Variable integration detection apparatus and method for multipath environments
First Claim
1. A system for detecting a reflected acoustic signal within a received signal that comprises noise due to a multipath environment, said system comprising:
- at least two receivers for processing said received signal;
a connection configuration for said at least two receivers such that each of said at least two receivers are in communication with said received signal;
a combining component for combining respective outputs of each of said at least two receivers to produce a combined output;
a detector component for producing a signal when said combined output indicates said reflected acoustic signal is detected; and
at least one control for controlling said at least two receivers such that said at least two receivers operate on said received signal over different time intervals.
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Abstract
A receiver and method are disclosed that improves signal detection in a mipath environment wherein the desired reflected acoustic pulse is degraded by multipath reflections and embedded in noise. The invention provides a receiver that repetitively processes the received signal. The receiver includes separate signal processors, such as parallel configured quadrature signal processors, wherein each processor operates over different, and preferably contiguous, time intervals. After each repetition, the processing time interval for each processor is changed. The outputs of the processors are combined, such as by summing, and applied to a detector, such as a threshold detector, for each processing repetition to determine if the transmitted pulse is detected. The receiver continues processing the received signal until a predetermined number of time intervals have been processed without detection of a pulse or until the reflected pulse is detected. The processing can be accomplished in real time because the repetition rate of processing is much faster than the rate at which pulses are transmitted and received.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for detecting a reflected acoustic signal within a received signal that comprises noise due to a multipath environment, said system comprising:
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at least two receivers for processing said received signal; a connection configuration for said at least two receivers such that each of said at least two receivers are in communication with said received signal; a combining component for combining respective outputs of each of said at least two receivers to produce a combined output; a detector component for producing a signal when said combined output indicates said reflected acoustic signal is detected; and at least one control for controlling said at least two receivers such that said at least two receivers operate on said received signal over different time intervals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for detecting a reflected acoustic signal within a received signal that comprises noise due to a multipath environment, said system comprising:
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at least two receivers; at least one control for controlling said at least two receivers for processing said received signal over at least two different time intervals; a memory for storing said received signal; and a connection between said memory and said at least two receivers. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for detecting a reflected acoustic signal within a received signal that comprises noise due to a multipath environment, said method comprising the steps of:
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dividing said received signal into at least two intervals, each of said at least two intervals having respective time spans; independently processing said received signal over each of said at least two intervals to provide at least two outputs; repetitively processing said received signal; and changing said respective time spans of said at least two intervals during said repetitive processing. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for detecting an acoustic signal transmitted in a multipath environment such that a received signal includes a reflected acoustic signal embedded in noise due to said multipath environment, comprising the steps of:
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applying said received signal to at least two different receivers; processing said received signal over at least two different time intervals with said at least two different receivers to produce at least two processed outputs, respectively; selectively repeating said steps of applying and processing for up to a predetermined number of repetitions; and varying a length of each of said two different intervals for each of said repetitions. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification