Radio transmitter, radio receiver, system and method with a radio transmitter and radio receiver

• US 8,559,554 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Symeo GmbH (indie Semiconductor, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symeo GmbH (indie Semiconductor, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vossiek, Martin, Gulden, Peter, Rhr, Sven
• Primary Examiner(s): LAM, KENNETH T
• Application Number:
  US12/302,558
• Publication Number:
  US 20090285313A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,329 Days
• Field of Search: 375/295, 375/259, 375/334, 375/260, 375/219, 455/91, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 375/316
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/34 using transmission of continuous, frequency-modulated waves while heterodyning the received signal, or a signal derived therefrom, with a locally-generated signal related to the contemporaneously transmitted signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/765 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/825 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7174 Pulse generation in general H04L25/03834
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7183 Synchronisation

Abstract

A radio transmitter is provided at least comprising a signal generator for generating a continuous signal and an antenna for outputting a transmission signal, wherein at least one output of the signal generator is connected with at least one input of the antenna. Herein, the signal generator is connected with the antenna via an interrupt unit connected between the two for selectively interrupting and maintaining a signal connection between the signal generator and the antenna.

Claims

1. A radio receiver for receiving a frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, comprising:

at least one mixer; and

a receiver element that receives a pulse wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal;

wherein;

the at least one mixer is configured for mixing the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped signal with a mixing signal, wherein the mixing signal has only similar or identical frequency-modulation to the signal of said received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal; and

the radio receiver is configured to extract at least one pair of associated spectral lines from the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, in particular spectral lines of equal order and known symmetry position.

2. The radio receiver according to claim 1, which is configured to:

determine at least one of a frequency offset and a time offset from a pair of associated spectral lines and to synchronize itself in particular on the basis of at least one of the calculated frequency offset and time offset to a clock of a radio transmitter having sent the frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signals.

3. The receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a radio transmitter and in which said radio transmitter and said radio receiver have a same clock source for providing a common clock basis.

4. The radio receiver according to claim 1, in which a mixed signal is fed by the mixer via a filter, especially via a low pass filter, and an analog-to-digital converter.

5. A radio transmitting/receiving system of at least one radio transmitter and at least one radio receiver or at least one radio transmitter and receiver for receiving a signal emitted by said radio transmitter, in which:

the at least one radio receiver or the at least one radio transmitter and receiver is configured

for receiving a frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal,

which comprises at least one mixer for mixing the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal with a mixing signal, wherein the mixing signal has similar or identical frequency-modulation to the signal of said received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal;

wherein;

the receiver is configured to extract at least one pair of associated spectral lines from the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, in particular spectral lines of equal order and known symmetry position.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein a response device is configured as a backscatter transponder.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the similar modulation has at least one of a time offset and a frequency offset with respect to the signal of said transmission signal generator.

8. The system according to claim 5, in which a mixed signal is fed by the mixer via a filter via a low pass filter and an analog-to-digital converter into a signal evaluation unit.

9. The system according to claim 5, wherein the radio transmitter comprises:

a signal generator for generating a continuous signal;

an antenna for outputting a transmission signal;

wherein

at least one output of said transmission signal generator is connected to at least one input of said antenna;

said transmission signal generator is connected to said antenna via an interrupt unit interposed between them for selectively interrupting and maintaining a signal connection between said transmission generator and said antenna;

selective interrupting and maintaining of the signal connection by said interrupt unit is carried out via a switching signal externally applied to said interrupt unit; and

selective interrupting and maintaining of the signal connection is carried out by said interrupt unit in at least partially regular intervals, wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the continuous signal generated by said transmission signal generator.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the continuous signal generated in the radio transmitter by said transmission signal generator is an at least partially linearly frequency- modulated signal.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein in the radio transmitter, said transmission signal generator is driven for generating the continuous signal and said interrupt unit is driven for selectively interrupting and maintaining the signal connection by corresponding clock signals, which are at a known deterministic relationship with respect to one another, wherein said transmission signal generator and said interrupt unit are connected to a digital electronics for driving, which generates each clock signal on the basis of a common clock basis.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the radio transmitter comprises:

a clock generator for outputting a clock signal generated by it to the digital electronics;

wherein

said digital electronics generates a first derived clock signal for input into said transmission signal generator and a second derived clock signal for input into said interrupt unit;

said transmission signal generator generates the continuous signal for input into said interrupt unit on the basis of the first derived clock signal; and

said interrupt unit selectively interrupts and maintains the signal connection between said transmission signal generator and said antenna on the basis of the second derived clock signal.

13. The system according to claim 5, in which the receiver is configured to:

determine at least one of a frequency offset and a time offset from a pair of associated spectral lines; and

a) synchronize itself in particular on the basis of at least one of the calculated frequency offset and time offset to a clock of a radio transmitter having sent the frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal;

or

b) extract a range information on the basis of at least one of the calculated frequency offset and time offset.

14. A method for receiving frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, comprising:

mixing the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal with a mixing signal, wherein the mixing signal has similar or identical frequency-modulation to the signal of said received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal;

filtering, especially low pass filtering of the mixed signal, analog-to-digital converting of the filtered signal and signal evaluation of the converted signal; and

extracting of at least one pair of associated spectral lines from the received frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal, in particular spectral lines of equal order and known symmetry position.

15. The method according to claim 14, comprising:

determining at least one of a frequency offset and a time offset from a pair of associated spectral lines and to synchronize itself in particular on the basis of at least one of the calculated frequency offset and time offset to a clock of a radio transmitter having sent the frequency-modulated and pulse-shaped radio signal.

16. The method according to claim 14 for generating and evaluating a measuring signal in a radio receiver, wherein:

an interrupting and maintaining a signal connection between a signal generator and an antenna is carried out in such a way that the signal connection appears in the measuring signal as a time quantization with a real sampler, and in that interrupting and maintaining the signal connection is carried out by means of said interrupt unit on a time basis in such a way that the sampling theorem is fulfilled for the measuring signal.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein at least a sampling frequency is twice the bandwidth of the measuring signal and wherein the duration of the maintenance of the signal connection is substantially smaller by a factor of 4 than the reciprocal of the highest frequency occurring in the measuring signal.

18. The method according to claim 14 for synchronizing at least one radio transmitter and at least one radio receiver, wherein at least one of said radio transmitters comprises at least one signal generator for generating a continuous signal and an antenna for emitting a transmission signal, wherein:

said radio transmitter emits via the antenna a pulse-shaped radio transmission signal from the continuous signal by selectively interrupting and maintaining a signal connection to the antenna, wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the continuous signal generated by said transmission signal generator; and

said radio receiver extracts at least one pair of associated spectral lines from the received pulse-shaped radio signal and determines therefrom at least one of a frequency offset and a time offset, on the basis of which said radio receiver synchronizes itself to a clock of said radio transmitter.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the transponder is configured as a backscatter transponder.

20. The method according to claim 14 for at least one of ranging and locating a transponder, wherein a radio transmitter comprises at least one signal generator for generating a continuous signal and an antenna for outputting a transmission signal, wherein:

said radio transmitter emits a pulse-shaped radio transmission signal from the continuous signal towards said transponder via said antenna by selectively interrupting and maintaining a signal connection to said antenna, wherein a duration of a pulse period is shorter than a duration of a frequency modulation of the continuous signal generated by said transmission signal generator; and

said transponder reflects the signal towards a radio receiver in a modulated fashion and in that said radio receiver extracts at least one spectral line from the received pulse-shaped radio signal and determines at least one of a distance and position of said transponder therefrom, on the basis of which said radio receiver synchronizes itself with a clock of said radio transmitter.