Link delay calculation and compensation system
First Claim
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1. A method for measuring delay, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a signal at a remote site;
processing the signal using Fourier transforms to determine a time delay using an external timing reference;
transmitting a gated signal from a central site, the gated signal having a first periodic component which is substantially less than a link time delay between repeaters of the repeater system and a second periodic component which is substantially greater than the link time delay, wherein the first periodic component and the second periodic component are aligned in phase to a reference timing signal;
receiving the gated signal at a remote site;
analog to digital converting the gated signal to create a sequence of digitized samples, wherein the analog to digital converting is performed in phase with the reference timing signal;
locating transition pairs in the sequence of digitized samples;
predicting zero crossings associated with each of the transition pairs;
averaging the zero crossings and using the averaged value to predict a starting point of the gated signal; and
introducing a delay to compensate for a link delay calculated from the starting point of the gated signal.
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Abstract
The present link delay calculation system using a common reference signal and a pulsed or gated tone signal to determine the link delay. The system using a discrete-time Fourier transform to measure phase information and obtain the link delay time. One such system employing a global positioning satellite signal to synchronize signal generation at a control site and demodulation at a remote site.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for measuring delay, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a signal at a remote site; processing the signal using Fourier transforms to determine a time delay using an external timing reference; transmitting a gated signal from a central site, the gated signal having a first periodic component which is substantially less than a link time delay between repeaters of the repeater system and a second periodic component which is substantially greater than the link time delay, wherein the first periodic component and the second periodic component are aligned in phase to a reference timing signal; receiving the gated signal at a remote site; analog to digital converting the gated signal to create a sequence of digitized samples, wherein the analog to digital converting is performed in phase with the reference timing signal; locating transition pairs in the sequence of digitized samples; predicting zero crossings associated with each of the transition pairs; averaging the zero crossings and using the averaged value to predict a starting point of the gated signal; and introducing a delay to compensate for a link delay calculated from the starting point of the gated signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for alignment of a repeater system, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a gated signal from a central site, the gated signal having a first periodic component which is substantially less than a link time delay between repeaters of the repeater system and a second periodic component which is substantially greater than the link time delay, wherein the first periodic component and the second periodic component are aligned in phase to a reference timing signal; receiving the gated signal at a remote site; analog to digital converting the gated signal to create a sequence of digitized samples, wherein the analog to digital converting is performed in phase with the reference timing signal; detecting a crossing of a threshold amplitude of the gated signal by inspecting amplitudes of the digitized samples; performing a discrete-time Fourier transform N periods of the first periodic component after the crossing to get phase information from the digitized samples; generating time delay from the phase information; adding N periods to the time delay to calculate the link delay;
introducing a delay to compensate for the link delay;measuring a plurality of time delays; and deleting time delays which exceed a predefined maximum time delay. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for alignment of a repeater system, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a gated signal from a central site, the gated signal having a first periodic component which is substantially less than a link time delay between repeaters of the repeater system and a second periodic component which is substantially greater than the link time delay, wherein the first periodic component and the second periodic component are aligned in phase to a reference timing signal; receiving the gated signal at a remote site; analog to digital converting the gated signal to create a sequence of digitized samples, wherein the analog to digital converting is performed in phase with the reference timing signal; detecting a crossing of a threshold amplitude of the gated signal by inspecting amplitudes of the digitized samples; performing a discrete-time Fourier transform N periods of the first periodic component after the crossing to get phase information from the digitized samples; generating time delay from the phase information; adding N periods to the time delay to calculate the link delay; introducing a delay to compensate for the link delay; measuring a plurality of time delays; calculating a standard deviation of the plurality of time delays; and deleting time delays which exceed the standard deviation.
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Specification