US 5424942

Summary of U.S. Patent No. 5,424,942 (US5424942A)

Important search caveat (per your instruction not to auto-correct or conflate similar numbers): My searches of CAFC 2026 dockets returned no appeal involving patent 5,424,942. The only CAFC 2026 decision surfaced by the search (IPWatchdog, Feb. 19, 2026) concerns U.S. Patent No. 9,491,542 ("Automatic Sound Pass-Through Method and System for Earphones," ST1 v. Samsung) — a different patent number, reported here only to flag that it is not the target patent. The closest 2026-era proceeding touching 5,424,942 is a PTAB IPR, not a CAFC appeal (details below).

Bibliographic data (confirmed by Google Patents, Justia, and the USPTO-image PDF via Docket Alarm)

Abstract (verbatim, from the patent)

An extended horizon adaptive block predictive controller includes a block control system and an adaptive block prediction system. The subject adaptive block prediction system includes means and procedures for accomplishing a block of k output predictions, consisting of output predictions at each future time step up to the prediction horizon k, for dynamic systems with N outputs, M inputs and model parameter order n. The prediction system is organized for performing the calculation of a k-step ahead predictor in a highly computationally and memory efficient manner. The subject prediction system, in particular, avoids computation of a large number of the predictor parameters associated with the prior art Diophantine equation method, so that memory requirements and computational complexity are significantly reduced. The subject block control system in conjunction with an adaptive block prediction system includes means for accomplishing predictive controls of dynamic systems. It subsumes most, if not all, existing extended horizon predictive controllers. The subject block control system is based on the use of a special computational method. A hardware implementation ... includes a computing means, memory means, and dynamic system input and output signal processing means. The subject invention is primarily devised for real time control of dynamic systems.

Plain-language overview of the independent claims

I have authoritative full text for Claim 1 (from the patent text supplied). For the remaining independent claims (26 and possibly others), the text is only partially visible in the search results, so I flag that uncertainty explicitly.

• Claim 1 (independent — control method): A method of controlling a multivariable dynamic system that is approximated as a linear system with N outputs, M inputs, and model order n. The method: (a) receives system parameters and/or measured outputs y(t); (b) optionally filters the outputs; (c) builds a "block state structure" from the system variables; (d) uses that structure to generate a block of k output predictions (either raw y(t) predictions if no filtering is used, or filtered ψ(t) predictions if filtering is used), covering each future time step up to horizon k; (e) converts those into a block of k filtered z(t) predictions; (f) combines the z(t) predictions with a desired output trajectory to compute block control signals; and (g) applies those control signals to the dynamic system. In short: a predictive controller that predicts a whole block of future outputs using a specially constructed state representation, then computes and applies a block of control inputs.

• Claim 26 (independent — apparatus, text only partially retrieved): Based on the retrieved fragments, this is the apparatus counterpart — an adaptive block predictive controller comprising a block control system and a block predictor system with means for generating the block of filtered output predictions (z) by constructing the block state structure, generating a block of k filtered ψ(t) predictions of dimension N, and then generating the z(t) predictions from them (per dependent claim 27's reference back to claim 26). In short: the hardware/system claim for the controller implementing the Claim 1 method.

• Possible further independent claims (unverified): The Justia fragment shows claim 31 (a method claim reciting filtering the system outputs with a first set of filtering polynomials, then constructing the block state structure from variables including the filtered outputs) and claim 34 (a claim with "generating means" for producing the block of filtered ψ(t) predictions and then z(t) predictions). Claims 32–33 depend on claim 31, and claim 34's preamble is cut off, so I cannot confirm with certainty whether claims 31 and 34 are independent or depend from earlier claims. If you need definitive identification of all independent claims, the complete claim set should be pulled from the USPTO Patent Center record for application 08/104,882.

Litigation / docket status notes

• No CAFC appeal found in 2026 dockets for 5,424,942 — my searches did not surface any Federal Circuit case citing this patent as the patent-in-suit.
• The patent does appear in a live PTAB proceeding as a prior-art exhibit: in IPR2025-00160, ResMed Corp. v. Cleveland Medical Devices, Inc. (challenging U.S. Patent No. 11,786,680), ResMed filed Exhibit 1014 — U.S. Patent No. 5,424,942 to Dong et al. (PTAB, Dec. 6, 2024). The challenged patent in that IPR is not 5,424,942; 5,424,942 is cited as prior art against a CleveMed patent. That IPR was ongoing into 2026 (oral hearing scheduled March 19, 2026; termination motions filed February 2026), but it is a USPTO/PTAB matter, not a CAFC docket.
• Priority/assignment history: Priority date August 10, 1993; assigned to ORBITAL RESEARCH INC. on the filing date; related filings include EP94925182A, AU75200/94A, and PCT/US1994/008805 (published as WO1995004958A1).

If you need the full text of claims 26–34 verified against the USPTO record, I'd recommend pulling the PDF from USPTO Patent Center (application 08/104,882) — the search snippets do not give complete claim text for those claims, and I would not want to characterize them beyond what is shown.