Pulse sorting apparatus for frequency histogramming in a radar receiver system
First Claim
1. A pulse sorting apparatus of a preprocessor in a pulsed radiation detection system for acquiring a radio frequency (RF) signal, the radiation detection system including a central processing unit and a RF receiver for generating an instantaneous frequency measurement as well as RF signal data;
- the apparatus comprising;
(a) a main memory for recording the RF signal data;
(b) addressing means, responsive to the receiver, for generating an available main memory address to store the RF signal data;
the available main memory address residing within one of two or more frequency bins where each frequency bin corresponds to a substantially unique RF signal bandwidth; and
(c) recording means, responsive to the receiver, for storing the RF signal data at the available main memory address of the main memory within a frequency bin corresponding to the instantaneous frequency measurement of the RF signal;
whereby the RF signal data are sorted in the main memory in the form of a frequency-based histogram.
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Abstract
Disclosed is a real-time pulse sorting apparatus of a preprocessor in a pulsed radiation detection system. The apparatus, responsive to digital signals generated by a system receiver, uses the instantaneous frequency as the address input to store discrete data groups in main memory. Each data group, comprising the digital data corresponding to a single analog-to-digital converter sample point, includes the RF signal amplitude, inter-channel phase difference, instantaneous frequency as well as a unique pulse number generated by the pulse sorting apparatus. The present invention further includes a TOA memory for storing the time-of-arrival of each pulse at an address given by the pulse number. The main memory, organized in the form of a frequency-based histogram, together with the TOA memory, linked to the main memory by means of the pulse number pointer, sorts and records RF signal data with minimal processor control and intervention.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A pulse sorting apparatus of a preprocessor in a pulsed radiation detection system for acquiring a radio frequency (RF) signal, the radiation detection system including a central processing unit and a RF receiver for generating an instantaneous frequency measurement as well as RF signal data;
- the apparatus comprising;
(a) a main memory for recording the RF signal data; (b) addressing means, responsive to the receiver, for generating an available main memory address to store the RF signal data;
the available main memory address residing within one of two or more frequency bins where each frequency bin corresponds to a substantially unique RF signal bandwidth; and(c) recording means, responsive to the receiver, for storing the RF signal data at the available main memory address of the main memory within a frequency bin corresponding to the instantaneous frequency measurement of the RF signal; whereby the RF signal data are sorted in the main memory in the form of a frequency-based histogram. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- the apparatus comprising;
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10. A pulse sorting apparatus of a preprocessor in a pulsed radiation detection system for acquiring a radio frequency (RF) signal, the radiation detection system including a central processing unit and a digital receiver for generating an instantaneous frequency measurement as well as RF signal data;
- the apparatus comprising;
(a) pulse counting means, responsive to the digital receiver, for generating a unique RF pulse number for each RF signal received; (b) time of arrival (TOA) memory means, responsive to the pulse counting means, for recording RF signal TOA;
the RF signal TOA being stored in the TOA memory means at an address location given by the RF pulse number; and(c) a main memory, responsive to the digital receiver and the pulse counting means, for recording the RF pulse number and RF signal data;
the RF signal data comprising one or more RF signal amplitude and phase measurements;
the RF signal data being recorded at a main memory address of the main memory means in one of a plurality of frequency bins where each frequency bin corresponds to a unique RF signal bandwidth;
the RF signal data being recorded in the frequency bin corresponding to the instantaneous frequency measurement of the RF signal;whereby the RF signal data are sorted in the main memory in the form of a frequency-based histogram. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- the apparatus comprising;
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23. A pulse-sorting apparatus comprising:
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(a) a signal detector, wherein the signal detector qualifies a plurality of incoming RF signals from a digital receiver; (b) a pulse counter, operatively coupled to the signal detector, wherein the pulse counter generates a unique RF pulse number for each RF signal; (c) a time-of-arrival (TOA) counter, operatively coupled to the signal detector, wherein the TOA counter outputs an RF signal TOA upon qualification of an RF signal; (d) a TOA memory element having an address input and a data input, the address input operatively coupled to the pulse counter and data input operatively coupled to the TOA counter, whereby the RF signal TOA is stored at an address location given by the RF pulse number; (e) a latch, responsive to the digital receiver and pulse counter, wherein the latch latches RF signal data, of the RF signal, the RF pulse number and an instantaneous frequency measurement provided by the digital receiver; (f) a memory addressing element, operatively coupled to the digital receiver, wherein the digital receiver generates a main memory address for storing the RF signal data and the RF pulse number;
the main memory address residing within a frequency bin corresponding to the instantaneous frequency measurement;
the frequency bin being one of two or more frequency bins where each frequency bin corresponds to a unique RF signal bandwidth; and(g) a main memory recorder, wherein the main memory recorder records the RF signal data, instantaneous frequency measurement and RF pulse number at the main memory address;
the main memory including an address input and a data input;
the data input operatively coupled to the latch and pulse counter;
the address input operatively coupled to the latch and the memory addressing element;whereby the central processing unit retrieves pre-sorted RF signal data from the main memory and RF signal TOA from the TOA memory.
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Specification