US 10,209,346 B2Granted

Dispersion correction for FMCW radar in a pipe or tube

AssigneeEndress + Hauser GmbH + Co. KG

InventorsAlexey Malinovskiy, Stefan Pfluger, Winfried Mayer

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Abstract

A radar measurement apparatus works according to the FMCW principle and includes a radar transmission unit, and a radar receiving unit, which is designed to receive a radar received signal reflected on a surface of the medium or other target in a pipe or tube, to convert the received signal into an intermediate frequency signal by mixing with the transmission signal, or a signal derived therefrom, and based on an intermediate signal to determine distance to the surface of the medium or other target. The radar receiving unit applies a phase correction to the intermediate signal produces a phase corrected, intermediate frequency signal, wherein the phase correction lessens or removes a dispersion dependent phase fraction in the phase of the intermediate signal and adds a non-dispersion effects dependent phase fraction. The radar receiving unit is designed based on the phase corrected intermediate signal to determine the target frequency components in the intermediate frequency signal and based on the target frequency components to determine distance to the surface of the medium or other radar.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A radar measurement apparatus for determining distance to a surface of a medium or to another radar target in a pipe or tube, wherein the radar measurement apparatus works according to the FMCW principle, and comprises:

a radar transmission unit, which is designed to produce a radar transmission signal, which is frequency modulated according to the FMCW principle;
and
a radar receiving unit, which is designed to receive a radar received signal reflected on the surface of the medium or other radar target back in the pipe or tube, to convert the radar received signal by mixing with the radar transmission signal, or a signal derived therefrom, into an intermediate frequency signal and based on the so obtained intermediate frequency signal to determine a distance to the surface of the medium or to another radar target in the pipe or tube, wherein:
said radar receiving unit is designed to apply a phase correction to the phase of the intermediate frequency signal and to produce a phase corrected, intermediate frequency signal, the phase correction is designed to lessen, or to remove, a dispersion dependent phase fraction in the phase of the intermediate frequency signal and to add a phase fraction not dependent on dispersion effects;
and
said radar receiving unit is designed based on the phase corrected intermediate frequency signal to determine target frequency components in the intermediate frequency signal and based on the target frequency components to determine distance to the surface of the medium or to other radar targets in the pipe or tube.

3 more elements

A method for determining distance to a surface of a medium or distance to another radar target in a pipe or tube by means of a radar measurement apparatus, which works according to the principle of FMCW radar, wherein the method comprises:

transmitting a radar transmission signal within the pipe or tube, wherein the radar transmission signal is frequency modulated according to the FMCW principle;
receiving a radar received signal reflected on a surface of the medium or other radar target in the pipe or tube back to the radar measurement apparatus;
mixing the radar received signal with the radar transmission signal or a signal derived therefrom and producing an intermediate frequency signal;
applying a phase correction to the phase of the intermediate frequency signal and producing a phase corrected intermediate frequency signal, wherein the phase correction, on the one hand, lessens or eliminates a dispersion dependent phase fraction in the phase of the intermediate frequency signal and, on the other hand, adds a non-dispersion effects dependent phase fraction to the phase of the intermediate frequency signal;
and
determining target frequency components contained in the phase corrected, intermediate frequency signal and determining distance to the surface of the medium or to another radar target in the pipe or tube based on the target frequency components.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/910,786Filed 8 Jul 2014
Priority: DE 10 2013 108 4907 Aug 2013
Published: US 2016/0202347 A114 Jul 2016
Granted: 19 Feb 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G01S 7/352
Details of non-pulse systems: receivers
G01F 23/284
By measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material:…
G01S 7/354
Receivers: extracting wanted echo-signals
G01S 7/40
Of systems according to group G01S13/00: means for monitoring or calibrating