Application No. 08/176,867
The invention pertains to a method and apparatus for
determining a Hamming distance between two multi-bit digital
words. Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. A device for determining a Hamming distance between
two multi-bit digital words, comprising:
circuitry for determining nonmatching bit positions of
the two multi-bit digital words;
circuitry for generating a current signal for each
nonmatching bit position, said current signal having a selected
fixed current level, and a summed current signal from said
generated current signals, said summed current signal having a
current level representing the sum of said current signals;
circuitry for successively comparing said summed current
signal with a plurality of reference current signals, said
reference current signals being selected fixed current levels; and
circuitry for converting results of said comparing
circuitry into a digital representation of the Hamming distance
between the two multi-bit digital words.
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence
of obviousness are:
Clapper 2,885,149 May 05, 1959
Conway 3,656,109 Apr. 11, 1972
Basehore et al. (Basehore) 5,218,562 Jun. 08, 1993
Selviah et al. (Selviah), “Extension of the Hamming Neural Network
to a Multilayer Architecture for Optical Implementation”, IEEE,
1989, pages 280-283.
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