Radio receiver
OwnerMichael Stevens, Martin Stevensinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of receiving signals from an aircraft transponder is provided that enables ADS-B signals to be decoded even though parts of the signal may be overlapped due to interference. A plurality of antennas are summed and subtracted in pairs in order to create directional signal channels, which are then assessed for the confidence of the signals received. Where a channel contains a section of the signal of low confidence, the signal from another channel may be substituted for that section.
Claims20
A method for processing a radio signal, comprising:
- receiving the signal at a plurality of antennas;
- producing a plurality of intermediate signals, wherein each intermediate signal is one of the set comprising the sum and difference of signals received at one or more pairs of antennas;
- assessing the amplitude of at least one section of each intermediate signal and attributing a confidence value to each section;
- and
- generating an output signal selected from the intermediate signals according to the determined confidence values.
A processing system for processing radio signals from a plurality of antennas;
- comprising:
- a sum and differencing unit arranged to produce a plurality of intermediate signals, wherein each intermediate signal is one of the set comprising the sum and difference of signals received at one or more pair of antennas;
- an assessor arranged to assess the amplitude of each intermediate signal and attribute a confidence value to at least one section of each intermediate signal;
- and
- a selector arranged to select an intermediate signal according to the attributed confidence values.
A receiving system for receiving first and second received radio signals at first and second antennas respectively;
- comprising:
- first and second mixers arranged to mix an oscillator signal with said first and second received radio signals to produce first and second intermediate frequency signals;
- and
- a sum and differencing unit coupled to the first and second mixers arranged to add and subtract the first and second intermediate frequency signals to produce sum and difference signals.
A method for processing overlapping first and second radio signals;
- comprising:
- receiving the radio signals at a plurality of antennas;
- producing a plurality of intermediate signals, wherein each intermediate signal is one of the set comprising the sum and difference of signals received at one or more pair of antennas;
- selecting two intermediate signals comprising the first and second radio signals;
- determining the amplitude of the second radio signal in each selected intermediate signal, where it does not overlap the first radio signal;
- scaling at least one of the selected intermediate signals such that the second radio signal has a substantially identical amplitude in each intermediate signal;
- and
- subtracting one intermediate signal from the other to produce a processed signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.