Abstract: The invention relates to a navigation system for a vehicle, in particular for a land vehicle, having at least one single-axis gyro for the vehicle vertical axis (z axis), having two accelerometers in the horizontal vehicle plane (x axis, y axis), and having a vehicle-axis velocity measurement device, for example, a distance-travelled sensor. In addition, supporting signal devices, in particular a satellite receiver and/or a map, are available as well as a controller, which uses a suitable Kalman filter to determine the vehicle position and/or the direction of travel from the measured and stored signals. The Kalman filter is assigned at least one partial filter, of which a first partial filter is used for dynamic levelling and/or a second partial filter is designed as a position filter which provides track calibration, position calibration and sensor calibration.

Abstract: A gating circuit for largely glitch-free gating of analog signal values obtained in a periodic sequence, capacitively buffer-stored, digitized by means of an A/D converter and subsequently erased before a next signal value is obtained in the capacitive buffer store. A first operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) capable of being activated by a gating pulse has a non-inverting input connected to the reference-earth point of a capacitive store and an output connected to the charging terminal of the capacitive store. Its inverting input is connected through an impedance converter and a resistor, which limits the discharge current, to the charging terminal of the capacitive store. A second OTA serves as a signal driver whose gain is predetermined by the ratio of the value of a resistor connected in parallel with the capacitive store to that of a series resistor that determines the potential at the inverting input of the second OTA.

Abstract: A method and a device for compensating Shupe effect drift errors in a fiber gyro that result from time-dependent temperature changes. A closed loop fiber optic gyro includes a VCO control loop and an evaluation unit that incorporates a model which is dependent on the optical path length of light through the fiber coil. The closed loop gyro is arranged to compensate for temperature-dependent drift changes that result from changes in optical path length.

Abstract: Strictly out-of-phase stimulation of the two oscillators of a micro-mechanical rate-of-rotation sensor based on the Coriolis principle, having two-plate like oscillators arranged in layers one above another in two parallel planes and capable of being stimulated to oscillate perpendicular to the planes by means of an electrostatic drive, is achieved by the oscillators each being connected via at least one spring to a couple element formed, in each case, in the same wafer layer. The couple elements are mirror-symmetrically configured with respect to a mid-plane between the oscillators and connected to each other by a coupling web arranged therebetween to form a couple structure for the oscillators.

Abstract: A micromechanical rate-of-rotation sensor based on the coriolis principle includes two plate-like oscillators electrostatically driven to oscillate out-of-phase. The oscillators are arranged one above another in alignment to oscillate via plate-like support structures separated from one another by a very small drive capacitor gap. By suitable selection of the natural frequency of the support structure parts, due to a significantly-larger distance between the oscillators, it is possible to achieve larger amplitudes of oscillation and, hence, a high oscillation quality, unlimited by the drive capacitor gap (which is narrow for reasons of good stimulation at small excitation voltages). The two oscillator structures in each case preferably comprise two electrically mutually insulated bonded parts suspended via springs within a frame and configured so that essentially only rotational oscillator movements are possible with linear movements of the oscillators in the .+-.z spatial direction largely suppressed.

Abstract: A small modulation current is applied to the light source of a Sagnac-type fiber optic gyroscope to increase accuracy and/or stability of scale factor (open loop configuration) and to reduce bias errors and random walk (closed-loop configuration). The phase and amplitude of the modulation current are controlled through a control circuit whose reference is picked off at a first beamsplitter in series with the light source. In such a way, light emitted from the light source into the interferometer contains no modulation. The elimination of modulation removes a source that would otherwise cause deterioration of gyroscope stability resulting from light returning from the interferometer or due to electrical interference, thus limiting measurement accuracy.

