Patent ID: 7411999
Filing Date: 2008-08-12
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of extracting an eye opening from an eye diagram for a digital signal, the method comprising the steps of: (a) storing an eye diagram of the digital signal in a first data structure having a first dimension indexed by a first collection of consecutive ordinal values each representing a discrete value of time and having a second dimension indexes by a second collection of consecutive ordinal values each representing a voltage, the first data structure containing a NULL indication in locations corresponding to tie and voltage combinations that did not occur for the digital signal and containing a non-NULL indication in other locations; (b) reading from the first data structure at plurality of selected locations to discover at least one NULL indication; (c) separately traversing the first data structure beginning at each NULL indication found in step (b) to discover collections of locations containing the NULL indication that are left-right and top-down adjacent to each other and to such each NULL indications found in step (b); (d) counting the number of NULL indications associated with each separate traverse of step (c); (e) identifying a largest count for step (d); (f) storing non-NULL indications into all locations of a second data structure large enough in each dimension to contain rectangular region for the locations traversed in step (c) whose count of for step (d) was identified as a largest count in step (e); and (g) storing NULL indications into those locations of the second data structure corresponding to the collection of locations discovered in step (c) and for which the count of step (d) was identified as a largest count in step (e).