A method of operating an ultrasonic flow meter to measure a flow rate of a fluid, the ultrasonic flow meter comprises: - at least two ultrasonic transducers arranged for transmission and receipt of ultrasonic signals in opposite directions across a measuring distance (L); - a generator circuit for controlled generation of an acoustic wave packet to be transmitted from the at least two ultrasonic transducers; - a receiver circuit for receiving the transmitted signals from the at least two ultrasonic transducers; - a processing means for digital signal processing; wherein the method comprises: for at least two signal paths along generally opposite directions: - generating the acoustic wave packet to be output into the measuring distance (L) at a first of the at least two ultrasonic transducers, the wave packet being generated at a signal frequency, and adding artificial noise, for instance by introducing consecutive time shifts of the transmitted signal by fractions of a period; - receiving the acoustic wave packet at a second of the at least two ultrasonic transducers as a received signal; - digitizing the received signal at a sampling frequency below the Nyquist-limit to generate a digitized received under-sampled signal for the given signal path; - compensating for the addition of artificial noise in the digital signal processing of the received signal; - from at least two digitized received under-sampled signals along generally opposite directions, determine the difference in propagation time along the measuring distance - and averaging the determined time difference obtained over a number of measurements. - at least two ultrasonic transducers arranged for transmission and receipt of ultrasonic signals in opposite directions across a measuring distance (L); - a generator circuit for controlled generation of an acoustic wave packet to be transmitted from the at least two ultrasonic transducers; - a receiver circuit for receiving the transmitted signals from the at least two ultrasonic transducers; - a processing means for digital signal processing; for at least two signal paths along generally opposite directions: - generating the acoustic wave packet to be output into the measuring distance (L) at a first of the at least two ultrasonic transducers, the wave packet being generated at a signal frequency, - generating the acoustic wave packet to be output into the measuring distance (L) at a first of the at least two ultrasonic transducers, the wave packet being generated at a signal frequency, and adding artificial noise, for instance by introducing consecutive time shifts of the transmitted signal by fractions of a period; - receiving the acoustic wave packet at a second of the at least two ultrasonic transducers as a received signal; - digitizing the received signal at a sampling frequency below the Nyquist-limit to generate a digitized received under-sampled signal for the given signal path; - compensating for the addition of artificial noise in the digital signal processing of the received signal; - from at least two digitized received under-sampled signals along generally opposite directions, determine the difference in propagation time along the measuring distance - and averaging the determined time difference obtained over a number of measurements. - receiving the acoustic wave packet at a second of the at least two ultrasonic transducers as a received signal; - digitizing the received signal at a sampling frequency below the Nyquist-limit to generate a digitized received under-sampled signal for the given signal path; - compensating for the addition of artificial noise in the digital signal processing of the received signal; - from at least two digitized received under-sampled signals along generally opposite directions, determine the difference in propagation time along the measuring distance - and averaging the determined time difference obtained over a number of measurements. <EOS>