Patent ID: 7656982

Claim:
A method for data recovery from a time-continuous signal compliant to one of two or more digital signal formats each having a specific channel bit clock and a specific sync pattern occurring in regular intervals, the method comprising: sampling the time-continuous signal at a frequency at least as high as a maximum of all frequencies of the channel bit clocks of the digital signal formats; analysing the sampled signal to locate occurrences of one or more of the sync patterns, thereby making available, as an analysis information, where in the sampled signal which ones of the sync patterns are located; calculating from the analysis information a distance information about the distance between consecutive locations of sync patterns; recognizing, from the analysis information and the distance information, the one digital signal format among the two or more digital signal formats to which the signal complies, converting the sampled signal into a converted signal which represents the data at the channel bit clock; analysing, after recognizing the format to which the signal complies, with an algorithm that depends on the recognized format, the sampled signal to locate occurrences of one or more predefined sync patterns, thereby making available analysis information about where in the sampled signal which ones of the sync patterns are located; calculating, with an algorithm that depends on the recognized format, from the analysis information a distance information about the distance between consecutive locations of sync patterns; calculating, with an algorithm that depends on the recognized format, from the analysis information and/or the distance information a channel bit rate and/or the channel bit clock; converting, with an algorithm that depends on the recognized format, the sampled signal to the sampling rate defined by the calculated channel bit rate or bit clock.