Patent ID: 7746066

Claim:
A method for magnetostrictive position determination of a magnetic position indicator ( 3 ), along a wave conductor ( 2 ), through measurement of a sum ( 100 ) of run times of a voltage impulse and of a mechanical-elastic wave ( 10 ) resulting there from, wherein the run time sum is determined through: providing a system timing ( 110 ); starting the voltage impulse (start impulse 101 ) in a fixed phase relationship at the beginning of a period ( 111 ) of the system timing ( 110 ); determining a coarse time value of a coarse time interval ( 104 ) through digital determination of an integer number of periods ( 111 ) of the system timing ( 110 ), which is correlated in a defined manner with the run time sum ( 100 ); analog determination of a fine time value of a supplemental time interval between arrival of the mechanical-elastic wave (stop impulse 102 ) and the start of a defined period of the coarse time interval ( 104 ); digitizing the fine time value; and computing the coarse time value with the fine time value into the run-time sum.