 Prefix-suffix sequence recognizer

For a fixed word $w$, store the length of the longest suffix of the received stream that is also a prefix of $w$. On a new input symbol, append it to the represented prefix and select the longest resulting suffix that is a prefix of $w$. The complete-word state signals recognition. Its outgoing transitions retain proper suffix matches, allowing overlapping occurrences rather than automatically restarting from the empty prefix. This is the finite-state form of the prefix information used by the Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm.

For example, recognizing $1101$ needs suffix-prefix states of lengths zero through four. After a complete match followed by one, the last two symbols are $11$, so the next state retains length two. This permits the second match in $1101101$ without clearing the useful suffix.