Method and apparatus for measuring altitude

Claim 1

THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN A SOURCE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY AND A DISTANT REFLECTING STATION COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: SWEEPING THE FREQUENCY OF SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SOURCE OVER THE ENTIRE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND ARBITRARILY SELECTED, PRECISELY KNOWN LIMITS, THE RATE OF SAID SWEEPING BEING RELATIVELY SLOW WITH RESPECT TO THE ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME OF A RADIATED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE BETWEEN SAID SOURCE AND SAID DISTANT REFLECTING STATION; TRANSMITTING ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS FROM SAID SOURCE TO SAID DISTANT REFLECTING STATION; RECEIVING REFLECTED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS FROM SAID REFLECTING STATION; DERIVING REFERENCE SIGNALS FROM SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SOURCE; DELAYING SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS AN AMOUNT OF TIME EQUAL TO SAID ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME TO ELIMINATE THE DIFFERENCE IN FREQUENCY BETWEEN SAID RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS AND SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS DUE TO SAID ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME; COMPARING THE PHASE OF SAID DELAYED REFERENCE SIGNALS WITH SAID RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS DURING THE PERIOD OF SWEEPING THE FREQUENCY OF SAID SOURCE OVER SAID RANGE OF FREQUENCIES; AND COUNTING EACH OCCURRENCE OF THE EVENT WHEN THE RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC REFLECTED ENERGY SIGNALS ARE 180 * OUT OF PHASE WITH SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS DURING SAID PERIOD OF SWEEPING OF THE FREQUENCY OF SAID SOURCE BETWEEN SAID RANGE OF FREQUENCIES.

Claim 2

THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN A SOURCE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY AND A DISTANT REFLECTING STATION COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: SWEEPING THE FREQUENCY OF SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SOURCE OVER THE ENTIRE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND ARBITRARILY SELECTED, PRECISELY KNOWN LIMITS, THE RATE OF SAID SWEEPING BEING RELATIVELY SLOW WITH RESPECT TO THE ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME OF A RADIATED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE BETWEEN SAID SOURCE AND SAID DISTANT REFLECTING STATION; TRANSMITTING ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS FROM SAID SOURCE TO SAID DISTANT REFLECTING STATION; RECEIVING REFLECTED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS FROM SAID REFLECTING STATION; DERIVING REFERENCE SIGNALS FROM SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SOURCE; DELAYING SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS AN AMOUNT OF TIME EQUAL TO SAID ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME TO ELIMINATE THE DIFFERENCE IN FREQUENCY BETWEEN SAID RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS AND SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS DUE TO SAID ROUND-TRIP TRANSIT TIME; COMPARING THE PHASE OF SAID DELAYED REFERENCE SIGNALS WITH SAID RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY SIGNALS DURING THE PERIOD OF SWEEPING THE FREQUENCY OF SAID SOURCE OVER SAID RANGE OF FREQUENCIES; AND COUNTING EACH OCCURRENCE OF THE EVENT WHEN THE RECEIVED ELECTROMAGNETIC REFLECTED ENERGY SIGNALS ARE 180 * OUT OF PHASE WITH SAID REFERENCE SIGNALS DURING SAID PERIOD OF SWEEPING OF THE FREQUENCY OF SAID SOURCE BETWEEN SAID RANGE OF FREQUENCIES.