EP0812028A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for and method of detecting a reflector within a medium
Assignee: University of Bristol
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Filing: 1997-06-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-06-02
Abstract
Abstract An apparatus is provided in which a phased transmitting array (21) is arranged to irradiate a selected voxel within a search volume. Energy reflected from the voxel is received by a further antenna and the signals received from a plurality of voxels are analysed to search for reflectors or discontinuities within the search space.
Inventors
- 👤 Ralph Benjamin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 14:18
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S13/00; G01S13/88; G01S13/89; G01S7/00; G01S7/02; G01S7/41; H; H01; H01Q; H01Q21/00; H01Q21/06; H01Q21/08; H01Q3/00; H01Q3/26; H01Q3/2658; G01S13/02; G01S13/04; G01S13/885; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8909; G01S15/8913; G01S7/411
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
49 words
An apparatus for detecting a reflector within a medium, characterised by comprising at least one transmission device (Tx) for sequentially focusing energy towards a selected one of a plurality of volumes of the medium, and a reception device for receiving energy reflected from the selected volume of the medium.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
40 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the plurality of volumes form a search volume, and in which the search volume is adjacent or sufficiently near the apparatus such that the focused energy exhibits a depth of focus.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the selected volume is coherently irradiated.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, in which regions of space outside of the selected volume are not coherently irradiated.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
21 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims, in which the energy is electromagnetic radiation or accoustic radiation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which the electromagnetic radiation is microwave or millimetre wave radiation.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
24 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the energy is focused at the selected volume by electronic means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
57 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, in which the at least one transmission device comprises at least one multi-element antenna in which the phase and timing of signals transmitted from ones of the antenna elements can be adjusted in order to generate a coherent phase front, curved to converge onto a selected volume of the medium.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, in which the multi element antenna extends in two dimensions such that the focal point of the energy can be positioned in three dimensions.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
38 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or 8, in which the multi element antenna is controlled so as to focus the energy emitted therefrom into a volume of space in the near field region of the antenna.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
19 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the reception device comprises an antenna.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 11, in which the antenna is a multi-element antenna, wherein phase and timing delays can be inserted into the signals received from each of the antenna elements so as to provide a phased array reception antenna.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a single antenna used both as a transmit antenna and a receive antenna.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
21 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 and 12, in which separate transmit and receive antennae are provided.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
34 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the frequency of the energy is adjustable so as to set the wavelength thereof in the medium to a predetermined length.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
56 words
An apparaturs as claimed in claim 15, further comprising means for determining characteristics of the medium, said characteristics comprising at least one of permeability, permittivity, attenuation and propagation speed, are determined by back scatter measurement or by transmitting energy at at least one frequency between sensor probes and measuring changes between the transmitted and received signals.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 14, further comprising impedence matching means intermediate the or each antenna and the medium.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as claimed in claims 17, in which the or each antenna is faced with a sheet matching the observed characteristics of the medium.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as cliamed in claim 18, in which the sheet is compliant so as to permit operation in loose contact with a rough surface.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, in which the sheet is spaced from the surface of the medium and arranged such that reflections from the surface of the medium and reflections from a surface of the sheet undergo destructive interference.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 11, in which the power profile across the transmitter array is variable so as to compensate for attenuation within the medium.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
38 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 14 and 17 to 21, in which the or each antenna is movable vertically and can be tilted so as to follow the surface of the medium.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 22, further comprising sensors to measure the displacement of the or each antenna array such that the position of each element of the array can be calculated and corrections made to refocus the or each array onto the selected volume.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
39 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising first and second transmit antennae operating at different frequencies and focused simultaneously onto a selected volume, and a receive antenna to receive signals from the selected volume.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, in which the reception device is responsive to the beat frequency formed by the different frequencies.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
29 words
An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the of each antenna is mounted on a boom for use in a mine detection system.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
A medical imaging device comprising an apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
54 words
A method of detecting a reflector within a medium, comprising the steps of: i) defining a search space within a medium, the search space comprising a plurality of cells; ii) focusing energy into a selected cell iii) receiving energy reflected from the cell, and repeating steps 2 and 3 for each of the cells.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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