Doppler Frequency Tracking Patents (Class 342/99)
  • Patent number: 7164737
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for estimating a Doppler frequency with phase information, thereby estimating a maximum Doppler frequency. The method for estimating the Doppler frequency includes the steps of measuring phases of phase samples from a plurality of slots of a received signal, evaluating a phase difference of the measured phase, and estimating a maximum Doppler frequency according to a mean of at least one phase difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Kyoo-Jin Han
  • Patent number: 7136013
    Abstract: In a radio wave radar system using a two-frequency CW modulation method, it is possible to detect a distance between a host vehicle and a forward vehicle and to realize a stable ACC following travel, even in a condition in which the relative speed is 0. By combining the two-frequency CW modulation method with the frequency pulse CW modulation method, that is, by using combination with the two-frequency CW method when the relative speed occurs and the frequency pulse CW method when the relative speed is close to 0, even if the relative speed is 0, the IF signal obtained from the reflected wave from the forward vehicle can be generated to detect the existence of the ACC target vehicle, so that it is possible to realize a stable ACC following travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Hanawa, Hiroshi Kuroda, Kazuaki Takano
  • Patent number: 7068209
    Abstract: A system and method is provided for detecting emitter signals and for determining a scan strategy for a receiver system that receives such emitter signals. In one embodiment, the scan strategy may be computed to operate in a manner cognizant of on-board active jammers, optimizing the jammer band and intercept band performance. The additional inputs for this task are a jammer band assignment table, and a blanking assignment table. The capability to generate “dry” (no jam) and “wet” (jamming) scan strategies for an emitter set is provided, with separate intercept rules for each.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventor: Anthony J. Gounalis
  • Patent number: 7053815
    Abstract: A radar tracking system for an anti-aircraft, missile, including angle tracking, doppler tracking and range tracking feedback loops operating on sum and difference channels. Fast fourier transform digital filters are used to provide a frequency spectrum of the sum and difference I.F. channels and detection and confirmation algorithms are employed for selecting the F.F.T. target ‘bin’. Adjacent F.F.T. bins are used to simulate a bin centered on the target frequency, shifts of the latter with target/missile acceleration causing frequency errors which are detected by a discriminator and used to control the target I.F. Confirmation of target acquisition is achieved by successive summations of the target bin power the totals being accumulated and compared with upper and lower thresholds. Confirmation and rejection results from total levels outside the thresholds while further accumulation and comparison follow the intermediate condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Alenia Marconi Systems Limited
    Inventors: David William Joynson, Nigel Stansfield, Peter James MacBean
  • Patent number: 6995705
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a system and method for Doppler track correlation for debris tracking in PCL radar applications. The disclosed embodiments describe the systems and methods used in the detection of debris pieces and the association of the Doppler signals from the debris pieces across multiple illumination channels. The present invention also provides computation of debris state vectors and the projection of trajectories to determine debris impact points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventors: Bert L. Bradford, Sandra Lodwig, legal representative, Richard Lodwig, legal representative, Richard A. Lodwig, deceased
  • Patent number: 6972710
    Abstract: In an automotive radio wave radar, a center frequency of a transmitted wave is shifted at a certain cycle, and position information of an obstacle detected at three or more center frequencies is subjected to decision by majority to determine whether detection results of the obstacle are erroneous with the occurrence of jamming. If any of the detection results is determined to be abnormal, the abnormal result is discarded. An automotive radio wave radar is realized which can correctly perform the obstacle detection even in the event of jamming without causing erroneous obstacle detection or omission of the detection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shigeaki Matsubara, Kazuaki Takano, Hiroshi Kuroda
  • Patent number: 6933878
