Commissariat &#xc0; L'&#xc9;nergie Atomique Et Aux &#xc9;nergies Alternatives

Emmanuel Hardy

Elisa Vianello

Franck Badets

Bruno Fain

François Rummens

Thomas Mesquida

Ali Mostafa

The present disclosure relates to a converter () converting a voltage (Vin) into time. The converter comprises a direct path () including a first injection-locked oscillator () and a first circuit (). The first circuit is configured for receiving an output signal (Φsens) of the first oscillator and a reference signal (Φ), and for providing at least a first pulse signal (out) determined by a phase shift between the output signal (Φsens) of the first oscillator and the reference signal (Φ). The converter further comprises a feedback loop () comprising a second circuit () configured for integrating said at least one first pulse signal (out).

Analog-to-time converter

A processing system for processing signals from a plurality of transducers of an ultrasonic sensor in order to determine characteristic information relating to an object detected by the ultrasonic sensor is provided. The system comprises a coupling device for transforming the signals received from the transducers into pulses, and a pulse processing unit for determining the characteristic information based on the pulses delivered by the coupling device. The coupling device comprises: a thresholding unit for applying, for each signal received from a transducer, thresholding to a signal derived from the signal received from the transducer and extracting directional information contained in the phase of the derived signal; a transformation unit for transforming the derived signal into pulses containing the phase of the signal, using the information extracted by the thresholding unit.

Device and method for processing signals from a set of ultrasonic transducers

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GRENOBLE, France

Emmanuel Hardy