Patent ID: 11927689
Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 18:
19. A sorter comprising:
a shift register adapted to be coupled to target detection circuitry and configured to receive and store data samples of return target detection signal, wherein the shift register includes a cell under test (CUT), a left window left of the CUT, and a right window right of the CUT, the left window and the right window being the same size, wherein each of the data samples has a magnitude value and a middle data sample among a first set of data samples is replaced by a maximum magnitude value;
two parallel sets of comparators configured to compare incoming data samples with data samples in the left window and the right window to compute ranks of the incoming data samples;
a sorted index array configured to store a rank of at least some of the data samples in the shift register;
a selector configured to select a Kth ranked index from the sorted index array and its corresponding data sample from the shift register; and
a target comparator having a comparator output and first and second comparator inputs, wherein the first comparator input receives a data sample from the CUT and the second comparator input receives a Kth ranked data sample, and the comparator output indicates a CFAR target detection;
the sorter further configured to compute a rank of an input data sample and updating the ranks of data samples in the sorted index array as input data samples arrive at each cycle; and
provide ranks from the sorted index array after a last input data sample enters the shift register.