    Abstract: A wave-form generator drives a number of microwave generating devices each operating at different frequency bands. The output of each microwave generator is connected to its own transmission channel of limited bandwidth which contains all the non-linear components necessary for transmission such as an amplifier, T/R switch, rotary joint and beam switch. These individual channels are finally combined onto a common wideband channel which contains only substantially linear components such as a single waveguide and the antenna itself. Because of the isolation between channels there is little or no opportunity for the generation of harmonics or intermodulation distortions which would otherwise occur in a transmitter capable of operating over a very wide bandwidth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1985
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2005
    Assignee: Bae Systems Electronics Limited
    Inventor: Robert Bewes Molyneux-Berry
  • Publication number: 20040257266
    Abstract: A radar detection process includes computing a derivative of an FFT output signal to detect an object within a specified detection zone. In one embodiment, a zero crossing in the second derivative of the FFT output signal indicates the presence of an object. The range of the object is determined as a function of the frequency at which the zero crossing occurs. Also described is a detection table containing indicators of the presence or absence of an object within a respective radar beam and processing cycle. At least two such indicators are combined in order to detect the presence of an object within the detection zone and with changing range gates in each of the antenna beams the coverage of the detection zone can be varied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2004
    Publication date: December 23, 2004
    Inventors: Joseph S. Pleva, Mark E. Russell, Walter Gordon Woodington, Michael Joseph Delcheccolo, H. Barteld Van Rees
  • Publication number: 20040246167
    Abstract: An average power value of a peak pair corresponding to a subjective target objective is converted into a radar cross section, to calculate a normalized average power value NP and a standard deviation DP representing a temporal dispersion of a power difference between peak pairs. When the value NP is larger than an automotive vehicle discriminating threshold THnp, the attribute of the subjective target objective is set to “automotive vehicle.” When the value NP is not larger than the threshold THnp and the deviation DP is larger than a human objective discriminating threshold THdp, the attribute of the subjective target objective is set to “non-vehicle objective: human objective.” Furthermore, when the value NP is not larger than the threshold THnp and the deviation DP is not larger than the threshold THdp, the attribute of the subjective target objective is set to “non-vehicle objective: non-human.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2003
    Publication date: December 9, 2004
    Inventors: Hiroaki Kumon, Yukimasa Tamatsu
  • Patent number: 6801155
    Abstract: A method of recognizing a radar target comprises producing a sequence of Doppler spectra of radar returns form a scene and producing therefrom a sequence of Doppler feature vectors for a target in the scene. Hidden Markov modelling (HMM) is then used to identify the sequence of Doppler feature vectors as indicating a member of a particular class of targets. HMM is used to identify the sequence of Doppler feature vectors by assigning to each feature vector an occurrence probability by selecting a probability distribution or state from a set thereof associated with a class of targets, multiplying the occurrence probabilities together to obtain an overall probability, repeating for other probability distributions in the set to determine a combination of probability distributions giving highest overall probability for that class of target, then repeating for at least one other class of targets and selecting the target class as being that which yields the highest overall occurrence probability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2004
    Assignee: QinetiQ Limited
    Inventors: Mohammed Jahangir, Keith M Ponting
  • Publication number: 20040085241
    Abstract: System and method for detection and tracking of targets, which in a preferred embodiment is based on the use of fractional Fourier transformation of time-domain signals to compute projections of the auto and cross ambiguity functions along arbitrary line segments. The efficient computational algorithms of the preferred embodiment are used to detect the position and estimate the velocity of signals, such as those encountered by active or passive sensor systems. Various applications of the proposed algorithm in the analysis of time-frequency domain signals are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2003
    Publication date: May 6, 2004
    Applicant: Altratek, Inc.
