Apparatuses, methods and systems relating to findable golf balls
First Claim
1. A method of processing signals in a golf ball detector having a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising:
- transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals from the transmitter;
receiving received RF signals while the transmitting occurs;
determining a parameter representative of a received signal strength of the received RF signals;
setting a threshold for received signals to indicate golf ball detection, the threshold set based on the parameter.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Golf ball locators and components of such locators and methods of operating such locators and processing signals within such locators. In one aspect of the inventions described herein, an exemplary method of initializing a golf ball locator includes receiving received RF signals while also transmitting signals used to locate balls and determining a parameter representative of received signal strength of the received RF signals and setting a threshold to determine when subsequent received signals are to cause an indication of golf ball detection. In another aspect of this disclosure, the golf ball locator is a handheld unit having a volume of less than about 150 inches cubed and includes a transmitter, a transmit antenna, a receiver, a receive antenna and a processor coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver, and the handheld unit achieves a signal isolation, between a second harmonic of a transmitted signal from the transmitter and the receiver'"'"'s received signal, of greater than about 130 to 160 dB. Other aspects are also described.
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Citations
96 Claims
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1. A method of processing signals in a golf ball detector having a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising:
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transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals from the transmitter;
receiving received RF signals while the transmitting occurs;
determining a parameter representative of a received signal strength of the received RF signals;
setting a threshold for received signals to indicate golf ball detection, the threshold set based on the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 92, 93, 94)
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6. A method of initializing a golf ball detector having an RF (radio frequency) transmitter and an RF receiver, the method comprising:
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positioning the golf ball detector to receive RF signals from a space substantially devoid of a golf ball having an RF circuit;
observing whether the golf ball detector presents an indication of whether the initializing was valid. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A handheld golf ball detector comprising:
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a radio frequency (RF) transmitter to transmit signals used to detect a golf ball having an RF circuit;
an RF receiver to receive RF signals from a golf ball;
a processor coupled to the RF transmitter and to the RF receiver, the processor to determine a parameter representative of a received signal strength of RF signals received while the RF transmitter is transmitting and the processor to set a threshold for received signals to indicate golf ball detection, the threshold being based on the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A machine readable medium providing executable computer program instructions which cause a processing system to perform a method in a golf ball detector, the method comprising:
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transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals from a transmitter in the golf ball detector;
receiving, in an RF receiver in the golf ball detector, received RF signals while the transmitting occurs;
determining a parameter representative of a received signal strength of the received RF signals;
setting a threshold for received signals to indicate golf ball detection, the threshold set based on the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of locating a golf ball with a handheld golf ball detector, the method comprising:
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modulating a carrier to provide a binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) modulated signal, the modulation comprising a pseudorandom binary sequence (PN) modulated on the carrier;
transmitting the BPSK modulated signal in transmitted pulses to locate a golf ball having an RF (radio frequency) circuit;
receiving as a received signal a harmonic of the transmitted pulses. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A handheld golf ball locator comprising:
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a housing;
a modulator, within the housing and coupled to the signal source, the modulator to modulate a pseudorandom binary sequence (PN) on the signal source using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation to produce a BPSK modulated signal;
a transmitter coupled to the modulator to transmit the BPSK modulated signal in transmitted pulses to locate a golf ball having an RF (radio frequency) circuit, the transmitter being within the housing;
a receiver within the housing, the receiver to receive, as a received signal, a harmonic of the transmitted pulses. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A handheld golf ball locator comprising:
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a housing having a size of less than about 2,110,000 mm3;
a transmitter in the housing;
a receiver in the housing, wherein a signal isolation between a second harmonic of a transmitted signal from the transmitter and the receiver'"'"'s received signal is greater than about 130 dB. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of indicating a distance to a golf ball from a handheld golf ball locator, the method comprising:
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generating a first set of audio sounds at a first pitch and at a first rate of repetition when at a first distance;
generating a second set of audio sounds at a second pitch and at a second rate of repetition when at a second distance. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A handheld golf ball locator comprising:
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a speaker in a housing of the handheld golf ball locator;
a processor coupled to the speaker, the processor generating a first set of audio sounds at a first pitch and at a first rate of repetition when at a first distance relative to a golf ball and the processor generating a second set of audio sounds at a second pitch and at a second rate of repetition when at a second distance relative to the golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method of indicating the distance to a golf ball from a handheld golf ball locator, the method comprising:
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presenting a first user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a first rate, with changes in distance, over a first range of a representation of distance;
presenting a second user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a second rate, with changes in distance, over a second range of the representation of distance. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A machine readable medium providing executable program instructions which cause a processing system in a handheld golf ball locator to perform a method of indicating the distance to a golf ball from the handheld golf ball locator, the method comprising:
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presenting a first user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a first rate, with changes in distance, over a first range of a representation of distance;
presenting a second user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a second rate, with changes in distance, over a second range of a representation of distance. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A handheld golf ball locator comprising:
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a transmitter to transmit signals to a golf ball having an RF circuit;
a receiver to receive signals from the golf ball;
a user interface indicator to indicate distance between the golf ball and the handheld golf ball locator in response to the signals received from the golf ball;
a processor coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver and the user interface indicator, the processor to present a first user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a first rate, with changes in distance, over a first range of a representation of distance and the processor to present a second user interface which indicates distance between the handheld golf ball locator and the golf ball and which changes at least at a second rate, with changes in distance, over a second range of a representation of distance. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method of locating a stationary golf ball with a handheld golf ball locator, the method comprising:
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transmitting, from a transmitter of the handheld golf ball locator, signals at least at different times, each of the different times being within a corresponding time interval and each of the different times being measured relative to a time marker of the corresponding time interval;
processing an output from a receiver of the handheld golf ball locator at each of the different times. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of locating a stationary golf ball with a handheld golf ball locator, the method comprising:
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transmitting, from a transmitter of the handheld golf ball locator, signals to be received by an RF circuit of the golf ball;
processing an output from a receiver of the handheld golf ball locator, the processing occurring at times that are separated by time periods between processings, the time periods being either different or random in length. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A handheld golf ball detector comprising:
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a housing;
a transmitter in the housing, the transmitter to transmit signals to be received by an RF circuit of a golf ball to be located;
a receiver in the housing;
a processor coupled to the receiver, the processor processing an output of the receiver at times that are separated by non-processing time periods between processings, the non-processing time periods being either different or random in length. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. An antenna assembly to locate golf balls, comprising:
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a first antenna having a first plane to receive electromagnetic energy at a first frequency, the first antenna having a first boresight substantially perpendicular to the first plane;
a second antenna having a second plane disposed substantially parallel to the first plane, to radiate electromagnetic energy through the first plane at a second frequency, the second antenna having a second boresight substantially perpendicular to the first plane, the second antenna comprising a first ground plane with respect to the first antenna; and
a second ground plane disposed substantially parallel to the second plane, the second antenna disposed between the first antenna and the second ground plane. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A method for direction-finding in a golf-ball locating system, comprising, at a first range:
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transmitting a locating signal at a first frequency from a first antenna having a directional radiation pattern with a maximum radiation intensity in a direction corresponding to a boresight of the first antenna;
receiving a return signal at a second frequency from a target golf ball in a receiving antenna, the receiving antenna having a first directional receiving pattern with a first half-power beamwidth and a maximum receiving sensitivity in a direction corresponding to a boresight of the second antenna; and
at a second range less than the first rangereceiving the return signal at the second frequency in the receiving antenna, the receiving antenna having a second directional receiving pattern with a minimum receiving sensitivity in the direction corresponding to the boresight of the second antenna; and
subtracting the second directional receiving pattern from the first directional receiving pattern to obtain a difference receiving pattern, the difference receiving pattern having a second half-power beamwidth less than the first half-power beamwidth.
