream and apply a logic (1010) to the serial bit stream to identify states within the serial bit stream. The result of applying the logic to the serial bit stream is a combined state/bit stream. A regular expression can be applied (1015) to the combined state/bit stream: the regular expression can include state information (1025). The controller is also configured to present output data through the user interface in response to the application of the regular expression to the combined state/bit stream.