    Inventors: Orhan Arikan, Ahmet Kemal Ozdemir
  • Patent number: 6677887
    Abstract: An outdoor microwave transceiver intrusion detector that alternately transmits pulses of RF energy at two different frequencies and uses range and direction of travel information derived from the phase of the two Doppler responses to optimize the signal processing and apply range dependent thresholds. The time delay between the onset of the transmitted pulse and the sample of the Doppler response is controlled to provide an accurate range cutoff. The two frequencies are selected so that the difference in phase of the Doppler response at the two frequencies increases from zero to ninety degrees as the target goes from the Transceiver to the maximum range. Digital signal processing is used to measure the difference in phase of the two Doppler responses and translate this information into location of the target. The location information is used to create a number of range bins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2004
    Assignee: Southwest Microwave, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert Keith Harman
  • Patent number: 6653974
    Abstract: In a method for the determination of the unambiguous range for the measurement of the IF deviation in a frequency-regulated radar system, a frequency adjustment or tuning of the radar system is carried out during the reception of an echo signal by adjustingly setting respectively at least one value for the IF deviation around the value zero in the unambiguous range of the IF deviation as well as in an ambiguous range of the IF deviation. Then, the unambiguous range is recognized as such by comparison of the signal amplitude and/or the number of the detected targets during these adjustment settings, because the unambiguous range exhibits the highest signal amplitude and/or the greatest number of detected targets (i.e. echo signals).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: Automotive Distance Control Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Ralph Speck, Joachim Flacke, Bruno Kaiser
  • Publication number: 20030210170
    Abstract: A system and method (32) for measuring line-of-sight angular rates for all-weather precision guidance of distributed projectiles (16) and a guidance system (10) based thereon. In accordance with the novel method (32) for measuring line-of-sight angular rates, first the range rates of the target (14) relative to at least two projectiles (16) is determined, as well as the position and velocity of each projectile (16). Then, the line-of-sight angular rate of the target (14) relative to at least one projectile (16) is computed from the range rates, positions, and velocities. In the illustrative embodiment, the range rate of the target (14) relative to a projectile (16) is determined based on a monostatic target Doppler measurement, a monostatic projectile Doppler measurement, a bistatic Doppler measurement of the target (14) by the projectile (16), and the carrier frequency of a data link (26) between the projectile and the shipboard system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2002
    Publication date: November 13, 2003
    Inventors: Kapriel V. Krikorian, Robert A. Rosen
  • Patent number: 6636174
    Abstract: System and method for detection and tracking of targets, which in a preferred embodiment is based on the use of fractional Fourier transformation of time-domain signals to compute projections of the auto and cross ambiguity functions along arbitrary line segments. The efficient computational algorithms of the preferred embodiment are used to detect the position and estimate the velocity of signals, such as those encountered by active or passive sensor systems. Various applications of the proposed algorithm in the analysis of time-frequency domain signals are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2003
    Assignee: Altratek Inc.
    Inventors: Orhan Arikan, Ahmet Kemal Ozdemir
  • Publication number: 20030153274
    Abstract: The Doppler spread of a received signal is estimated from the derivative of the path transfer function envelope for the received signal. The estimated Doppler spread is used to estimate the speed of a mobile station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2002
    Publication date: August 14, 2003
    Inventors: Carsten Juncker, Peter Toft, Niels Jacob Sand Morch
  • Patent number: 6556942
    Abstract: A short range radiolocation system and associated methods that allow the location of an item, such as equipment, containers, pallets, vehicles, or personnel, within a defined area. A small, battery powered, self-contained tag is provided to an item to be located. The tag includes a spread-spectrum transmitter that transmits a spread-spectrum code and identification information. A plurality of receivers positioned about the area receive signals from a transmitting tag. The position of the tag, and hence the item, is located by triangulation. The system employs three different ranging techniques for providing coarse, intermediate, and fine spatial position resolution. Coarse positioning information is provided by use of direct-sequence code phase transmitted as a spread-spectrum signal. Intermediate positioning information is provided by the use of a difference signal transmitted with the direct-sequence spread-spectrum code. Fine positioning information is provided by use of carrier phase measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC
    Inventor: Stephen F. Smith
  • Patent number: 6553007
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and a system for compensating for doppler shift in a signal transmitted between a mobile station and a base station in a mobile communication system. In the method the doppler characteristic is determined for two selected portions of the received signal, the doppler characteristic being in the form of a phased offset for each selected portion. The larger phase offset is them used as a doppler characteristic to provide a doppler shift compensation for the received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Nokia Corporation
    Inventor: Julie Pekkarinen
  • Patent number: 6518916
    Abstract: This invention relates to an object recognition apparatus. This apparatus comprises an antenna which emits transmission beams toward a plurality of directions; a receiving circuit which receives reflected signals of the transmission beams from predetermined directions; a distance and direction calculation circuit which calculates distance and direction to objects reflecting the transmission beams based on the transmission beams and the reflected signals; an object pattern storage unit which stores range direction patterns of reflected signals obtained in advance with respect to predetermined objects; an object recognition circuit which compares range direction patterns of the reflected signals received by the receiving circuit with respect to the predetermined directions, with the range direction patterns stored in the object pattern storage unit, and which recognize that a pair of reflected signals from two neighboring directions are signals reflected by the same object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Jun Ashihara, Takashi Sugawara, Hiroshi Kudoh
  • Publication number: 20030006930
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting and tracking a target object, including the calculation of the target object's altitude, is disclosed. During the processing of signals received by a receiver, the system selectively calculates the altitude of the target object from signals modified by an interference effect pattern formed by the signals broadcast by a transmitter, or from the calculation of geometric shapes associated with three or more transmitters and determining the intersection point of those shapes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2002
    Publication date: January 9, 2003
    Applicant: Lockheed Martin Corp.
