Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A self-contained, multi-function test and measurement apparatus used to test and measure the performance of a laser gun, comprising:internal control means for selecting and directing at least one of a plurality of selected test and measurement functions;means, operationally coupled to said internal control means, for measuring or verifying the capability of said laser gun to accurately measure at least two of the following: a double pulse; pulse frequency within a prescribed range of a designed pulse frequency; pulse width within a prescribed range of a designed pulse width; optical power within a prescribed maximum limit; actual wavelength within a prescribed range of a designed wavelength; speed simulation; and internal clock frequency;a housing including a certification unit containing the internal control means, said certification unit comprising:an integrated programmable display that provides a visual indicia of instructions or data or both to a user;a programmable control circuit including a plurality of functional blocks that provide control instructions for the apparatus, operationally coupled to the programmable display; anda plurality of integrated connectors that each provide a plug-and-play-type interface for a modular test head; andat least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head including a programmable test control circuit including a plurality of functional blocks that provide control operations of the test head,wherein the apparatus has at least one of an optical and an electrical interface that enables a respective operational connection with the laser gun, and further wherein the apparatus is self-contained and has size and weight characteristics that enable hand-held transport by the user. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is an optical pulse characterization test head that enables a measurement of an optical pulse characteristic of the laser gun output being tested. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the optical pulse characteristic is pulse width. 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the optical pulse characteristic is pulse frequency. 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the optical pulse characteristic is a double-pulse condition. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is an optical wavelength measurement test head that enables a measurement of an optical characteristic of the laser gun output being tested. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the optical characteristic is pulse wavelength. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a coil of optical fiber having a known length, interfaced to the certification unit. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is a distance measurement test head that enables a measurement of a distance calibration characteristic of the laser gun being tested. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the distance measurement test head is a short-range distance test head comprising a length of optical fiber. 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the distance measurement test head is a long-range distance test head comprising a length of optical fiber. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is an optical power measurement test head that enables a measurement of an optical power characteristic of the laser gun output being tested. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is a speed simulation test head that enables a measurement of an object speed calibration characteristic of the laser gun being tested. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one modular, plug-and-play-type test head is an internal clock frequency measurement test head that enables a measurement of an internal clock frequency characteristic of the laser gun being tested. 15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a personal computer coupled to the certification unit. 16. A method for certifying the operation of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device, comprising:performing a ‘pulse width’ test of a laser, including the steps of:a) applying a first operating voltage to a laser gun of the laser-gun-type speed measurement device;b) directing an output of the laser gun into an optical detector;c) obtaining an output of the optical detector in the form of low-level current pulses;d) converting the low-level current pulses into a corresponding voltage;e) comparing the corresponding voltage to a reference voltage and determining whether an ‘in-range’ condition is present and, if yes;f) converting the low-level current pulses into high-level voltage pulses, wherein the high-level voltage pulses directly represent a pulse train output of the laser gun;g) providing a sampling circuit including eight parallel sampling paths that operate at phase differences which are successively 45 degrees apart, wherein each cycle of eight samples contains a series of ‘1’ or ‘0’ bits in an 8-bit data block that represent whether a pulse from the laser gun was present (‘1’) or not present (‘0’) at the time the sample was taken;h) accumulating 512 8-bit data blocks in a memory;i) counting the ‘1’ bits in all 512 data blocks;j) using a known sample time to calculate an effective pulse width of the laser gun output;k) determining whether the calculated effective pulse width is within a specified range of a laser gun reference pulse width and, if no,l) concluding the test; otherwise,m) determining whether the ‘pulse width’ test is to be repeated at a different operating voltage and, if yes,n) applying at least a second operating voltage to the laser gun; ando) repeating steps (b-o) until the test has been performed at all selected operating voltages. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing an ‘optical power’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘wavelength’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘speed simulation’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘horizontal beam width’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 21. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘vertical beam width’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 22. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘sight alignment’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 23. The method of claim 16, further comprising performing a ‘double pulse’ test, a ‘pulse frequency’ test, an ‘optical power’ test, a ‘wavelength’ test, a ‘speed simulation’ test, a ‘horizontal beam width’ test, a ‘vertical beam width’ test, and a ‘sight alignment’ test of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device. 24. A method for certifying the operation of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device, comprising:performing a ‘double pulse’ test of a laser, including the steps of:a) applying a first operating voltage to a laser gun of the laser-gun-type speed measurement device;b) directing an output of the laser gun into an optical detector;c) obtaining an output of the optical detector in the form of low-level current pulses;d) converting the low-level current pulses into a corresponding voltage;e) comparing the corresponding voltage to a reference voltage and determining whether an ‘in-range’ condition is present and, if yes;f) converting the low-level current pulses into high-level voltage pulses, wherein the high-level voltage pulses directly represent a pulse train output of the laser gun;g) providing a sampling circuit including eight parallel sampling paths that operate at phase differences which are successively 45 degrees apart, wherein each cycle of eight samples contains a series of ‘1’ or ‘0’ bits in an 8-bit data block that represent whether a pulse from the laser gun was present (‘1’) or not present (‘0’) at the time the sample was taken;h) accumulating 512 8-bit data blocks in a memory;i) determining whether one or more ‘0’ bits are found between two ‘1’ bits and, if yes,j) concluding the test; otherwise,k) determining whether the ‘double pulse’ test is to be repeated at a different operating voltage and, if yes,l) applying at least a second operating voltage to the laser gun; andm) repeating steps (b-m) until the test has been performed at all selected operating voltages. 25. A method for certifying the operation of a laser-gun-type speed measurement device, comprising:performing a ‘pulse frequency’ test of a laser, including the steps of:a) applying a first power supply voltage to a laser gun of the laser-gun-type speed measurement device;b) directing an output of the laser gun into an optical detector;c) obtaining an output of the optical detector in the form of low-level current pulses;d) converting the low-level current pulses into a corresponding voltage;e) comparing the corresponding voltage to a reference voltage and determining whether an ‘in-range’ condition is present and, if yes;f) converting the low-level current pulses into high-level voltage pulses, wherein the high-level voltage pulses directly represent a pulse train output of the laser gun;g) providing a sampling circuit including eight parallel sampling paths that operate at phase differences which are successively 45 degrees apart, wherein each cycle of eight samples contains a series of ‘1’ or ‘0’ bits in an 8-bit data block that represent whether a pulse from the laser gun was present (‘1’) or not present (‘0’) at the time the sample was taken;h) providing a sampling circuit that includes a flip-flop function that toggles from a “0” to a “1” state on every other pulse in the pulse train from the laser unit under test;i) providing a counter to accumulate the number of 400 MHz clock pulses that occur when the flip-flop is in the “1” state;j) transferring the value in the counter to a latch when the flip-flop returns to the “0” state, creating a locked value, and resetting the counter for a next cycle;k) using the locked value to determine the pulse period of the output of the laser unit under test by multiplying said latched value by the period of the 400 MHz clock and generating a measured pulse frequency value;l) determining whether the measured pulse frequency value is within a predetermined range of a specified pulse frequency value and, if no,m) concluding the test; otherwise,n) determining whether the ‘pulse frequency’ test is to be repeated at a different power supply voltage and, if yes,o) applying at least a second power supply voltage to the laser gun; andp) repeating steps (b-p) until the test has been performed at all selected power supply voltages.