Methods and apparatus for stabilizing reference oscillators
AssigneeSand9, Inc.
InventorsKlaus Juergen Schoepf, Jan H. Kuypers, Reimund Rebel
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods for stabilizing reference oscillators are described. According to some embodiments, the reference oscillator of a device may be stabilized by synchronizing the reference oscillator to an external signal received by the device. The device may be a navigation device in some embodiments, and the external signal may represent or be synchronized to an atomic clock signal or other signal exhibiting sufficient stability.
Claims44
An apparatus, comprising:
- a reference oscillator configured to generate an oscillating reference signal;
- a first receiver configured to receive a first wireless signal, wherein the reference oscillator and the first receiver are coupled together and configured to synchronize the oscillating reference signal to the first wireless signal such that a frequency of the oscillating reference is synchronized to a frequency of the first wireless signal;
- a second receiver configured to receive a second wireless signal different from the first wireless signal, wherein the second receiver is configured to process the second wireless signal using the oscillating reference signal.
A method, comprising:
- receiving a first wireless signal with a device;
- synchronizing a reference oscillator of the device to the first wireless signal such that a frequency of a oscillating reference signal produced by the reference oscillator is synchronized to a frequency of the first wireless signal;
- receiving a second wireless signal different from the first wireless signal with the device;
- and
- processing the second wireless signal using the oscillating reference signal.
A method of stabilizing an oscillating reference signal generated by a reference oscillator of a navigation receiver configured to receive a navigation signal, the method comprising:
- receiving an external oscillating carrier signal different from the navigation signal;
- and
- synchronizing the oscillating reference signal to the external oscillating carrier signal.
A navigation receiver, comprising:
- a reference oscillator configured to generate an internal oscillating reference signal;
- a global positioning system (GPS) receiver configured to receive a GPS signal and the internal oscillating reference signal and process the GPS signal to determine a GPS location;
- and
- a secondary receiver configured to receive an external oscillating signal different than the GPS signal,
- wherein the reference oscillator is coupled to the secondary receiver.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.