--- a/python/utils.py	Tue Aug 12 17:47:16 2014 -0400
+++ b/python/utils.py	Wed Aug 13 00:00:08 2014 -0400
@@ -251,6 +251,19 @@
 def crossProduct(l1, l2):
     return l1[0]*l2[1]-l1[1]*l2[0]
 
+def cat_mvgavg(cat_list, halfWidth):
+    ''' Return a list of categories/values smoothed according to a window. 
+        halfWidth is the search radius on either side'''
+    from copy import deepcopy
+    catgories = deepcopy(cat_list)
+    smoothed = catgories
+    for point in range(len(catgories)):
+        lower_bound_check = max(0,point-halfWidth)
+        upper_bound_check = min(len(catgories)-1,point+halfWidth+1)
+        window_values = catgories[lower_bound_check:upper_bound_check]
+        smoothed[point] = max(set(window_values), key=window_values.count)
+    return smoothed
+
 def filterMovingWindow(inputSignal, halfWidth):
     '''Returns an array obtained after the smoothing of the input by a moving average
     The first and last points are copied from the original.'''