Abstract:
An object ranging system operates by transmitting pulses derived from a frequency-swept signal and determining the beat frequency of a combination of the frequency-swept signal and its reflection from an object. To determine the range of close objects the beat frequency is determined in the time domain by integrating samples of the beat frequency signal to obtain a value representing the integral of a half cycle of the sine wave, establishing integration thresholds representing when, according to the integration value, the sine wave would have reached predetermined stages in its cycle, and measuring the time taken for the integral of the sine wave to change from one threshold to another, this time thereby indicating the period of the beat frequency.
Abstract:
An apparatus and method is disclosed for robustly detecting a signal in the presence of background noise which includes impulsive noise. Each value of a signal is mapped to a point on a semicircle defined by two coordinates on orthogonal axes in two-dimensional space. A respective mean is calculated of each of the two coordinates of the transformed points, and the two means are used to calculate a mean direction of the points on the semicircle. The mean direction is reverse-mapped back into the signal domain and compared against a detection threshold. The detection threshold may be set in dependence upon the concentration of the points on the semicircle.
Abstract:
An object ranging system operates by transmitting pulses derived from a frequency-swept signal and determining the beat frequency of a combination of the frequency-swept signal and its reflection from an object. To determine the range of close objects the beat frequency is determined in the time domain by integrating samples of the beat frequency signal to obtain a value representing the integral of a half cycle of the sine wave, establishing integration thresholds representing when, according to the integration value, the sine wave would have reached predetermined stages in its cycle, and measuring the time taken for the integral of the sine wave to change from one threshold to another, this time thereby indicating the period of the beat frequency.
Abstract:
A method of determining the location of an object uses data representing the bearing of the object from a plurality of observation locations. The method comprises (a) deriving, for each bearing, the coordinates of a point, the coordinates comprising a first value p representing the signed distance between a predetermined location and the closest point on the bearing line, and a second value θ representing the angle of the bearing line, using a procedure according to which co-linear bearings of opposite direction have first values which are of opposite sign to each other and second values which differ from each other by π; and (b) deriving parameters defining a curve fitting said points, said parameters representing the object location. Values representing the signal-to-noise ratios associated with the bearing measurements, and values representing the observation locations relative to each other and to the object, can be used to group the bearings for the purpose of weighting their effects on the calculation of object location.
Abstract:
A time measurement system for measuring the delay between first and second signals comprises means for detecting the times of upcrossings when the first signal crosses a predetermined level (preferably substantially different from the average level) with a positive slope and the times of downcrossings when the first signal crosses the predetermined level with a negative slope. These events are transmitted to a remote device receiving the second signal, which uses the events to define respective staggered segments of the second signal, to sum said segments and to detect a predetermined feature in said sum, the position of said feature representing the delay between the first and second signals.
Abstract:
A transmitted signal and a received signal are combined and the combination is expected to determine whether or not a target signal is present. Either the transmitted signal or the received signal is combined with an auxiliary signal containing a range of frequencies corresponding to an anticipated Doppler shift, so that an output of the combined transmitted and received signal will be present only if a target signal exhibiting a Doppler shift within the anticipated range is present. The auxiliary signal preferably comprises finite-duration signal portions of different types so as to provide a substantially uniform frequency response throughout the selected range.
Abstract:
A receiver is tuned into a multicarrier signal first by performing fine tuning control in the time domain, and then determining a coarse frequency offset to adjust the subcarrier to which the receiver is tuned. The coarse frequency offset is determined by summing the powers of a predetermined set of subcarriers associated with one frequency offset, repeating this for other frequency offsets, and determining whether the largest sum has a predetermined relationship to the other sums. Discrimination is improved by disregarding the largest of the powers when determining the sum. Preferably, the sums are integrated over multiple symbol periods, and the speed of locking-in is increased by terminating the operation when the predetermined relationship has been reached.
Abstract:
A system and method are disclosed for the generation and processing of waveforms utilized to modulate the carrier frequency of a microwave sensor employed, to determine the range and velocity of an object of interest. The system and method result in improved performance in environments with high levels of interference.
Abstract:
There is described a pulse analyzer (1) for sampling a pulse or a repetitive stream of pulses. The pulse analyzer multiplies a pulse by a set of basis functions (c1, c2) to generate a plurality of multiplied pulse functions, and a synthesizer (9a, 9b, 13) combines the multiplied pulse functions to generate a pulse sample. In particular, the synthesizer performs at least one integrating operation over an integration interval substantially corresponding to the duration of the pulse and at least one adding operation. The basis functions are such that the output of the synthesizer corresponds to a pulse sample for a sample time interval shorter than the integration interval.
Abstract:
An apparatus and method is disclosed for robustly detecting a signal m the presence of background noise which includes impulsive noise. Each value of a signal is mapped to a point on a semicircle defined by two coordinates on orthogonal axes in two-dimensional space. A respective mean is calculated of each of the two coordinates of the transformed points, and the two means are used to calculate a detection threshold representative of the concentration of the points on the semicircle. A mean of the signal values is calculated and compared against the detection threshold. Alternatively, the mean is adjusted in dependence upon the concentration of the points on the semicircle and the adjusted mean is compared against a fixed threshold value.