    Inventors: Richard A. Lodwig, Bonnie L. Adams, Gregory A. Baker
  • Patent number: 6498580
    Abstract: In a system for estimating the launch point of a missile, Doppler shifted signals reflected from the missile as it travels from its launch point are used in a Kalman filter to estimate the missile position, velocity and acceleration, in earth centered fixed coordinates. The coordinate system is rotated to a rotated earth fixed (REF) coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the estimated missile launch point and the Z-axis is made parallel to the missile azimuth as represented by the missile velocity determined by the Kalman filter. The error in the downrange component of the missile launch point is then reduced to a minimum in the REF coordinate system using a square root information filter. The coordinate system is then rotated to a second rotated earth fixed coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the updated launch point position and the Z-axis is positioned at 45 degrees from the missile azimuth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2002
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventor: Bert L. Bradford
  • Publication number: 20020190893
    Abstract: In an FM-CW radar apparatus, while a distance and velocity of a target are measured by simultaneously transmitting an FM modulation wave along a frequency-up direction and an FM modulation wave along a frequency-down direction toward this target, physically-required radar signal measuring time thereof can be reduced by ½.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2001
    Publication date: December 19, 2002
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masahira Akasu
  • Publication number: 20020186161
    Abstract: A transmitted signal and a received signal are combined and the combination is expected to determine whether or not a target signal is present. Either the transmitted signal or the received signal is combined with an auxiliary signal containing a range of frequencies corresponding to an anticipated Doppler shift, so that an output of the combined transmitted and received signal will be present only if a target signal exhibiting a Doppler shift within the anticipated range is present. The auxiliary signal preferably comprises finite-duration signal portions of different types so as to provide a substantially uniform frequency response throughout the selected range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2002
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventor: Wieslaw Jerzy Szajnowski
  • Publication number: 20020154051
    Abstract: In a radar, a frequency-modulated transmission signal whose frequency varies in time is generated. The gain-frequency characteristics of an IF signal which represents a beat signal between the transmission signal and a reception signal has its peak at or below one half of the sampling frequency of an AD converter. The gain-frequency characteristics of an IF amplifier circuit is determined so that the gain increases as the frequency increases at or below the frequency corresponding to the peak, the ratio of change in the gain relative to change in the frequency becomes smaller at short distances for which a saturation of a mixer is caused, and the gain is reduced at DC and in the vicinity of DC.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2002
    Publication date: October 24, 2002
    Applicant: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sadao Yamashita
  • Publication number: 20020130807
    Abstract: An intrusion detection system and method are provided that can utilize impulse radio technology to detect when an intruder has entered a protection zone. In addition, the intrusion detection system and method can utilize impulse radio technology to determine a location of the intruder within the protection zone and also track the movement of the intruder within the protection zone. Moreover, the intrusion detection system and method can utilize impulse radio technology to create a specially shaped protection zone before trying to detect when and where the intruder has penetrated and moved within the protection zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2001
    Publication date: September 19, 2002
    Inventors: David J. Hall, Scott M. Yano, Hans G. Schantz
  • Patent number: 6433730
    Abstract: A system and method is disclosed for a radar receiver, such as a wideband crystal video early warning receiver, to automatically detect the noise level of the radar receiver with immunity to high pulse repetition frequencies and high duty cycle signals. The noise riding threshold circuit utilizes high frequency components of the noise and, to the attenuated extent present, high frequency components of the video signal to produce the noise riding threshold voltage. An amplifier gain control permits adjusting the noise-riding threshold to a fixed relative level. In a preferred embodiment, the noise riding threshold control of the present invention utilizes current feedback amplifiers for wide bandwidth, high gain video amplifiers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: John D. Borla
  • Patent number: 6429804
