US3735261A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Pulse analyzer
Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corp
•
Filing: 1971-06-07
•
Granted: 1973-05-22
•
Expires: 1991-06-07
Abstract
Abstract Rise time, fall time, and width of a single short duration pulse are measured with no a priori knowledge of the pulse. First and second level detectors are used to respectively start and stop a ramp generator. The level detectors are biased to fire at certain defined percentages of the leading and/or trailing edge of the pulse depending upon which time parameter the detectors are measuring. A peak level detector and hold circuit connected to the ramp generator output gives a voltage amplitude proportional to the ''''on'''' time of the generator and thus indicative of the time interval being measured. To supply the level detectors with the proper information, an input and logic section produces from the incoming (positive) pulse its peak amplitude, negative peak amplitude, a delayed positive pulse, a delayed negative pulse, and timing signals for enabling and disabling the level detectors as necessary.
Inventors
- 👤 R Vahlstrom
- 👤 D Nutten
- 👤 L Rennick
- 👤 D Bayne
- 👤 St Oster
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 04:47
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01R; G01R29/00; G01R29/02; G04; G04F; G04F10/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
72 words
The method of measuring the time parameters of a single pulse comprising producing from said pulse a positive d.c. voltage proportional to the peak pulse amplitude, a negative d.c. voltage proportional to the inverted peak pulse amplitude, a delayed positive pulse and a delayed negative pulse, detecting the occurrence of certain amplitude points of said delayed pulses as predetermined percentages of said d.c. voltages, and measuring the time intervals between desired points.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
72 words
The method of measuring the time parameters of a single pulse comprising producing from said pulse a positive d.c. voltage proportional to the peak pulse amplitude, a negative d.c. voltage proportional to the inverted peak pulse amplitude, a delayed positive pulse and a delayed negative pulse, detecting the occurrence of certain amplitude points of said delayed pulses as predetermined percentages of said d.c. voltages, and measuring the time intervals between desired points.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
139 words
The method of measuring the rise time, width and fall time of a single pulse comprising producing from said pulse a positive and a negative d.c. voltage each proportional to the peak pulse amplitude, a delayed positive pulse and a delayed negative pulse, detecting the occurrence of the 10 percent, 50 percent and 90 percent peak amplitude points of the leading edge of said delayed pulses and the 90 percent, 50 percent and 10 percent peak amplitude points of the trailing edge of said delayed pulses, as referred to said d.c. voltages, and measuring the three time intervals between said 10 percent and 90 percent leading edge points, said 50 percent leading and trailing edge points, and said 90 percent and 10 percent trailing edge points, the detecting and measuring of all three time intervals being done substantially simultaneously.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
139 words
The method of measuring the rise time, width and fall time of a single pulse comprising producing from said pulse a positive and a negative d.c. voltage each proportional to the peak pulse amplitude, a delayed positive pulse and a delayed negative pulse, detecting the occurrence of the 10 percent, 50 percent and 90 percent peak amplitude points of the leading edge of said delayed pulses and the 90 percent, 50 percent and 10 percent peak amplitude points of the trailing edge of said delayed pulses, as referred to said d.c. voltages, and measuring the three time intervals between said 10 percent and 90 percent leading edge points, said 50 percent leading and trailing edge points, and said 90 percent and 10 percent trailing edge points, the detecting and measuring of all three time intervals being done substantially simultaneously.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
105 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, and a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, whereby the delayed pulses from said delay means and said pulse inverter are available for measurement after the peak amplitude of said incoming pulse is determined by said peak amplitude detector.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
105 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, and a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, whereby the delayed pulses from said delay means and said pulse inverter are available for measurement after the peak amplitude of said incoming pulse is determined by said peak amplitude detector.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
107 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, and pulse analyzing means connected to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector, said peak amplitude inverter, said delay means and said pulse inverter, said pulse analyzing means adapted to measure said time parameters.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
107 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, and pulse analyzing means connected to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector, said peak amplitude inverter, said delay means and said pulse inverter, said pulse analyzing means adapted to measure said time parameters.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
217 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as tHe rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, a first and second amplitude level detector each having trigger means with inputs connectable to the outputs of said delay means and said inverter, each said trigger means adapted to be actuated at a predetermined state, bias means connected to each of said trigger means, reference means in each of said bias means connectable to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector and said peak amplitude inverter, said reference means in said first level detector being structured to cause a first predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude to actuate its respective trigger means, and said reference means in said second level detector being structured to cause a second predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude to actuate its respective trigger means, and measuring means connected to the outputs of said level detectors to determine the time interval between the actuations of the two trigger means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
217 words
Apparatus for measuring the time parameters of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as tHe rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, a first and second amplitude level detector each having trigger means with inputs connectable to the outputs of said delay means and said inverter, each said trigger means adapted to be actuated at a predetermined state, bias means connected to each of said trigger means, reference means in each of said bias means connectable to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector and said peak amplitude inverter, said reference means in said first level detector being structured to cause a first predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude to actuate its respective trigger means, and said reference means in said second level detector being structured to cause a second predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude to actuate its respective trigger means, and measuring means connected to the outputs of said level detectors to determine the time interval between the actuations of the two trigger means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
