The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 15, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 17, 2000
Thomas E. McEwan, Carmel Highlands, CA (US);
McEwen Technologies, LLC, Monterey, CA (US);
Abstract
A bi-static radar configuration measures the time-of-flight of an RF burst using differentially-configured sampling receivers. A precise differential measurement is made by simultaneously sampling a reference signal line and a free-space time-of-flight RF burst signal using separate sampling receivers having common sample timing. Two alternative sample timing systems may be used with the sampling receivers: (1) a swept delay using a delay locked loop (DLL), or (2) two precision oscillators slightly offset in frequency from each other. The receiver outputs are processed into a PWM signal to indicate antenna-to-antenna time-of-flight range or to indicate material properties. Applications include robotics, safety, material thickness measurement, material dielectric constant measurement, such as for fuel or grain moisture measurement, and through-tank fill-level measurement.