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(2005)
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INTRODUCTION
From optics to distillation to financial derivatives trading to
navigation, the applications of model-based predictive control
seem practically endless. Likewise, mathematical techniques
vary from Model Algorithmic Control to Dynamic Matrix Control to Inferential Control to Internal Model Control. Diverse
applications or functions, and techniques or forms, make modelbased predictive control popular in the patent literature.
Patent Basics
For a patent to be granted, one has to tell all, or as put forth
by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations:
(a) The [Patent] specification must include a written
description of the invention or discovery and of the manner and process of making and using the same, and is
required to be in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms
as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to
which the invention or discovery appertains, or with which
it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same.
(b) The specification must set forth the precise invention for which a patent is solicited, in such manner as to
distinguish it from other inventions and from what is old.
It must describe completely a specific embodiment of the
process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or
214
2006 by Bla Liptk
215
216
Control Theory
Patent Contents
Besides the basic types of information noted above, patents
contain a wealth of useful information for a researcher. At
the beginning of U.S. patents in full text form, one first sees
an abstract. This is followed by the bibliographic information.
Next come links to patents cited by the inventor as prior art.
Both patents that are useful to the present invention and those
that will be improved upon by it are cited. Often what follows
is a list of references to other, nonpatent resources that either
aid in the understanding of the current patent, are to be
incorporated by reference, or further describe the prior art to
be improved upon.
Following the bibliographical and claims information
usually comes a brief summary followed by a description of
the prior art. Prior art descriptions often contain references
to previous patents and the like, making it easy for one to
quickly grasp an understanding of the field of invention and
to understand what is to be improved upon. Next, the inventor
will typically give a brief description of how the prior art is
to be improved upon followed by a description of any drawings accompanying the patent. What then follows is a detailed
description of the invention, its preferred embodiments, and
any examples. Examples often include sample data and even
source code in order to facilitate duplication of the work by
anyone skilled in the art.
GUIDE
1. Abstracts, bibliographic data and full text:
EPO, France, Germany, Switzerland, United
Kingdom, United States, and WIPO
2. Abstracts and bibliographic data:
China and Japan
3. Bibliographic data only:
Argentina, ARIPO, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus,
Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Egypt, Ellas, Eurasian Patent Office, Finland,
GDR, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy,
Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malawi, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia,
The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, OAPI,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia,
Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Soviet Union,
Spain, Turkey, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Zambia,
Zimbabwe
Most online databases are accessible via an epacenet.com
link that is a combination of the countrys two-letter abbreviation and espacenet.com. Whenever a county also maintains its own freely searchable database, the link for that
database is given. In the case of Germany, the German database
itself is linked to other databasesmuch like espacenetbut
in German.
The first class involves predictors based on rigorous mathematical models of specific processes.
Generic controllers that can be used on any process form
the other major class of MBPC patents. Early implementations focused on making controllers adaptive. Over time
and with the decrease in memory costs, multivariable predictive controllers gained in importance. One subclass of such
controllers is known as extended horizon predictive and predictive adaptive controllers. This subclass is further divided
according to the method used to supply the extra inputs
that extend beyond the process horizon or delay time.
These controllers include the Extended Horizon Adaptive
Controller (EHC), the Receding Horizon Adaptive Controller
(RHC), the Control Advance Moving Average Controller
(CAMAC), the Extended Prediction Self-Adaptive Controller (EPSAC), the Generalized Predictive Controller (GPC),
the Model Predictive Heuristic Controller (MPHC), and the
Dynamic Matrix Controller (DMC).
Neural net-based predictors, often called model-free predictors because very little understanding of the process is
required, are also popular members of this class. Monte Carlo
217
TIC-2001, SP
TIC-2001, PV
LC
TC
8
Top
product
TIC-2001, OP
FC
7
TIC-2002, SP
TIC-2002, PV TC
FIC-2004, SP
FIC-2004, PV
FIC-2004, OP
TIC-2002, OP
5
FI-2005, PV
Mid
product
FI
Feed
6
Fuel
Gas
LC
LIC-2007, SP
LIC-2007, PV
11
AI-2022, PV
AI
LIC-2007, OP
Btm
product
FIG. 2.14a
The Dynamic Matrix Control (DMC) form of Model-Based Predictive Control (MBPC), provides step-by-step guidance through an actual
distillation unit example with actual input and output data.