Abstract: A digitized real voice signal is converted via complex filtering into a complex signal that is subjected to sampling rate reduction, the bandwidth of the respective complex filter corresponding to the sampling rate. The complex signal is phase-modulated by means of a code signal generated by a random-number generator and additively combined with a pilot signal (likewise phase-modulated in a random distribution) to form an encrypted useful signal for transmission. The useful signal is sequentially transmitted together with a preamble for synchronization and signal equalization at the receiver end. At the receiver end, clock synchronization is forced for a phase-modulated pilot signal produced at the receiver end and equalizer coefficients for an equalizer at the receiver end are calculated from the digitized received signal after complex filtering and corresponding sampling rate reduction, during a preamble recognition phase, at which point the phase of the useful signal decryption is initialized.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for image signal decoupling in position-transmitting high-vacuum electromagnetic radiation quanta or particle detectors. The electromagnetic radiation quanta or particles impinge on a spatially resolving anode structure through a photoelectron converter layer (in the case of electromagnetic radiation) and directly through an electron multiplier as an electron avalanche (in the case of particle radiation). The electron avalanche is first collected for a short time inside the vacuum on the anode side by means of a high-resistance, conducting semiconductor thin film, and is then read out capacitively from the outside through the glass bottom (counter-substrate) of the detector device as an image charge by means of a low-resistance anode layer of suitable structure. The capacitive decoupling permits high spatial resolution when the internal resistances of the charge collecting layer and the readout anode layer are optimally adapted to one another.

Abstract: A method for minimizing measured quantities determined from sensors affected by measuring failures and detected by a plurality of redundant sensors connected to form a measuring system by detecting and isolating the sensors affected by failures. Sensor values measured by all the sensors are mapped by a linear transformation into a vector in the parity space (parity vector). The dimension of the parity space is determined by the redundance of the measuring system (i.e., the number of sensors and the dimension of the quantity to be measured).The subspaces at each failure level that contain the largest proportion of the measured parity vector are determined by projection of the measured parity vector onto all possible subspaces. The best sensor combination at each failure level can be determined by omitting the sensor combinations belonging to such subspaces.

Abstract: A high precision micromechanical accelerometer comprises a layered structure of five (5) semiconductor wafers insulated from one another by thin oxide layers. The accelerometer is formed by first connecting a coverplate and a baseplate to associated insulating plates. Counter-electrodes, produced by anisotropic etching from the respective insulating plates, are fixed to the coverplate and the baseplate respectively. The counter-electrodes are contactable through the cover or baseplate via contact windows. A central wafer contains a unilaterally linked mass (pendulum) that is also produced by anisotropic etching and which serves as a movable central electrode of a differential capacitor. The layered structure is hermetically sealed by semiconductor fusion bonding. A stepped gradation from the top is formed at a wafer edge region for attaching contact pads to individual wafers to permit electrical contacting of individual wafers. The invention permits fabrication of a .mu.

Abstract: A thermoelectric heating and cooling chamber is characterized by a large adjustable temperature range. A layer arrangement of plate-shaped Peltier elements includes a first number of lower power Peltier elements that form a first, inner heating/cooling area and a second number of higher power Peltier elements that form an outer heating/cooling area. The two heating/cooling areas are separated by an overlapping intermediate plate of thermally-insulative material such as stress-free cast aluminum. To avoid overheating of the inner layer of the lower power Peltier elements during heating operation, either the cascade arrangement of the higher power Peltier elements is bypassed by a bypass diode polarized so that the electrically bypassed higher power Peltier elements remain currentless during heating operation, or a means limits current through the higher power Peltier elements as a function of a permissible temperature limit on the hot side of the lower power Peltier elements.

Abstract: A high precision micromechanical accelerometer comprises a layered structure of five (5) semiconductor wafers insulated from one another by thin semiconductor material oxide layers. The accelerometer is formed by first connecting a coverplate and a baseplate to associated insulating plates. Counter-electrodes, produced by anisotropic etching from the respective insulating plates, are fixed to the coverplate and the baseplate respectively. The counter-electrodes are contactable through the cover or baseplate via contact windows. A central wafer contains a unilaterally linked mass (pendulum) that is also produced by anisotropic etching and which serves as a movable central electrode of a differential capacitor. The layered structure is hermetically sealed by semiconductor fusion bonding. A stepped gradation from the top is formed at a wafer edge region for attaching contact pads to individual wafers to permit electrical contacting of individual wafers. The invention permits fabrication of a .mu.