    Abstract: A target 22 is explored by transmitting an exploration signal 40 at a certain angle while scanning an antenna 23. In the go and return exploration the angle for transmitting the exploration signal is shifted. It is possible to detect the direction of the target 22 with the same accuracy as that in exploration with a more minute angle difference, by combining the exploration results with the angle shifted in a plurality of scans. Relative travel of the target 22 that accompany a plurality of scans is considered as a Doppler shift and a combination of data is used considering the frequency shift. Data that cannot be combined is treated as an unwanted reflective object and the position where unwanted reflecting objects assemble is obtained and the position is determined as a shoulder. The height of a stationary target is determined from the variation in the reflected signal level in an approach to the stationary target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Fujitsu Ten Limited
    Inventors: Masayuki Kishida, Daisaku Ono, Hirofumi Higashida
  • Patent number: 6297764
    Abstract: An electronic counter-measure receiver can be colocated with a threat simulator radar, which transmits a radar signal. As a pulsed-Doppler signal, this transmitted radar signal is sampled as a reference signal by the receiver to determine quadrature, coherent matched filter coefficients. A return signal is received and processed with the reference signal as quadrature signal components with the quadrature, coherent matched filter coefficients within a matched filter. The return signal is processed as a first intermediate frequency via a mixer and local oscillator and a second quadrature intermediate frequency via a digital local oscillator and mixer. A fast Fourier transform is performed to determine Doppler information. In a continuous wave transmission for sampling arbitrary but unevenly spaced in time pulses are generated from a pulse generator source internal to the receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2001
    Assignee: Harris Corporation
    Inventors: Terry Wormington, John S. Seybold, James Rhoa
  • Patent number: 6275182
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for improving airborne vehicle tracking and guidance systems by reducing boresight error induced by polarization of the RF energy impinging on the vehicle radome. The radome wall is formed with a taper which gradually increases from the base near the vehicle antenna to the tip according to a disclosed formula which accounts for frequency, incidence angle, look angle, and the dielectric constant of the radome material. This taper of the radome minimizes the crossplane boresight error component magnitude which is polarization sensitive and produces a polarization insensitive inplane boresight error component. Also disclosed is a method of electronically compensating such radomes for boresight error where the radome boresight error data accumulated during testing is digitized and processed for compensating data in the vehicle electronic system to provide compensated tracking data for the vehicle guidance system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1980
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Assignee: General Dynamics Corporation/Electronics
    Inventor: Calvin J. Meierbachtol
  • Patent number: 6246357
    Abstract: A radar apparatus is provided with signal converting means for FFT-transforming an output signal of reception means for detecting a reception electromagnetic wave; amplitude peak value detecting means for detecting a peak value of an amplitude level from a spectrum made by data converted by this signal converting means; beam scanning means for changing a beam direction of a transmission electromagnetic wave and also a beam direction of the reception electromagnetic wave; and measured-angle processing means operated in such a manner that when the same target object can be detected along a plurality of beam directions which are changed by the beam scanning means, an angle of the target object is calculated by employing the peak value of the amplitude levels along the respective directions, acquired by the amplitude detecting means, whereas when the target object is detectable only along a single beam direction, the angle of the target object is judged as preset angles D1, E1, F1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naohisa Uehara
  • Patent number: 6239740
    Abstract: We describe an efficient algorithm for evaluating the (weighted bipartite graph of) associations between two sets of data with gaussian error, e.g., between a set of measured state vectors and a set of estimated state vectors. First a general method is developed for determining, from the covariance matrix, minimal d-dimensional error ellipsoids for the state vectors which always overlap when a gating criterion is satisfied. Circumscribing boxes, or d-ranges, for the data ellipsoids are then found and whenever they overlap the association probability is computed. For efficiently determining the intersections of the d-ranges a multidimensional search tree method is used to reduce the overall scaling of the evaluation of associations. Very few associations that lie outside the predetermined error threshold or gate are evaluated. Empirical testing for variously distributed data in both three and eight dimensions indicate that the scaling is significantly reduced from N2, where N is the size of the data set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Joseph B. Collins, Jeffrey K. Uhlmann
  • Patent number: 6239738
    Abstract: A signal-processing method for a motor-vehicle radar arrangement is specified, which method provides more extensive information on the traffic situation in observation direction by evaluating echo signals deflected at the road surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Gerd Wanielik, Robert Schneider
  • Patent number: 6201496
