Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Keysight Technologies, Inc.

George Stennis Moore

Jochen Rivoir

Joseph Michael Gorin

August Jon Hidalgo

Paul Lewis Corredoura

Matthew Johnson

Howard E Hilton

Kenneth D Poulton

Fred Herbert Ives

Raymond A Birgenheier

Nico Lugil

Peter J Cain

Brian D Setterberg

Frank Van De Sande

Moray Denham Rumney

David H Molinari

John Francis McLaughlin

Robert Locascio

Michael Manlove

Brad Elwood Andersen

John Albert Snodderley

A receiver and method for identifying the frequency of an RF component in an RF signal are disclosed. The receiver includes a first mixer that receives an RF signal and mixes that RF signal with a first multi-tone LO signal that includes a plurality of tones to generate a mixed signal. The output of the first mixer is filtered by a first filter that removes signals outside of a predetermined band to generate a first IF signal. A processor determines the RF frequency of the component utilizing the first IF signal and a second IF signal generated using a second multi-tone LO signal having a different plurality of tones from said first multi-tone signal. The first and second multi-tone LO signals can be generated by clocking suitable digital sequences into the mixer either by using different sequences or by using the same sequence clocked at a different rate.

Wideband receiver

A time of flight (TOF) spectrometer and a method for operating the same is disclosed. The spectrometer includes an event extractor, a streaming processor, and a FIFO buffer. The event extractor generates a ion event record corresponding to each detected ion, the ion event record including an intensity of a plurality of aliases for that detected ion. The streaming processor includes a memory array that stores a TOF spectrum and a probability processor that provides a probability for each alias in each received ion event record and updates the TOF spectrum based on the probabilities. A FIFO buffer receives each of the ion event records after the TOF spectrum has been updated and outputs the oldest ion event record to the streaming processor when a new ion event record is processed by the streaming processor.

Time of flight mass spectrometer utilizing overlapping frames

A detection signal generated in response to incident ions accelerated at temporally-irregular intervals having an average repetition rate greater than a reference repetition rate represents detection events each having an event time and an intensity. For each detection event, respective allowed TOFs between the event time and the transient times are calculated. Using respective initial probabilities, initial apportionments of the intensity of each detection event among the allowed TOFs linked thereto are determined. For each allowed TOF, the intensity apportionments thereto are accumulated to generate an intensity accumulation linked thereto. For each detection event, respective revised probabilities are iteratively determined using the intensity accumulations linked to the allowed TOFs linked thereto, and the respective intensity is iteratively reapportioned among the allowed TOFs linked thereto using the revised probabilities to transform the detection signal to a time-of-flight spectrum.

Dithered multi-pulsing time-of-flight mass spectrometer

In one embodiment, a system comprises a signal source for generating a digital signal in response to a data pull signal; a digital-to-analog converter (DAC); a first plurality of shift registers for registering digital words of the digital signal before receipt by the DAC; a synchronizing logic element for generating the data pull signal, wherein the synchronizing logic element initially generates the data pull signal to cause the signal source to generate a number of data words, ceases communication of the data pull signal upon receipt of a mark signal, and resumes communication of the data pull signal upon receipt of a trigger signal; and a second plurality of shift registers for registering the mark signal before communication to the synchronizing logic element, wherein the first and second plurality of shift registers are enabled by the data pull signal.

Synchronization methodology for systems employing data pull flow control

A system and method are provided for minimizing data-dependent power variations. The system and method can include summing an input with a dither signal, processing the summed signal, and substantially removing the effects of the dither signal from the output. The output is an approximation of processing to the input alone, while certain aspects of processing activity, such as temperature changes and current draw, are less dependent on input values. Variations in data-dependent activities are thus reduced. The effects of the dither signal may be removed by equivalently processing the dither signal alone, and using that result as a compensating signal to cancel components of the processed signal that result from the presence of the dither signal.

Dither methods for suppression of data-dependent activity variations

Multiple noise-FM dither. An analog dither signal is generated by summing two or more noise-FM signals, each noise-FM signal being a carrier modulated by a noise source.

Multiple FM dither

A testing device for testing transceivers includes a transmitter operable in a first state to transmit signals, a receiver operable in a second state to receive signals and a power coupler coupling the transmitter to the receiver. The testing device further includes an overload protection device operably coupled between the power coupler and the receiver to reduce or maintain the signal strength of a received signal at the receiver based on a control signal. A controller determines a current state of the received signal and generates the control signal based on the current state of the received signal.