Abstract: An integrated optics chip is employed as a Michelson interferometer for stabilizing the wavelength of a light source in a fiber optic Sagnac interferometer for measuring rotation rate. A statistically-independent second signal component is applied in addition to a resetting digital phase ramp dependent on rotation rate to a phase modulator incorporated in the integrated optics chip (MIOC). The second signal component optimizes the working point of the phase modulator. By employing such statistically-independent variation of the phase modulation, the light wavelength-dependent measuring signal of the Michelson interferometer may be demodulated from the detector read-out signaled used for readjustment of the light-source wavelength via a light-source temperature and/or injection current change. In open loop operation, scale factor variations can be compensated using the light wavelength-dependent measuring signal.

Abstract: A method for compensating for light source wavelength variation in a fiber optic gyro having a closed reset control loop. The method employs the finding that the voltage range required for a 2.pi. phase shift in a phase modulator is a function of the wavelength of the gyro light source. The voltage required for affecting the 2.pi. phase shift in such a gyro is regulated according to the invention and utilized to compensate changes in light source wavelength or scale factor. Phase modulator temperature is also taken into account for precise compensation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for stabilizing the scale factor and the loop gain of the control loop of a fiberoptic Saganc interferometer with phase resetting. A digital evaluation circuit includes two auxiliary control loops, one for nominal gain of the scale factor control and the other for stabilization of loop gain of the primary control loop, in addition to the control loop for the readjustment of the phase modulator. The evaluation circuit can be realized as an integrated circuit. In addition to the optimization of control bandwidth, the circuit avoids substantial complexity of the circuit subassemblies for generating modulation and demodulation signals and control signals for the scale factor control loop.

Abstract: Apparatus for measurement of light waves with an unbalanced optical interferometer. The apparatus consists of waveguides on a flat substrate material characterized by direction-dependent thermal expansion. Thermal compensation is achieved without active regulation by a predetermined spatial arrangement and length ratio of the light paths so that the optical lengths of the two waveguides change by precisely the same amount. As a result, the optical path difference is independent of temperature changes.

Abstract: A multi-axis fiber-optic rotation rate sensor arrangement of I/O opto-electronics (MCS) is based upon single-axis rotational rate sensor arrangements and includes a low-frequency transformation of the output signal at the photodetector by pulsed operation of the light source. The light path is divided into n independent closed light paths downstream of a main beam splitter and a phase modulator whose lengths are in the ratio L.sub.1 :L.sub.2 :L.sub.3 : . . . :L.sub.n =1:2:3: . . . :n. The light source is switched ON/OFF with a pulse duty factor whose ON duration corresponds to the transit time of light through the shortest fiber coil L.sub.1 and whose OFF duration is at least equal to the transit time of light through the longest of the fiber coils L.sub.n. The signals are distinguished either downstream of the photodetector by time-division multiplex or at the phase modulator, where the signal is virtually blanked by the corresponding bias phase application with .+-..pi..multidot.

Abstract: A fiber optic Sagnac interferometer for measuring rotation rate includes a light source that is ON/OFF keyed in a predetermined cycle. After filtering of the readout signal in the course of demodulation, a substantially-lower readout signal carrier frequency, and, thus, corresponding-lower demodulator requirements, may be achieved. A closed loop configuration is disclosed, associated with a scale factor controlling circuit, for rotation rate sensors with keyed light sources. The invention is particularly suitable for fiber optical rotation rate sensors with short sensor coils.

Abstract: A method for achieving an initial synchronization and matching a receive filter of a digital receiver of a binary baseband transmission system by employing a training sequence before the transmission of useful data. The coefficients of the digital filter that is to be matched to the received signal are obtained by means of the training sequence. Character synchronization and recognition of the end of the sequence occur automatically. After the training sequence is received, an optimally matched receive filter in the receiver is made available. The method is independent of the level of the received signal within a predetermined computing accuracy and can be implemented by means of a conventional signal processor system.

Abstract: An open loop fiber optic rotation rate sensor of the type that is subject to bias errors arising from the coupling of disturbing signals into the input of a demodulator. Such errors are suppressed by the use of a demodulation signal that is statistically independent of all signal sources that may cause disturbing signals. A modulation signal generator includes a random number generator from which two signals (b.sub.0, b.sub.1) for a statistically alternating bias for activating optimal working points on the interferometer characteristic with positive or negative gradient and an appropriately matched demodulation signal (d) are derived. The demodulation signal, after transit time correction, acts upon the synchronous input of the synchronous demodulator.