    Abstract: A search radar including the improvement of apparatus for enhancing the estimation of the target angle within a search scan of the radar is disclosed. More specifically, the improvement apparatus utilizes the generated scan angles and target amplitude measurements correspondingly associated therewith to generate intermediate signals which are representative of the natural logarithm of the target amplitude measurements plus the square of the corresponding scan angle multiplied by a predetermined constant. For each search scan, the apparatus computes separately signals representative of the moments of: the scan angles, the squares of the scan angles, the products of the scan angles and corresponding intermediate signals, and the intermediate signals. In turn, the apparatus operates on the computed moment representative signals in some prespecified mathematical relationship to effect an optimum estimation for the target angle in each search scan of the radar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
    Inventor: Henry E. Lee
  • Patent number: 6188348
    Abstract: A radar ice sounder which employs parallel Doppler processing obtains more reliable and accurate radar ice sounding. The invention uses both incoherent and coherent techniques, in the same paradigm, to achieve simultaneously high Signal-to-Noise Ratio, high Signal-to-Speckle standard deviation Ratio, and high Signal-to-Clutter Ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: The Johns Hopkins University
    Inventor: Russell Keith Raney
  • Patent number: 6166678
    Abstract: A signal process is provided for radar interference mitigation in SAR data and to perform several functions. Initially, the algorithm separately removes the average range bias of the I-channel and the Q-channel data. Next, I- and Q-channels are equalized by properly compensating their phase difference and gain imbalance due to either constant or random timing jitters. The current implementation well compensates relative I/Q timing jitters within two sampling time intervals which, for the FOPEN III receiver, are 4 nanoseconds. Graceful performance degradation of the algorithm is expected when timing jitter exceeds two sampling intervals. For example, phase jitter on the order of 5 sampling intervals will be partially but not perfectly corrected. Following the I/Q equalization, adaptive RFI rejection is performed. The FOPEN III data bandwidth may also be reduced 50% with hardly any information loss.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventor: Jen King Jao
  • Patent number: 6137406
    Abstract: A double superheterodyne type microwave detector is constructed from a reception antenna; a first local oscillator; a second local oscillator; reception means for detecting microwaves having prescribed frequencies based on signals obtained by carrying out a first mixing in which the output of the first local oscillator is mixed with the microwaves picked up by the antenna, and a second mixing in which the signals obtained from the first mixing are mixed with the output of the second local oscillator; judgement means for judging whether or not an actual microwave signal which forms a detection target has been detected by the reception means; alarm means for outputting an alarm when the judgement means judges an actual microwave signal to have been received by the reception means; and first control means for suspending the first mixing when the reception means detects a microwave signal having a prescribed frequency; wherein the judgement of whether or not the prescribed frequency microwave signal detected by t
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: Yupiteru Industries Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hisao Ono
  • Patent number: 6137435
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an onboard radar apparatus having a receiving and transmitting device for transmitting electromagnetic waves to objects and receiving the electromagnetic waves reflected by the objects repeatedly, and a signal processing device for repeatedly calculating relative ranges and relative velocities of the objects based on the transmitting electromagnetic waves and the receiving electromagnetic waves, wherein false images are judged by comparing their relative velocities, calculated from differences between the relative ranges of the objects in previous measurement and the relative ranges of the objects in current measurement, with said relative velocities of the objects, calculated based on the transmitting electromagnetic waves and the receiving electromagnetic waves in the current measurement; and thus judged false images are deleted from outputs of the apparatus, whereby the false images are not recognized as target objects and probability of occurrence of false images can be re
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Koichi Kai
  • Patent number: 6133865
    Abstract: A circuit for use in anti-radar missile seekers or radar counter-measure eivers to convert the signals received from continuous wave radars into pulse signals so that the signals may be more readily detected and can be processed in the same signal processing circuitry used against pulse radars. The received signal is mixed with a frequency swept local oscillator signal, fed to a dispersive delay line and then detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1972
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: Frederick C. Alpers
  • Patent number: 6091356