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62. A method for determining a distance between a handheld transceiver and a golf ball, comprising:
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modulating a radio frequency carrier at a first carrier frequency with a sinusoidal modulating signal having a first phase to create a first amplitude modulated (AM) carrier signal;
transmitting the first AM carrier signal to a golf ball having a square-law transducer to square the first AM carrier signal;
receiving from the golf ball a second AM carrier signal at a second carrier frequency equal to twice the first carrier frequency, the second AM carrier modulated with the sinusoidal modulation at a second phase; and
comparing the second phase to the first phase to determine a distance between a handheld transceiver and the golf ball.
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63. An apparatus for determining a distance between a handheld transceiver and a golf ball, comprising:
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a modulator to modulate a radio frequency carrier at a first carrier frequency with a sinusoidal modulating signal having a first phase to create a first amplitude modulated (AM) carrier signal;
a transmitter coupled the modulator to generate the radio frequency carrier and to transmit the first AM carrier signal to a golf ball having a square-law transducer to square the first AM carrier signal;
a receiver to receive from the golf ball a second AM carrier signal at a second carrier frequency equal to twice the first carrier frequency, the second AM carrier modulated with the sinusoidal modulation at a second phase; and
an envelope detector coupled to the receiver to extract the sinusoidal modulation from the second AM carrier signal; and
a phase detector to compare the second phase to the first phase to determine a distance between a handheld transceiver and the golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71)
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64. A method for locating a golf ball, comprising:
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transmitting a locating signal to a golf ball from a transceiver at a first frequency, the locating signal including a coded modulation;
receiving a return signal from the golf ball at the transceiver at a second frequency, different from the first frequency, the return signal including the coded modulation;
comparing the coded modulation of the return signal with the coded modulation of the locating signal to determine a distance between the transceiver and the golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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72. An apparatus for locating a golf ball, comprising:
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a transmitter to transmit a locating signal to a golf ball at a first frequency, the locating signal including a modulation code, the golf ball comprising a harmonic transducer to generate a return signal at a second frequency comprising a harmonic of the first frequency having the modulation code;
a receiver coupled with the transmitter to receive the return signal, to extract the modulation code from the return signal and to correlate the modulation code from the return signal with the modulation code of the locating signal;
a processing device coupled with the transmitter and the receiver, the processing device configured to apply a time delay to the modulation code of the locating signal to obtain a maximum of the correlation coefficient, to dither the time delay to resolve the maximum of the correlation coefficient in time, and to convert the time delay to the distance between the transceiver and the golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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79. An article of manufacture, including machine-accessible instructions that when accessed by a data processing system, cause the data processing system to perform a method, comprising:
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transmitting a locating signal to a golf ball from a transceiver at a first frequency, the locating signal including a modulation code;
receiving a return signal from the golf ball at the transceiver at a second frequency, different from the first frequency, the return signal including the modulation code;
comparing the modulation code of the return signal with the modulation code of the locating signal to determine a distance between the transceiver and the golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. A method for signal isolation in a transceiver in a golf ball locator, comprising:
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preventing unintentional contact between signal carrying conductors; and
securing intentional connections between signal carrying conductors with a metallic bonding system. - View Dependent Claims (88)
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89. A method for stabilizing antenna performance in a golf ball locator, comprising:
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providing an indexing feature in an antenna radome; and
using the indexing feature to align an antenna assembly with respect to the antenna radome.
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90. A method in a stacked planar antenna array, in a golf ball locator, having a first axis of symmetry in a first direction and a second axis of symmetry in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, wherein the first axis of symmetry is longer than the second axis of symmetry, comprising:
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feeding the stacked planar antenna array along the first axis of symmetry with a first feed cable and a second feed cable; and
maintaining perpendicularity between the first feed cable and the second axis of symmetry and between the second feed cable and the second axis of symmetry.
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91. A handheld golf ball locator comprising:
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a transmitter coupled to an antenna, the transmitter to transmit a spread spectrum signal to a golf ball;
a receiver coupled to receive a response from the golf ball.
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95. A method of initializing a golf ball detector having an RF (radio frequency) transmitter and an RF receiver, the method comprising:
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positioning the golf ball detector to receive RF signals from a known source of interference;
initializing the golf ball detector while the positioning occurs. - View Dependent Claims (96)
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Specification