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US 4,734,862 AGranted
Conflict monitor
OwnerEdward Marcus, Franklyn M. Rybakinventors
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OwnerEdward Marcus, Franklyn M. Rybakinventors
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method are disclosed which find particular utility as a component of a traffic control system known as a conflict monitor. The apparatus includes a number of solid state switches which are activated to scan inputs from traffic control signals. The inputs are sequentially applied to a A-D converter which samples the voltage and applies it to a microprocessor which is programmed to determine the voltage and analyze the signals for conflicts, or other errors. The input lines are also connected to terminals of a program board whereby the microprocessor can instruct a switch to ground the common pin on the program board to allow program board inputs to be applied to the microprocessor for indicating permissible conflicts. A method includes a technique for determining the voltage of an input analog signal by scanning a plurality of input signals and sampling them in accordance with a relationship which provides minimum error. A display may be operated in one of two modes. In the first mode, a display indicates the signals involved in a conflict, or other error determination. In a second mode, the display may be sequentially stepped through each signal to determine its particular state at the time of a conflict.
Apparatus for processing a first plurality of condition-indicating signals comprising a plurality of first scanning means, each of said first scanning means having input means for receiving a second plurality of said condition-indicating signals and producing a first output signal representative thereof said second plurality being less than said first plurality, a second scanning means receiving each output signal from said plurality of first scanning means as an input signal and producing a second output signal, and control means for producing address signals for causing said second scanning means to pass signals from a selected one of said plurality of first scanning means while also causing said selected one to pass said second plurality of condition-indicating signals sequentially to said second scanning means, wherein said condition-indicating signals represent voltages applied to traffic-control lights and said control means comprises processor means for determining whether selected ones of said condition-indicating signals are at a predetermined level and for producing a signal indicative thereof.
A method for determining the voltage of an analog signal comprising the steps of supplying said signal to an input terminal of an element having an input terminal, an output terminal, and a control terminal, applying a control signal to said control terminal to cause said signal to be applied to said output terminal during a predetermined time period, said sampling said signal with voltage-determining means during an interval shorter than said time period, wherein said voltage-determining means includes an analog-to-digital converter, and further comprising the step of determining the voltage of said signal by supplying the digital word produced by said analog-to-digital converter to a processor means and using said digital word as an address in a stored table to select a stored value representative of the square of a voltage corresponding to said address, wherein said sampling is done at a frequency not equal to the frequency of said analog signal and wherein the step of determining the voltage comprises the step of summing a plurality of the selected stored values representative of the voltage, wherein said plurality is determined in accordance with the relationship:
A method for determining the voltage of an analog signal comprising the steps of supplying said signal to an input terminal of an element having an input terminal, an output terminal, and a control terminal, applying a control signal to said control terminal to cause said signal to be applied to said output terminal during a predetermined time period, and sampling said signal with voltage-determining means during an interval shorter than said time period, wherein said voltage-determining means includes an analog-to-digital converter, and further comprising the step of determining the voltage of said signal by supplying the digital word produced by said analog-to-digital converter to a processor means and using said digital word as an address in a stored table to select a stored value representative of the square of a voltage corresponding to said address, wherein said sampling is done at a frequency not equal to the frequency of said analog signal, and wherein the step of determing the voltage comprises the step of summing a plurality of the selected stored values to determine a root-means-square voltage.
A method for programming a traffic conflict monitor to identify permissible conflicts between channels comprising the steps of providing a plurality of input terminals connected to corresponding terminals on a program-board said program board having means to connect selected said program board terminals to designate permissible conflicts, providing a ground terminal connected to a common terminal on said program board, connecting a ground means to establish said common terminal at a predetermined voltage, determining the voltages at said plurality of input terminals and supplying the voltages thus obtained to a processor means, said processor means using the determined voltages to determine which of said conflicts are not permissible when said processor is used in a conflict determining mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.