Dynamic measurements of pulse peak value
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving an analog signal comprising a pulse;
directing a first portion of the analog signal to a differentiator and a second portion of the analog signal to a signal buffer;
differentiating the first portion of the analog signal, using the differentiator, to provide a differentiated signal;
detecting, using a comparator, a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal;
delaying the second portion of the analog signal by a delay amount, using the signal buffer, to provide a time-delayed analog signal;
in response to detecting the zero-crossing, causing a measurement of the time-delayed analog signal to be obtained;
determining a measurement time associated with the measurement; and
outputting the measurement and the measurement time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for detecting and measuring a peak value of a light pulse. One example method involves (i) receiving an analog signal comprising a pulse, (ii) differentiating the analog signal, using a differentiator, to provide a differentiated signal, (iii) detecting, using a comparator, a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal, (iv) delaying the analog signal by a delay amount, using a signal buffer, to provide a time-delayed analog signal, (v) in response to detecting the zero-crossing, causing a measurement of the time-delayed analog signal to be obtained, (vi) determining a measurement time associated with the measurement, and (vii) outputting the measurement and the measurement time. The methods and systems may be implemented for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications. In such applications, the measurement and measurement time may correspond to an object and a distance of the object, respectively, in an environment of a LIDAR device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving an analog signal comprising a pulse; directing a first portion of the analog signal to a differentiator and a second portion of the analog signal to a signal buffer; differentiating the first portion of the analog signal, using the differentiator, to provide a differentiated signal; detecting, using a comparator, a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal; delaying the second portion of the analog signal by a delay amount, using the signal buffer, to provide a time-delayed analog signal; in response to detecting the zero-crossing, causing a measurement of the time-delayed analog signal to be obtained; determining a measurement time associated with the measurement; and outputting the measurement and the measurement time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A device comprising:
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an input, wherein the input is configured to receive an analog signal comprising a pulse; a differentiator, wherein the differentiator is configured to differentiate a first portion of the analog signal to provide a differentiated signal; a comparator, wherein the comparator is configured to detect a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal; a signal buffer, wherein the signal buffer is configured to delay a second portion of the analog signal by a delay amount to provide a time-delayed analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), wherein the ADC is configured to obtain a measurement of the time-delayed analog signal based on the zero-crossing detected by the comparator; and a time-to-digital converter (TDC), wherein the TDC is configured to determine a measurement time associated with the measurement. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
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receiving a measurement of an analog signal comprising a pulse, wherein a first portion of the analog signal is differentiated, by a differentiator, to provide a differentiated signal and a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal is detected, by a comparator, and a second portion of the analog signal is delayed, by a signal buffer, to provide a time-delayed analog signal and the measurement is a digital output from an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that samples the time-delayed analog signal based on the zero-crossing detected by the comparator; and receiving a measurement time associated with the measurement. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification