Pulse radar device and method
First Claim
1. A system for measuring the distance an electromagnetic pulse travels comprising:
- a) a transmitter adapted to transmit a sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a transmit timing signal;
b) a receiver adapted to sample the sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a receive timing signal and generate a sample signal;
c) a timing circuit adapted to supply the transmit timing signal to the transmitter and generate the receive timing signal, the receive timing signal causing the receiver to sample the sequence of electromagnetic pulses such that time between transmission of pulses in the sequence and sampling by the receiver sweeps over a range of delays;
d) a processor with associated memory including a reference pulse template representing a parameter of a received reference pulse, said processor adapted to;
i) compare said reference template and said sample signal;
ii) align said reference pulse template with a corresponding parameter of the sample signal; and
iii) determine a point along the range of delays where alignment occurs wherein the point along the range of delays at which a pulse is received is proportional to the distance a received pulse travels.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The distance to a target is determined by transmitting a radio frequency signal comprised of a plurality of pulses to a target from a transmitter at a given transmission time, receiving a plurality of return scans at a receiver, selecting a scan meeting a predetermined parameter that includes a reflected pulse; comparing the scan with a template of a reflected pulse at different locations to select the time at which the match between the scan and the template have the closest match; and calculating the distance to the target. The signal is transmitted and received through a wall of an aperture-free container that is transparent of said radio frequency pulses. The device also includes a barrier plate that is opaque to radio frequency pulses between the transmitter and receiver.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A system for measuring the distance an electromagnetic pulse travels comprising:
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a) a transmitter adapted to transmit a sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a transmit timing signal; b) a receiver adapted to sample the sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a receive timing signal and generate a sample signal; c) a timing circuit adapted to supply the transmit timing signal to the transmitter and generate the receive timing signal, the receive timing signal causing the receiver to sample the sequence of electromagnetic pulses such that time between transmission of pulses in the sequence and sampling by the receiver sweeps over a range of delays; d) a processor with associated memory including a reference pulse template representing a parameter of a received reference pulse, said processor adapted to; i) compare said reference template and said sample signal; ii) align said reference pulse template with a corresponding parameter of the sample signal; and iii) determine a point along the range of delays where alignment occurs wherein the point along the range of delays at which a pulse is received is proportional to the distance a received pulse travels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for measuring the distance of target comprising:
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a) a transmitter adapted to transmit a sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a transmit timing signal toward a target; b) a receiver mounted substantially adjacent said transmitter and adapted to; i) sample a substantially immediate, fiducial reflection of the sequence of electromagnetic pulses and a sequence of return echoes of the sequence of electromagnetic pulses reflected from the target in response to a receive timing signal; and ii) generate a sample signal; c) a timing circuit adapted to supply the transmit timing signal to the transmitter and generate the receive timing signal, the receive timing signal causing the receiver to sample the sequence of electromagnetic pulses such that time between transmission of pulses in the sequence and sampling by the receiver sweeps over a range of delays; d) a processor with associated memory including an echo pulse template representing a parameter of a received echo pulse and a fiducial pulse template representing a parameter of a fiducial reflection, said processor adapted to; i) compare said reference template and said sample signal; ii) align said reference pulse template with a corresponding parameter of the sample signal; iii) determine a point along the range of delays where alignment occurs; iv) compare said fiducial pulse template and said sampled signal; v) align said fiducial pulse template with a corresponding parameter of the received fiducial pulse in said sample signal; vi) determine a fiducial point along the range of delays where alignment occurs; vii) calculate the difference between the fiducial point and the reference point wherein the difference is proportional to the distance between the system and the target. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method system for measuring the distance an electromagnetic pulse travels comprising:
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a) transmitting a sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a transmit timing signal; b) sampling an echo from a target of the sequence of electromagnetic pulses in response to a receive timing signal; c) generating a sample signal; d) supplying the transmit timing signal to the transmitter and generating the receive timing signal to cause the sampling of the sequence of electromagnetic pulses such that time between transmission of pulses in the sequence and sampling sweeps over a range of delays; e) comparing a reference pulse template representing a parameter of a received reference pulse and the sample signal; f) aligning the reference pulse template with a corresponding parameter of the sample signal; and g) determining a point along the range of delays where alignment occurs wherein the point along the range of delays at which a pulse is received is proportional to the distance a received pulse travels. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method for transmitting a pulse signal to a target and identifying the return time of reflected signal received from a target comprising:
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a) transmitting a signal comprised of a plurality of pulses to a target; b) receiving a plurality of return signals; c) selecting a test signal meeting a predetermined parameter; and d) comparing the signal with a template of a desired reflected signal at different return times to select the time at which the match between the signal and the desired reflected signal have the closest match. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for determining the distance to a target using a pulse signal comprising:
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a) transmitting a signal comprised of a plurality of pulses to a target at a given transmission time; b) receiving a plurality of return signals; c) selecting a test signal meeting a predetermined parameter; d) comparing the signal with a template of a desired reflected signal at different return times to select the time at which the match between the signal and the desired reflected signal have the closest match, said time being the reflected signal return time; and e) calculating the distance to the target from the device from the transmission time and the reflected signal return time. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method for determining the distance to a target using a high frequency radio pulse signal comprising:
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a) transmitting a radio frequency signal comprised of a plurality of pulses toward a target; b) capturing a segment of the transmitted signal to determine the signal transmission time; c) receiving and digitizing a plurality of radar scans; d) selecting a first scan with the maximum peak amplitude from the plurality of radar scans; e) receiving and digitizing additional radar scans; f) selecting a second scan having the peak amplitude within a given percentage of the peak amplitude of the first scan; g) filtering the second scan to remove amplitudes outside of a given frequency range; h) normalizing the second scan using the formula (max. peak amplitude minus min. target peak)/2; i) comparing the second scan with a template of a normalized desired reflected signal at different return times to select the time at which the match between the second scan and the template have the closest match as the reflected signal return time; and j) calculating the distance to the target as a percentage of the full scan.
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Specification