40 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said measuring means comprises a ramp generator having a starting input connected to the output of said first level detector, and a stopping input connected to the output of said second level detector.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 including a peak detector and holding means connected to the output of said ramp generator.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
112 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein each of said level detectors comprises a tunnel diode, a bias circuit normally allowing a certain current flow through said tunnel diode, a reference resistance connected at one end in said bias circuit and connectable at the other end to said peak amplitude detector and said peak amplitude inverter outputs, and pulse signal input means to said tunnel diode, said input means connectable to the outputs of said delay means and said inverter, whereby when the proper reference resistor value is used, the delayed pulse applied to said pulse signal input means will fire said tunnel diode at a given percentage of peak pulse amplitude.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
59 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 including a clamping circuit connected to said tunnel diode to normally hold said diode in the low voltage condition regardless of currents through said bias circuit, said reference resistance and said pulse signal input means, and enabling means for effectively open-circuiting said clamping means to allow said tunnel diode to fire as required.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
124 words
Apparatus for measuring more than one time parameter of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, and a plurality of programmable interval detectors, one for each pulse time parameter to be measured, connected to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector, said peak amplitude inverter, said delay means and said pulse inverter, whereby the time intervals for all of said parameters are determined substantially simultaneously.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
124 words
Apparatus for measuring more than one time parameter of a single incoming pulse comprising a peak amplitude detector adapted to receive said incoming pulse, a peak amplitude inverter connected to the output of said peak amplitude detector, pulse delay means adapted to also receive said incoming pulse and having a delay time at least as great as the rise time of said incoming pulse, a pulse inverter connected to the output of said delay means, and a plurality of programmable interval detectors, one for each pulse time parameter to be measured, connected to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector, said peak amplitude inverter, said delay means and said pulse inverter, whereby the time intervals for all of said parameters are determined substantially simultaneously.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 including a separate peak detector and holding means connected to the output of each of said interval detectors.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
168 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 wherein each of said programmable interval detectors comprises a first and a second amplitude level detector each having trigger means with inputs connectable to the outputs of said delay means and said inverter, each said trigger means adapted to be actuated at a predetermined state, bias means connected to each of said trigger means and connectable to the outputs of said peak amplitude detector and said peak amplitude inverter, said bias means in said first level detector being structured to actuate its respective trigger means in response to the occurrence of a first predeterMined percentage of peak pulse amplitude at said trigger means, and said bias means in said second level detector being structured to actuate its respective trigger means in response to a second predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude at said trigger means, and measuring means connected to the outputs of said first and second level detectors to determine the time interval between the actuations of the two trigger means.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
122 words
In pulse analyzing apparatus, a first programmable level detector comprising a tunnel diode and a bias circuit together connectable across a source of operating voltage, input signal means connected to said tunnel diode, a reference voltage input connected to said tunnel diode, said reference voltage input being structured in relation to said bias circuit and said input signal means to cause said tunnel diode to trigger from its low potential state to high when an input pulse connected to said input signal means reaches a predetermined percentage of its peak amplitude, means for producing a d.c. reference voltage equal in magnitude to the peak amplitude of said input pulse, and means for connecting said d.c. reference voltage to said reference voltage input.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
122 words
In pulse analyzing apparatus, a first programmable level detector comprising a tunnel diode and a bias circuit together connectable across a source of operating voltage, input signal means connected to said tunnel diode, a reference voltage input connected to said tunnel diode, said reference voltage input being structured in relation to said bias circuit and said input signal means to cause said tunnel diode to trigger from its low potential state to high when an input pulse connected to said input signal means reaches a predetermined percentage of its peak amplitude, means for producing a d.c. reference voltage equal in magnitude to the peak amplitude of said input pulse, and means for connecting said d.c. reference voltage to said reference voltage input.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
40 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 including a plurality of different selectable reference elements in said reference voltage input, each said element valued to determine a tunnel diode firing point at a different predetermined percentage of peak input pulse amplitude.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
51 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 including a second programmable level detector similar to said first detector but triggering at a different predetermined percentage of peak pulse amplitude, and measuring means connected to the outputs of said level detectors to determine the time interval between the occurrence of the two triggers.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
55 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 including a clamping circuit connected to said tunnel diode to normally hold said diode in the unfired condition regardless of currents in its other connected circuits, and enabling means connected to said clamping circuit for effectively open-circuiting said clamping circuit to allow said tunnel diode to fire as required.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3519849A
Cited
US3505598A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-05-21 | 1976-11-20 | 1977-05-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-05-21 | 1980-11-20 | 1981-05-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-05-21 | 1984-11-20 | 1985-05-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |