US 7,069,499 B1 · Spreadsheet having a clocked delay line object, for processing a continuous data stream

Abstract

An improved electronic spreadsheet is provided for applications that require the processing of continuous data streams over a time-based data interval of size greater than one. The improved spreadsheet supports the creation of expressions involving clocked delay line objects instantiated within spreadsheet cells. The delay line object includes data storage and a member function that implements a shift register. Data stream input functions supply the clocking signals that trigger the execution of the shift register function of the delay line object. Spreadsheet functions are provided that support random access of elements and other analysis over the buffered data interval The forgoing improvements extend the effective range of spreadsheet programming to include a wider range of applications than was previously possible, including signal processing, machine vision, and time evolution studies.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A computer-readable medium having an electronic spreadsheet for processing a continuous data stream for operation on a computer, the electronic spreadsheet having a plurality of cells, the improvement comprising:

a clocked delay line object, the clocked delay line object being instantiated as a software object and assigned to a cell of the spreadsheet, the clocked delay line object comprising a data buffer, and a method for clocking data through the buffer, the data buffer configured as a delay line, a pipeline, a FIFO, or a random access memory;
an external data input function adapted to provide a clock signal to the clocked delay line object;
and
a spreadsheet function adapted to provide random access to data stored in the clocked delay line object.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Spreadsheet having a clocked delay line object, for processing a continuous data stream

Life of this patent

Spreadsheet having a clocked delay line object, for processing a continuous data stream

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims7