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US RE49,132 E1Granted
Radar altimeter
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorRobert M. Ringdahl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A radar system operates at a carrier frequency near the oxygen absorption line. A selected range bin is monitored to measure the signal-to-noise ratio. The signal-to-noise ratio value is used to adjust the carrier frequency so as to maintain a preselected signal-to-noise ratio.
Claims20
A radar system comprising:
- oscillator means for providing a high frequency signal having a frequency near the oxygen absorption frequency, said oscillator means having means for adjusting said high frequency signal in response to a control signal;
- means for transmitting said high frequency signal through the atmosphere;
- means for receiving a reflected signal of said transmitted high frequency signal;
- means for detecting the a signal-to-noise ratio of said reflected high frequency signal at a preselected time after said transmission of said high frequency signal;
- means for comparing said signal-to-noise ratio with a preselected signal to noise ratio value and providing an output signal indicative of the difference thereof;
- feedback control means for providing said control signal as a function of said comparator output signal.
3 more elements
A radar system comprising:
- an oscillator operative to generate a carrier signal, the oscillator including a control input;
- a transmitter in operative communication with the oscillator, the transmitter configured to transmit the carrier signal to atmosphere;
- a receiver operative to receive a reflected return signal of the transmitted carrier signal;
- a detector in operative communication with the receiver, the detector configured to determine a signal-to-noise ratio of the reflected return signal;
- and
- a comparator in operative communication with the detector, the comparator configured to compare the signal-to-noise ratio with a preselected signal-to-noise ratio value, and to provide an output signal indicative of the difference thereof;
- wherein a control signal, which is generated based on the output signal from the comparator, is sent to the control input of the oscillator to adjust a frequency of the carrier signal.
4 more elements
A method of operating a radar system, the method comprising:
- generating a carrier signal;
- transmitting the carrier signal through the atmosphere;
- receiving a reflected return signal of the transmitted carrier signal;
- detecting a signal-to-noise ratio of the reflected return signal at a preselected time after transmitting the carrier signal;
- comparing the signal-to-noise ratio of the reflected return signal with a preselected signal-to-noise ratio to generate an output signal indicative of the difference thereof;
- generating a control signal as a function of the output signal;
- and
- adjusting a frequency of the carrier signal in response to the control signal using a feedback control loop.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.