Patents by Inventor Michael F. McKenney

Michael F. McKenney has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7870178
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Patent number: 7185038
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Patent number: 7092429
    Abstract: A multi-pass frequency hop timing acquisition correlator that produces a more accurate time estimate from the fast acquisition frequency hop signal is disclosed. The time estimate produced by the multi-pass acquisition correlator is more accurate than the ΒΌ hop estimate produced by single-pass fast acquisition correlators. The multi-pass frequency hop timing acquisition correlator uses a time estimate generated by a previous pass through the multi-pass frequency hop timing acquisition correlator as a starting point for computing a new, more accurate, time estimate. Thus, the second pass through the multi-pass frequency hop timing acquisition correlator produces a time estimate that is relatively more accurate than the time estimate produced by the first pass. The more accurate time estimate produced by the multi-pass acquisition correlator reduces the hardware and time needed by the direct acquisition process to acquire the M-code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2006
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Michael F. McKenney
  • Publication number: 20040039761
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2003
    Publication date: February 26, 2004
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Patent number: 6643678
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory. One receiver includes a Doppler offset generator that can advantageously offset a time index used to address a tap position in a non-coherent memory to compensate for code drift in a code with a frequency offset. The amount of offset is computed by accumulating clock cycles of a clock signal that is related to the frequency offset computed by the DFT or FFT frequency bin. The offset aligns a correlation peak in the received code such that the correlation peak can be accumulated in relatively fewer tap positions or addresses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation, a division of L3 Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Patent number: 6567833
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation, a division of L3 Communications Corp.
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Publication number: 20030076910
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2002
    Publication date: April 24, 2003
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Publication number: 20030050949
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2002
    Publication date: March 13, 2003
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney
  • Patent number: 6466958
    Abstract: An apparatus and method allow receivers to quickly acquire a pseudorandom noise signal. A receiver advantageously detects frequency shifts using a compact parallel process hardware implementation of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The simultaneous detection of multiple frequencies allows the receiver to search the frequency range of the transmitted signal in larger increments of frequency, thereby increasing the speed of acquisition. One receiver does not use coherent integration before computation of the transform and advantageously maintains a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response of the DFT circuit enables searching of multiple frequency offsets without CPU intensive processing to compensate for frequency response variations. A receiver can include a Doppler correction circuit, which permits correlation data with frequency shift in the code to be non-coherently integrated among relatively fewer addresses or tap positions in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: Interstate Electronics Corporation, a division of L3 Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Robert J. Van Wechel, Michael F. McKenney