Method and apparatus for characterizing a signal path carrying an operational signal
First Claim
1. A method of characterizing a signal path comprising(i) generating a reference spread-spectrum signal wherein a spectrum of the reference spread-spectrum signal is shaped to substantially inversely mirror a spectrum of an operational signal present in the signal path;
- (ii) coupling the reference spread-spectrum signal into the signal path while the signal path is carrying the operational signal;
(iii) receiving a reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated in response to the reference spread-spectrum signal; and
(iv) correlating the reflected spread-spectrum signal with the reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a correlation result corresponding to a characteristic of the signal path.
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Abstract
A method of characterizing a signal path includes (i) generating a reference spread-spectrum signal; (ii) coupling the reference spread-spectrum signal into the signal path while the signal path is carrying an operational signal; (iii) receiving a reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated in response to the reference spread-spectrum signal; and (iv) correlating the reflected spread-spectrum signal with the reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a correlation result corresponding to a characteristic of the signal path.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of characterizing a signal path comprising
(i) generating a reference spread-spectrum signal wherein a spectrum of the reference spread-spectrum signal is shaped to substantially inversely mirror a spectrum of an operational signal present in the signal path; -
(ii) coupling the reference spread-spectrum signal into the signal path while the signal path is carrying the operational signal; (iii) receiving a reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated in response to the reference spread-spectrum signal; and (iv) correlating the reflected spread-spectrum signal with the reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a correlation result corresponding to a characteristic of the signal path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of testing a signal path having an anomaly, comprising:
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generating a first reference spread-spectrum signal and a second reference spread-spectrum signal; coupling the first spread-spectrum signal into the signal path at a first location while the signal path is carrying an operational signal; coupling the second spread-spectrum signal into the signal path at a second location different than the first location while the signal path is carrying the operational signal; receiving at a third location a first reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated by the anomaly in response to the first and second spread-spectrum signals; receiving at a fourth location a second reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated by the anomaly in response to the first and second spread-spectrum signals; correlating the first reflected spread-spectrum signal with the first reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a first correlation result; correlating the second reflected spread-spectrum signal with the second reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a second correlation result; and combining the first correlation result and the second correlation result to determine a location of the anomaly having increased accuracy relative to a location determined using either the first correlation result or the second correlation result alone. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for characterizing a signal path carrying an operational signal comprising:
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a signal generator configured to generate a reference spread-spectrum signal wherein the reference spread-spectrum signal has a spectrum shaped to substantially inversely mirror a spectrum of the operational signal; an interface coupled to the signal generator and configured to inject the reference spread-spectrum signal into the signal path and configured to extract a reflected spread-spectrum signal from the signal path generated in response to the reference spread-spectrum signal; and a correlator coupled to the signal generator and coupled to the interface and configured to correlate the reflected spread-spectrum signal with the reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a correlation result corresponding to a characteristic of the signal path. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An electronic system for detecting an anomaly in a signal path carrying an operational signal comprising:
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a plurality of signal generators configured to generate a plurality of reference spread-spectrum signals wherein the plurality of reference spread-spectrum signals each have a spectrum shaped to substantially inversely mirror a spectrum of the operational signal; at least one injector coupled to the plurality of signal generators and configured to inject the plurality of spread-spectrum signals into the signal path; at least one extractor coupled to the signal path and configured to extract a plurality of reflected spread-spectrum signals from the signal path generated by the anomaly in response to the plurality of reference spread-spectrum signals; at least one correlator coupled to the plurality of signal generators and coupled to the at least one extractor and configured to correlate the plurality of reflected spread-spectrum signals with the plurality of reference spread-spectrum signal to produce a plurality of correlation results; and a processor coupled to the at least one correlator and configured to determine a location of the anomaly from the plurality of correlation results.
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32. A spread-spectrum reflectometer comprising:
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a spread-spectrum signal generator configured to generate a spread-spectrum signal having associated with said spread-spectrum signal a code and a pulse shape having a spectrum shaped to substantially inversely mirror a spectrum of the operational signal and configured so that said spread-spectrum signal may be coupled into a wire; and a correlator configured to compute a correlation result between said spread-spectrum signal and a reflected version of said spread-spectrum signal received from said wire whereby a property of said wire may be extracted from said correlation result. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification