On the role of pattern in recognizer design

Abstract

Recognizer design is well established as an engineering discipline. Pattern is widely appreciated as a common sense idea. However there is a lack of consensus on the technical meaning of pattern in recognizer design. As a step towards a more generally acceptable concept of pattern, we wish to address the role of patterns in this engineering problem. To begin, we develop the literal meanings of pattern. We especially distinguish the uses to which pattern is put and the objects to which pattern is applied. One use of pattern is as a class of objects. The other use is as a description of the order in an object. Objects of interest in the recognition design problem include measurements, class-labels, measurement into class-label mappings and sets of such mappings. The different uses of pattern and the different objects to which pattern applies can be combined to form the various literal meanings of pattern recognition. One of the literal meanings (measurement classification) basically matches its use in reference to traditional recognition machines. However the various literal meanings are quite autonomous and a different interpretation (description of the measurement to class-label mapping) is much more practically consequential.