Device for producing an oscillator signal

• US 6,894,572 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2001
• Issued: 05/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Symeo GmbH (indie Semiconductor, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Heide, Patric, Vossiek, Martin, Nalezinski, Martin, Roskosch, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Choe, Henry
• Application Number:
  US10/312,819
• Publication Number:
  US 20040108904A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,421 Days
• Field of Search: 331/74, 331/10, 331/76, 331/18, 331/14, 331/25, 331/44, 331/177.R
• US Class Current: 331/74
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/84 for distance determination by phase measurement

Abstract

The invention relates to a device and a method for producing an oscillator signal based on a base signal. Said oscillator signal is actively constructed by an oscillator. The oscillator can be quasi-phase-coherently excited by the base signal.

Claims

1. A device for generating an oscillator signal (B) based on a base signal (A), comprising

an oscillator (2, 24) for the active construction of the oscillator signal (B) by means of oscillations,

an input (1) for the base signal (A), and

an output (3) for the oscillator signal (B) generated,

wherein the oscillator (2) can be excited quasi-phase-coherently with respect to the base signal (A) by means of the base signal (A) for generating the oscillator signal (B).

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising switching means (4) for switching the quasi-phase-coherent exciteability of the oscillator (2).

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the switching means (4) is constructed in such a manner that the oscillator (2) can be switched in a predetermined sequence.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the time between successive switching of the quasi-phase-coherent exciteability of the oscillator (2) is less than or equal to the coherence duration.

5. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means (4) for switching the oscillator (2) off.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means (5) for sending out the oscillator signal (B).

7. The device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising means (4, 13) for coding the oscillator signal (B).

8. The device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the switching means is constructed as the means (4) for coding.

9. The device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the means (13) for coding is an additional modulation unit.

10. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising adapting means (15, 16, 17, 18) for adaptively adapting the frequency of the oscillator (2) to the frequency of the base signal (A).

11. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oscillator (2) has a building-up time which is short compared with the coherence duration.

12. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oscillator (2) can be excited by the fundamental mode and/or a subharmonic mode of the base signal (A).

13. An arrangement with a device as claimed in claim 3 and with a base station (6) for receiving the oscillator signal (B), wherein the base station (6) has a band-pass filter (12), the center frequency of which approximately corresponds to the clock rate.

14. The arrangement with a device as claimed in claim 3, and with a base station (6) for receiving the oscillator signal (B), wherein the base station (6) has means for eliminating the influence of the clock rate.

16. The device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means (4) for switching the oscillator (2) off.

17. The device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means (5) for sending out the oscillator signal (B).

18. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means (4, 13) for coding the oscillator signal (B).

19. The device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means (4, 13) for coding the oscillator signal (B).

20. The device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising adapting means (15, 16, 17, 18) for adaptively adapting the frequency of the oscillator (2) to the frequency of the base signal (A).

15. A method for generating an oscillator signal (B) on the basis of a base signal (A), which comprises

exciting an oscillator (2) quasi-phase-coherently with respect to the base signal (A) by the base signal (A),

oscillating the oscillator (2) following the excitation, and

actively constructing an oscillator signal (B) with the oscillator due to the oscillation.