RF autocorrelation signal trigger generator
AssigneeTektronix, Inc.
InventorKyle L. Bernard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An autocorrelation trigger comprising a correlator detector for producing a correlation coefficient by correlating a signal with a time-delayed version of the signal and generating a trigger in real-time when the correlation coefficient corresponds to a predetermined condition is provided. A method of producing trigger based upon an autocorrelation measurement is also provided. The autocorrelation trigger may be used to produce a trigger based upon the degree to which the autocorrelation relates to an autocorrelation model, such as, the degree of randomness in a signal.
Claims7
A measurement instrument for capturing signal data based upon an autocorrelation trigger comprising:
- a processor that provides a three-dimensional representation of frequency versus time versus amplitude to a monitor;
- a correlator detector for producing a correlation coefficient by correlating a signal with a time-delayed version of the signal;
- a lag generator providing the time-delayed version of the signal to the correlator detector;
- a comparator connected to the correlator detector for producing a trigger when a correlation condition is satisfied;
- and
- an acquisition memory to hold information related to the signal in response to the trigger signal;
- wherein the comparator comprises a correlator for correlating a correlation series, which comprises a series of correlation coefficients, with a correlation map to determine whether the correlation condition is satisfied.
A method of generating an autocorrelation trigger comprising:
- correlating a signal with a time-delayed version of the signal to produce a correlation coefficient;
- comparing the correlation coefficient with a correlation threshold to determine a correlation condition;
- generating a trigger signal when the correlation condition is satisfied;
- holding information related to the signal in response to the trigger signal;
- and
- displaying a spectrogram based upon the information related to the signal;
- wherein comparing the correlation coefficient with a correlation threshold further comprises comparing a series of correlation coefficients against a correlation mask, which comprises at least one correlation threshold, to determine the correlation condition based-upon a comparison with an autocorrelation model.
The method of 2, wherein the autocorrelation model is a randomness model.
A measurement instrument having an autocorrelation trigger generator comprising:
- a means for correlating a signal with a time-delayed version of the signal to produce a correlation coefficient in real-time;
- a means for delaying the signal to produce the time-delayed version of the signal for inputting into the means for correlating;
- a means for comparing the correlation coefficient with a correlation threshold to determine a correlation condition in real-time;
- a means for generating a trigger signal in real-time when the correlation condition is satisfied;
- means for holding information related to the signal in response to the trigger signal;
- means for displaying a spectrum based on the information related to the signal;
- wherein the means for comparing the correlation coefficient against a correlation threshold comprises a means for comparing a correlation series against a correlation mask.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.