218
Control Theory
Functions
As mentioned above, the applications for model-based control
are practically limitless. As one would suspect, over time the
range of applications has grown exponentially. While we tend
to equate model-based predictive control with advanced digital
control systems, inventors were applying analog systems well
before the dawn of the digital age. The prime advantage that
digital computing holds over analog systems is not that it is
somehow easier for the inventor to perfect. Rather, it has more
to do with the way in which computers facilitate dissemination
of the art to those who actually apply it.
Auto-piloting aircraft were an early impetus for the art,
and automation of advanced military craft remains a significant
driving force. Recently, interest in automotive applications has
grown. The art is actually applied in order to facilitate its
application via computers. The literature on the use of MBPC
in disk-drive tracking is extensive, for example. That the art
itself is useful in bettering itself is rather unique.
Patents that are specific in form usually target a single
process. However, those intended for generic use will often
provide details, references, and examples of their use in specific
processes. What follows is a guide to patents that are either
specifically intended for a given field or those that cite a given
field as an example.
Aircraft Aircraft experience large variations in the gains
and time constants of the external disturbances they encounter, making them strong candidates for the application of
model-based control. As time is compressed more and more
Model predictive
controller
250
Load
error
Turbine inlet
steam temp.
100
200
Weighted
operational
constraints
Boiler
controller
170
Steam
plant
180
Valve
actuator
Fuzzy
230
logic
circuit
Selected electricalload proles
Generator power signal
Load demand
prediction circuit
210
Operator interface
206
FIG. 2.14b
Patent for MBPC design used in peak-shedding applications to predict loads based on extended load profiles.
Generator
power
219
TABLE 2.14c
Steam Utility Patents and Their Areas of Application
Steam Power Patents
Patent No.
Title
Year
Application
Approach
3,758,762
9/11/1973
STEAM TURBINE
MODEL
3,939,328
2/17/1976
TURBINE
SELF ADAPTIVE
4,027,145
5/31/1977
COGENERATION
ROM
4,110,825
8/29/1978
COGENERATION
ROM
4,258,424
System and method for operating a steam turbine and an electric power
generating plant
3/24/1981
STEAM TURBINE
ROM
4,297,848
11/3/1981
STEAM TURBINE
ROM
4,403,293
9/6/1983
COGENRATION
LP
4,628,462
12/9/1986
COGENRATION
MULTIPLANE
4,630,189
12/16/1986
POWER PLANT
AR WHITENESS
4,768,143
8/30/1988
WATER HEATER
LEAST SQUARES
4,802,100
1/31/1989
COGENRATION
ROM
4,805,114
2/14/1989
COGENRATION
ROM
4,922,412
5/1/1990
WATER HEATER
LEAST SQUARES
4,969,408
11/13/1990
COAL FURNACE
ROM
5,040,725
8/20/1991
WATER HEATING
ADAPTIVE
5,159,562
10/27/1992
BOILER
LP
5,268,835
12/7/1993
STEAM GEN
ROM
5,305,230
4/19/1994
STEAM TURBINE
NEURAL NET
5,311,421
5/10/1994
STEAM TURBINE
NEURAL NET
5,347,466
9/13/1994
STEAM TURBINE
ROM
5,442,544
8/15/1995
ELECTRIC UTILITY
ROC
5,517,424
Steam turbine fuzzy logic cyclic control method and apparatus therefore
5/14/1996
STEAM TURBINE
FUZZY LOGIC
5,619,433
4/8/1997
POWER PLANT
RELAP5/MOD3
5,696,696
12/9/1997
BOILER CHEMS
MACC
5,923,571
7/13/1999
BOILER CHEMS
ROM
220
Control Theory
TABLE 2.14d
Patents Related to Distillation and Their Applications
Distillation-Related Patents
Patent No.
