Patent ID: 8014972

Claim:
A method for identifying one or more process state changes for a process, the method comprising: receiving an array of data from a data historian comprising data from a process including one or more dependent variables and one or more independent variables; defining a plurality of time slices or bins within the array of data with a predetermined time period using a microprocessor; counting a number of process state changes within each of the plurality of time slices or bins using a predetermined mathematical function and one or more values of one or more dependent variables or one or more values of one or more independent variables within each of the plurality of time slices or bins using a microprocessor and determining a number of sequential occurrences of a desired value of the one or more dependent variables or the one or more independent variables and counting a process state change only if the sequential number is greater or equal to a predetermined number of sequential occurrences; and returning the number of process state changes within each of the plurality of time slices or bins using a microprocessor.