Patents by Inventor Terrence L. McGovern

Terrence L. McGovern 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: 3974457
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a time and frequency control unit which is apable of compensating for long-term crystal oscillator drift and other errors in a reference oscillator signal by both coarse and fine (vernier) controlling. The invention takes the reference oscillator frequency, f.sub.o, divides it by a controlled factor a and mixes f.sub.o with f.sub.o /a to produce an f.sub.o + f.sub.o /aSignal. The f.sub.o + f.sub.o /aSignal is then divided by a second controlled factor b and mixed again with f.sub.o to yield a signal of frequency f.sub.o .+-. (f.sub.o + f.sub.o /a) 1/b,Where f.sub.f, the final output frequency, is determined after a filter stage sets the operation sign of the above expression (to plus or minus). Where f.sub.f is intended to be constant with a changing f.sub.o, the values of a and b are changed. From the above expression, it is apparent that a change in a makes a fine correction whereas a change in b translates the frequency with a coarse adjustment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1975
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Alvin G. Bates, Terrence L. McGovern