PATTERN MATCHING SYSTEM USING DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

A pattern matching system and method in which feature vectors of an input pattern to be identified are compared with a plurality of stored reference patterns in order to identify the input pattern. A number L of feature vectors from the input pattern and a feature vector from one of the reference patterns are read into a distance computation unit, under control of a pattern matching control unit. Inter-vector distances are calculated and passed to an asymptotic equation computation unit, which calculates an overall dissimilarity vector for each reference pattern. Because L feature vectors from the input pattern are read into the distance computation unit at a time, memory and reference pattern feature vector transfer requirements are decreased.