Testing device and method for providing receiver overload protection during transceiver testing

A digital-to-analog conversion system comprises a digital input, a digital-to-analog converter and a modified digital signal generator. The digital-to-analog converter has a conversion frequency and is subject to a periodic error having a periodicity equal to that of an N-th sub-harmonic of the conversion frequency, where N is an integer. The digital input is operable to receive a digital input signal. The modified digital signal generator is interposed between the digital input and the digital-to-analog converter and is operable in response to the digital input signal to generate a modified digital signal. The modified digital signal comprises a dynamic digital mitigation component that mitigates the periodic error of the digital-to-analog converter.

Sub-harmonic image mitigation in digital-to-analog conversion systems

Pipelined digital accumulators. Parallel digital accumulators for use in digital signal processing are improved through pipelining. An accumulator is partitioned into a plurality of pipelined stages, and the pipeline delay is used to reduce the effect of carry propagation through the accumulator. While input and output delay registers are used in the accumulator partitions, the output delay registers are not needed if the results of those partitions are not needed in subsequent stages of computation. If phase coherence is not needed, input delay registers may not be needed on accumulator partitions. In the limiting case of one bit per partition, the effective speed of the pipelined accumulator is equivalent to the speed of a single bit accumulator stage.

Pipelined accumulators

A system analyzer may generate an estimated frequency response of a device, system, communication medium, or combination thereof by utilizing a stimulus signal that is robust against IQ modulator impairments. A stimulus generator may be used to generate a plurality of discrete tones according to a frequency spacing and a frequency offset. The frequency spacing and the frequency offset cause spectrally inverted spurs (generated by impairments of the IQ modulator) to occur at frequencies other than frequencies of said modulated signal that are associated with said plurality of discrete tones. Additionally, by implementing a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) to possess a frequency resolution equal to the frequency offset, there is no leakage of power associated with the spectrally inverted spurs into frequency bins of the DFT associated with the desired frequency components. Likewise, leakage between the desired frequency components and leakage associated with the local oscillator may be avoided.

Systems and methods of using IQ modulation for calibration or measurement

A digital filter and method of filtering frequency translate or shift a spectrum of a digital input signal and further filter a translated signal to reduce or attenuate frequency components in the spectrum of the input signal. The digital fitter includes first and second translators and a first filter. The first filter is connected between the first and second translators and is centered approximately at direct current (DC). The digital filter may further include a second filter, a third translator connected to an output of the second filter, a complex local oscillator connected to an input of each translator, and a complex-to-real converter connected to an output of the third translator. The method includes frequency translating the digital input signal and separately frequency translating a first translated signal after the first translated signal is filtered to produce a second translated signal.

Digital filter and method thereof using frequency translations

Single port characterization of RF amplifier phase and amplitude transfer functions are developed by measuring the output of the amplifier as it is excited by a predetermined frequency over a series of bias steps. One bias step is chosen as a reference level. Amplitude characterization is obtained from measured magnitude at each step in the test sequence. Phase information is extracted from the same measurements by measuring phase and phase trajectory at a reference level, and subtracting measured phase information at a desired step in the test sequence from an estimation of the reference phase trajectory at that step. Reference measurements may be interspersed with other measurements.

Characterizing amplitude and phase transfer response of amplifiers using single port measurements

Using component-level test data to reduce system test. By modeling a system, sensitivity analysis reveals critical components and parameters of those components required to meet system performance parameters. Critical components are tested for these parameters, and these measurements associated with the components. Systems may be assembled which are modeled to meet the system performance parameters based on the model and the measured parameters. Systems may be assembled and calibration coefficients derived and applied from the model and the measured parameters.

Using component-level calibration data to reduce system-level test

In one representative embodiment, scaling factors and delay values associated with respective analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) of an interleaved ADC are stored in memory. As a digital sample from the interleaved ADC is received, a respective amplitude scaling factor is retrieved from memory and applied to the digital sample. Preferably, a first order correction is then applied to the amplitude corrected-sample. The first order correction estimates the derivative using the current amplitude corrected sample and at least one additional amplitude corrected sample. The derivative is multiplied by an estimate of the respective timing delay associated with the particular sample. The corrected amplitude value is added to the multiple of the derivative and the timing delay to form the fully corrected digital sample.

Method for correcting periodic sampling errors

A method and apparatus for radically abbreviated decoding for providing decoded data by dividing a stream of data symbols, which form the decoder input, into symbol bit streams. The symbol bit streams are combined with delayed data streams in a first formatting means forming formatted bit streams. The formatted bit streams are applied to a selecting means for selecting bits from the formatted bit streams, forming a selected formatted bit stream. The selected formatted bit stream is applied to a sequential storage means forming delayed bits. The delayed bits are tapped from different points on the sequential storage means forming weighted bits. The weighted bits are then combined with a second formatting means further forming the delayed data streams, where the selected formatted bit stream is the decoded data.

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Veradale, WA, United States of America

George Stennis Moore