Efficient State Machines for Real-Time Dataflow Programming

An efficient state-machine-based pattern matching technique processes tokens in an input queue and identifies patterns in the sequence of tokens that match one or more predetermined input patterns without backtracking. Tokens can include data or no data and a time component. The tokens can be a stream of data generated by a sensor, which transforms a physical property into a digital quantity. The pattern matching technique processes the input queue in a single direction, and does not examine any previously examined token. In an implementation, specific patterns to be matched are specified using a state machine, where the state machine is specified in a state table and operates using a state stack.