Patent · US Expired

Method and device for measuring the propagation time of a wave

US4768877A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
14References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 23, 1986
Grant dateSep 6, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 23, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01S17/36
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method and device are provided for measuring the propagation time of a wave, wherein a wave is transmitted modulated in amplitude by a modulation signal. The wave reflected by an obstacle is received after a propagation time and the amplitude thereof is detected. The average value of the product of the detected signal and a reference signal is calculated and the delay with respect to the modulation signal is controlled so as to cancel out the average value. The modulation signal and the reference signal comprise a succession of elementary signals chosen so as to allow, in a single measurement, a long propagation time to be determined without ambiguity and with high accuracy.

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