State Diagram Generation Using Summary States
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing state machine modeling technologies face challenges in generating comprehensible state diagrams from state transition tables, as complex models can lead to semantically correct but difficult-to-understand representations, especially for humans.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of additional syntactical elements in state diagrams that do not alter the semantic of the state machine model, allowing for the generation of diagrams from state tables or other representations while preserving the semantics, making the model more comprehensible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If state diagrams are generated from complex state transition tables, then the model representation is semantically correct, but the diagram becomes difficult to understand
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments complex state transition tables by introducing intermediate summary states that group multiple source or destination states. This segmentation reduces the number of direct transitions displayed in the diagram, making complex models more comprehensible while preserving semantic correctness through maintained correspondence between table entries and diagram elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces summary states as intermediary elements between source and destination states. These intermediaries act as mediators that consolidate multiple transitions, reducing diagram complexity while maintaining semantic accuracy through proper mapping between the summary states and the underlying state transition table entries.
2Ease of operation
If additional syntactical elements are added to state diagrams, then human understanding is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified copies of the state transition information through summary states that replicate the essential transition behavior without displaying all underlying details. This copying approach improves readability by presenting a condensed view while the full semantic information remains available in the source state transition table.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing device may include a memory to store data that describes a state machine model that includes destination states and source states. The source states may be associated with conditions upon which the state machine model is to transition from a corresponding source state to one of the destination states. The device may also include a processor configured to generate data to describe a state diagram from the data that describes the state machine model. The state diagram may include the graphical symbols and lines. Each of the graphical symbols may represent one of the source states or one of the destination states. The lines may represent transitions and include one or more vertical lines to represent transitions to one of the destination states from more than one of the source states. The graphical symbol may represent the one of the destination states is not adjacent to the graphical symbols to represent the more than one of the source states. The processor may arrange graphical symbols in a first row, arrange lines, and arrange vertical lines in a second row that does not overlap with the first row.