    Abstract: A source for a linear homodyne transceiver that generates repeated linear chirps. A YIG oscillator with a main coil and an FM coil receives a basic linear current ramp at the main coil to generate a chirp. The FM coil is coupled to receive a PLL error signal. The PLL receives a sample of the output signal from the YIG oscillator at one input and a linear chirp reference signal at the other input generated by a DDS chirp generator. Any variation between the linear chirp frequency at any instant and the actual frequency output by the YIG is corrected by an error signal to the FM coil to correct for nonlinearities of the YIG caused by variations in the chirp rate, the rate of change of frequency per second per chirp, temperature variations and microphonics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2000
    Assignee: Sensor Concepts Incorporated
    Inventors: Michael Lee Sanders, John Hunt Ashton
  • Patent number: 6081224
    Abstract: A control system for a mobile planting apparatus which permits discrete plant spacing to be determined and maintained independent of wheel rotation on the planting apparatus having: (1) a ground speed sensor wherein the rate of movement relative to the ground is determined independent of wheel rotation of the planting apparatus; (2) an input/display device for inputting desired plant spacing; (3) a variable speed motor for driving seed metering devices on the planting apparatus at varying rates independent of wheel rotation of the planting apparatus, wherein the motor changes speeds in response to an electronic signal; (4) a programmable control circuit communicating electronically with the input/display device and ground speed sensor, wherein the programmable control circuit: (a) determines the number of seeds to be dispensed per unit distance based on the desired spacing received from the input/display device; (b) determines the distance traveled based on electronic signals from the ground speed sensor; and
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2000
    Assignee: Parker Hannifin Corporation
    Inventor: Richard Rosenbrock
  • Patent number: 6072423
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods which make it possible to measure the Doppler shift of the echoes of a detection system. That is, the present invention modulates the frequency of the pulses of the transmissions of this system by a pseudohyperbolic function such that a restricted number of copies of the transmission signal can be used to perform the correlation operations on reception and to have them followed by an interpolation operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: Thomson Marconi Sonar S.A.S.
    Inventors: Yves Doisy, Fran.cedilla.ois Chalaron, Laurent Deruaz
  • Patent number: 6072419
    Abstract: A Deramp type radar used in synthetic aperture radar for radar imaging transmits coherently repeated linear frequency-modulated pulses and carries out a sort of pulse compression in reception by demodulation of the echo signals received by means of a frequency ramp that reproduces all or part of a transmitted pulse, and by a Fourier transform performed in range. The application to a Deramp type radar signal of a standard SAR processing is disturbed by the fact that, in this signal, the effectively demodulated part of an echo signal due to a target has a position with respect to this echo signal and a duration that are variable as a function of the distance from the target to the radar. The proposed method makes it possible to eliminate this disturbance by means of a particular choice of a common temporal support used for the demodulation of the signals of all the targets of the useful swath and a phase correction applied to the level of the pulse response of the image focusing filter of the SAR processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventor: Eric Normant
  • Patent number: 6064333
    Abstract: A phased array radar system for target tracking having a track initiation unit, a track prediction unit, a scheduling unit, a track selection unit, and a transmitter/receiver unit. The track initiation unit initiates new tracks representing detected aircraft targets. The track prediction unit predicts the expected position and the calculated position uncertainty of the target as a function of time and the minimal, maximal and optimal time difference to the next measurement. The scheduling unit performs an independent calculation of a sequence of possible time intervals to the next measurement in accordance with specified conditions, and then performs an intersection operation between the calculated sequences of time intervals in order to calculate the optimal time interval to the next measurement. A track selection unit selects that track which has the shortest remaining time interval, K.sub.i, to the next measurement and decreases the time interval to the next measurement for all other tracks with K.sub.i.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: Telefonatkiebolaget LM Ericsson
    Inventor: Dan Stromberg
  • Patent number: 6049301
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for the detection of a target receiver unit such as an enemy radar or radio receiver is disclosed. The surveillance system of this invention includes a transmitter unit coupled to an antenna to establish an electromagnetic surveillance field that includes signal components at two predetermined surveillance frequencies. When a target receiver is located within the surveillance field, the target receiver produces a second electromagnetic field having signal components at the intermodulation products of the surveillance field signal components due to a nonlinear mixing process that occurs within the target receiver. Signal components at predetermined intermodulation frequencies are detected by a receiver circuit within the surveillance system that has a passband excluding signal components at the two predetermined surveillance frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1976
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2000
