Patent ID: 6799128
Filing Date: 2004-09-28
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
A measurement system comprising:data storage logic having data values stored therein that represent a sampled electrical signal under analysis (SUA), at least a portion of the stored data values corresponding to a main data record; and processing logic configured to generate at least a first reduced data record from the main data record and to process said at least a first reduced data record to locate an edge in said at least a first reduced data record, said at least a first reduced data record being a first set of data values of the main data record, the edge corresponding to a transition in the electrical signal, and wherein the processing logic is also configured to process a second set of data values from the main data record that are associated with the edge in order to analyze the edge, the second set of data values including one or more data values of the main data record that are not included in the first set of data values, the quantity of the second set of data values being greater than the quantity of the first set of data values; wherein the processing logic is further configured to generate at least a second reduced data record from the main data record and to process the second reduced data record to locate data values in the second reduced data record that correspond to said edge, and wherein a ratio of the total number of data values of the main data record to the total number of data values of the first reduced data record is greater than a ratio of the total number of data values of the main data record to the total number of data values of the second reduced data record, and wherein the first and second reduced data records are generated and processed to locate an edge before the main data record is processed to evaluate the edge; wherein the second reduced data record is processed by grouping data values of the main data record into groups of data values, each group associated with the second reduced data record having a minimum data value and a maximum data value, and wherein the processing logic determines whether an edge has been located by comparing the maximum and minimum data values of a particular group associated with the second reduced data record with one or more threshold values, and wherein the second reduced data record comprises more data values than the first reduced data record, and wherein the first and second data records are processed before the main data record is processed.