Patent · US Expired

Signal analyzer with noise estimation and signal to noise readout

US4074201A · kind A · utility

54Cited by
1References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 26, 1976
Grant dateFeb 14, 1978
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 26, 1996

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R29/26
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Signal monitoring apparatus in which a baseband signal including noise is compared at timed intervals with a reference signal and an estimated noise signal from an estimated noise signal generator. Indications of whether the estimated noise signal is higher or lower than the noise level present in the signal are applied to a digital accumulator in the estimated noise signal generator. Certain of the most significant bits in the accumulator are employed to generate the analog estimated noise signal. An arrangement for preventing or permitting the passage of indications to the accumulator approximates the Rayleigh distribution of differential error probabilities about the estimated noise signal being generated. The result is that the estimated noise signal is an rms value averaged over a large number of measurements. Certain of the most significant bits in the accumulator are decoded and converted to an analog voltage which is a measure of the signal-to-noise power ratio of the baseband signal.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.