Method and Apparatus for Determining a Unique System Condition

1 . A method of determining a unique condition in a system comprising the steps of:

defining a set of system variables and a sample time, the variable having a first and second state;

operating the system for a period longer than one cycle;

sampling data generated by the system variables during the system operation;

creating a first data array based on the system variables and time;

analyzing the first data array for rising and felling edges of the variables;

for at least one of the variables, at each rising edge and each falling edge saving a condition of each the variables at the time of the rising and falling edges in condition sets;

for each rising edge comparing the condition sets to each other;

deleting the condition sets which are the same;

for each falling edge comparing the condition sets to each other;

deleting the condition sets which are the same; and

selecting one of any remaining condition sets to determine the unique system condition.

2 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the step of deleting from the first data array any variable that does not change state during the system operation.

3 . The method as defined in claim 1 , for each of the variables, at each rising edge and each falling edge saving the condition of each of the variables in condition sets.

4 . The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the condition sets for each variable form a rising edge array and a falling edge array.

5 . The method as defined in claim 4 , further comprising the steps of setting a time tolerance and upon detection of a rising or falling edge of a variable, analyzing other variables to determine if there is a change in state within the time tolerance.

6 . The method as defined in claim 5 , wherein in response to the analyzing the other variables if there is a change in state of a variable within the time tolerance, assigning that variable as being in either the first or second state in the rising and falling edge array.

7 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the step of creating a conditional statement based on the selected remaining unique conditional set.

8 . The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the variables generate signals providing digital data, and the first array is populated with digital values.

9 . The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the arrays are processed on a spreadsheet software program.

10 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the step of analyzing the rising and falling edge data arrays, and eliminating variables which remain constant.

11 . The method as defined in claim 10 , wherein selecting the remaining unique condition sets further comprising the step of determining the unique condition set having the fewest variables and selecting that unique condition set.

12 . A method of determining a unique condition in a cyclic system comprising the steps of:

defining a set of system variables and a sample time, the variables varying between a first and second state;

operating the system for more than one cycle;

creating a data array based on system variables and time;

analyzing the data array for changes in the variables;

generating arrays responsive to the changes in the variables; and

analyzing the arrays to determine a unique set of variable conditions.

13 . The method as defined in claim 12 wherein for at least one of the variables, for each change in state saving the condition of each of the variables in condition sets.

14 . The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising the step of generating a conditional statement based on a determined unique set of variable conditions.

15 . An apparatus for determining a unique condition in a cyclic system comprising:

a data acquisition device operatively connected to a plurality of system elements that form system variables;

a data storage device for storing data collected by the data acquisition device;

a processor operatively connected to the data storage device, the processor creating a first data array responsive to the system variables and time, and analyzing the first data array for changes in the system variables, the processor generating a plurality of second data arrays responsive to the changes in the variables and analyzing the plurality of second data arrays to determine a unique set or sets of variable conditions.

16 . The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the processor determines one unique set of variable conditions and generates a conditional statement responsive to the unique set of variable conditions.

17 . The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , further including an input device operatively coupled to the processor.

18 . The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , further including a display device operatively coupled to the processor.

19 . The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the processor utilizes a spreadsheet soft ware program.

20 . The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the processor analyzes the first data array for rising and falling edges of the variables, and for at least one of the variables, for each rising edge the processor saves a condition of all the variables at the time of the rising edge in a condition set, for each falling edge the processor saves a condition of each of all the variables at the time of the falling edge in a condition set.

21 . The apparatus as defined in claim 20 , wherein the processor for each rising edge compares the condition sets to each other and deletes the condition sets which are the same; and the processor for each failing edge compares the condition sets to each other and deletes the condition sets which are the same; and the processor selects one of the remaining rising and falling edge unique condition sets to determine the unique system condition.

22 . The apparatus as defined in claim 20 , wherein the processor wherein the processor analyzes the first data array for rising and falling edges of the variables, and each of the variables.

23 . The apparatus as defined in claim 20 , wherein the processor in response to a predetermined time tolerance assigns a variable as having more than one value.

24 . The apparatus as defined in claim 20 , wherein the rising edge condition sets constitute one of the plurality of second data arrays and the falling edge condition sets constitute another one of the plurality of second data arrays.