Patent ID: 6621763
Filing Date: 2003-09-16
Classification: G01F,G01S,Y10S

Abstract:
A time of flight ranging system comprising:(a) a transducer for emitting energy pulses and detecting reflected energy pulses; (b) a controller having a receiver component and a transmitter component, and said controller including an analog-to-digital converter and a precise timebase generator; (c) said transducer having an input port operatively coupled to said transmitter component and being responsive to said transmitter component for emitting said energy pulses, and said transducer including an output port operatively coupled to said receiver component for outputting reflected energy pulses coupled by said transducer; (d) said receiver component converting said reflected energy pulses into corresponding electrical signals, and said receiver component having an output port coupled to an input port on said analog-to-digital converter for receiving said electrical signals, said analog-to-digital converter being responsive to control signals from said controller for obtaining a plurality of amplitude measurement points at predetermined intervals derived from said precise timebase generator; (e) said controller including a program component for applying an interpolation function between adjacent amplitude measurement points, and said interpolation function providing an approximation of the reflected energy pulse shape between said adjacent amplitude measurement points in a form suitable for further processing by said controller.