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: George A. Weagant, deceased
  • Patent number: 6049302
    Abstract: A process and a system for selecting a pulse repetition frequency that causes clutter pulse repetition frequency lines from the negative carrier frequency and from the clutter harmonic frequencies to lay on top of clutter pulse repetition frequency lines from the positive carrier frequency. A pulsed Doppler radar receiver of the system has one or more channels each comprising of a radio frequency input section for receiving a radio frequency carrier. Following the radio frequency input section are one or more serially arranged intermediate frequency sections that terminate in a last intermediate frequency section. The last intermediate frequency section is followed by analog-to-digital conversion and down-conversion to baseband in-phase and quadrature channels. In-phase and quadrature data from the in-phase and quadrature channels is processible by a computational system to detect and track a target in the presence of clutter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2000
    Assignee: Boeing North American
    Inventor: William L. Hinckley, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6018309
    Abstract: A radar data processing method of switching a continuous wave consisting of up phase and down phase into a transmission signal and a local signal in an interrupted manner and using a beat signal between the local signal and a reception signal. The method comprises the steps of setting a range of beat frequencies in up phase used for making a search for a combination and a range of beat frequencies in down phase used for making a search for a combination from beat frequencies corresponding to a distance range to be measured and a predetermined measurement speed range, and making a search for a combination for the same target for the beat frequencies in the up phase and the beat frequencies in the down phase only in the range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masashi Mitsumoto, Takahiko Fujisaka
  • Patent number: 5912620
    Abstract: A combined type intrusion and attack sensing device was a microwave oscillation and Doppler detect circuit an intrusion band-pass filter, an attack band-pass filter, two comparators, two alarm driving circuits, and a suspended object. The combined type intrusion and attack sensing device adopts the Doppler effect to sense an intrusion and employs a microwave antenna to transmit a signal in the microwave band within a predetermined range. The signal will be reflected by any object within above range or suspended object vibration, and the reflected wave will be received by the antenna. The reflected wave will be mixed with original signal to generate a difference-frequency signal. The difference-frequency signal is amplified by an intrusion band-pass filter or an attack band-pass filter. The amplified and filtered signal is sent to two comparator circuits for comparison with a reference signal to generate two driving signals to drive one of the two alarm-generating circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Lite-On Automotive Corp.
    Inventors: Chao-Ting Lin, Sheng-Hsiung Lin
  • Patent number: 5912640
    Abstract: An estimate of the time of the boost engine cut-off of a missile is provided by irradiating the missile after it is launched with continuous wave signals. The reflected continuous wave signals are detected and an inflection in the Doppler measurements of the reflected continuous wave signals provide an initial estimate of the boost engine cut-off time. A Kalman filter is used to provide initial estimates of the position and velocity of the missile at the boost engine cut-off time and a square root information filter responding to the Doppler measurement residuals after boost engine cut-off reduces the error in the initial estimate of the boost engine cut-off time to a minimum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventors: Bert L. Bradford, Richard A. Lodwig
  • Patent number: 5864313
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for determining the deviation of the intermediate frequency from a given reference frequency (f.sub.R) in the case of a frequency-pulse radar system, characterized bythe time-related scanning of the echo signal such that, from an echo pulse of an individual target, several scanning values are obtained at different, preferably equidistant points in time within the echo pulse,the Doppler filtering by way of the thus obtained scanning values of an individual target so that several Doppler signals of the same frequency are obtained from the same target from whose phase differences the intermediate-frequency deviation is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1999
    Assignee: Dornier GmbH
    Inventors: Ralph Speck, Joachim Flacke, Bruno Kaiser
  • Patent number: 5808580
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for preventing the occurrence of range ambiguities and Doppler ambiguities in both a radar and sonar environment. A series of N pulses are produced, each of which contains a number of contagious subpulses. Each of the subpulses exhibit a different frequency than the remaining subpulses in that particular pulse. Furthermore, the order of appearance of the subpulses in each of the pulses is unique with respect to the remaining pulses in the series. A matched filter receiver and Doppler processor are used to provide auto correlations and cross correlations to prevent the range ambiguities and Doppler ambiguities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 15, 1998
    Inventor: Grealie A. Andrews, Jr.