Title
Date
3,976,179
8/24/1976
DEPROPANIZER
RIED VP MODEL
4,030,986
6/21/1977
DISTILLATION
4,070,172
1/24/1978
DEMETHANIZER
ROM
4,252,614
2/24/1981
MULTI-FEED
ROM
4,230,534
10/28/1980
DISTILLATION
ROM
4,358,822
11/9/1982
DISTILLATION
DMC
4,367,121
1/4/1983
DISTILLATION
4,526,657
7/2/1985
DISTILLATION
ROM
4,560,442
12/24/1985
DISTILLATION
4,889,600
12/26/1989
DISTILLATION
REID VP MODEL
5,132,918
7/21/1992
DISTILLATION
ROM
5,260,865
11/9/1993
DISTILLATION
ROM
5,343,407
8/30/1994
DISTILLATION
5,396,416
3/7/1995
GAS FRACTIONATION
5,477,449
12/19/1995
DISTILLATION
DMC VARIANT
5,522,224
6/4/1996
AIR SPEARATION
ROM
Application
Approach
221
Start
Brake
applied?
No
Determine vehicle
mass
Determine road
load
Yes
Update road load with
aerodynamic drag changes
Determine grade
Make fuzzy
logic decision
Determine actual
braking load
Decision
to downshift ?
Determine elevation
change
Braking load
< max tractive
eorts?
Signal shift
Determine other criteria
End
FIG. 2.14e
Patent describing a control strategy for braking.
something that performs the same task in the same way, over
and over again. The patent literature alone would beg to differ
as it reflects a movement to make robots more adaptive and
autonomous.
Today, hybrid robotic control incorporates adaptive force
and position controllers based on highly rigorous models.
222
Control Theory
Financial engineering was born in 1973 when a mathematician, Fischer Black, and an economist, Myron Scholes,
devised one of the first mathematically accepted approaches
for pricing options that can only be exercised at their expiration date (European options). Today there are well over
a thousand systems trading applications on the market that
can be used by anyone to control portfolios.
According to U.S. Patent 6,546,375: What has become
known as the BlackScholes option formula was described
first in The pricing of options and corporate liabilities, Journal of Political Economy 81 (1973). The BlackScholes option
formula is presently of widespread use in financial markets all
over the world. The price of such an option can be found by
solving the BlackScholes equation with the initial condition
at expiration (i.e., the payoff of the option). The BlackScholes
equation is a reverse diffusion equation with parameters determined by the statistical characteristics of involved stocks and
currencies such as risk-free interest rate, holding cost or
expected dividends, and volatility.
Determining the forward pricing of American options,
which can be exercised before expiration, is difficult
because it leads to an infinite-dimensional free boundary
problem that cannot be solved explicitly nor finitely. In
order to approximate a solution, U.S. Patent 6,546,375
employs a discretized partial differential linear complementary problem (PDLCP)-based system. An optimization problem in the form of a mathematical program with
equilibrium constraints (MPEC) is also used to derive
implied volatilities of the assets underlying the subject
derivatives.
Other patents integrate the MBPC side of the overall
process with the requisite feedback information systems,
much as a DCS workstation works with an operator and a
process. Orders can be placed, real-time data can be analyzed, margins can be calculated, and buy and sell signals
can be generated automatically via ones Internet-ready
24 , 25
PC.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
U.S. Patent 4,694,390, Microprocessor-Based Control and Diagnostic System for Motor-Operated Valves.
U.S. Patent 4,437,977, Control of a Catalytic Cracking Unit.
U.S. Patent 6,595,294, Method and Device for Gas-Lifted Wells.
U.S. Patent 5,301,102, Multivariable Control of a Kamyr Digester.
U.S. Patent 6,328,851, Method and Equipment for Controlling Properties of Paper.
U.S. Patent 4,560,442, Fractional Distillation Process Control.
U.S. Patent 5,522,224, Model Predictive Control Method for an AirSeparation System.
U.S. Patent 4,621,332, Method and Apparatus for Controlling a
Robot Utilizing Force, Position, Velocity, Spring Constant, Mass
Coefficient, and Viscosity Coefficient.
U.S. Patent 4,725,942, Controller for Multi-Degree of Freedom Nonlinear Mechanical System.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
223