Patent ID: 8483016

Claim:
A time information acquiring apparatus comprising: a first data acquiring section which acquires a first data for detecting a starting point of a frame of a time code signal by measuring pulse signals of the frame of the time code signal which is extracted from a standard radio wave so as to be inputted; a first data storing section which stores the first data acquired by the first data acquiring section; a detecting section which detects the starting point of the frame of the time code signal based on the first data stored in the first data storing section; a second data acquiring section which acquires a second data for distinguishing the pulse signals from each other by measuring the pulse signals of the frame of the time code signal during a period of time including a period of time the first data acquiring section acquires the first data; a second data storing section which stores the second data acquired by the second data acquiring section; a decoder which decodes a series of code strings of the time code signal based on information on the starting point of the frame of the time code signal, the information which is acquired by detecting the starting point of the frame by the detecting section, and based on the second data stored in the second data storing section, so as to generate time data; a consistency determining section which determines consistency of the time data generated by the decoder; and a controller which, when the generated time data is determined as inconsistent by the consistency determining section, makes the detecting section re-detect the starting point of the frame, and makes the decoder re-generate the time data based on the re-detected starting point of the frame, second data newly stored in the second data storing section, and the second data used when the generated time data is determined as inconsistent.