Arrangement for determining the starting instant of the leading edge of a high-frequency pulse

Claim 2

An arrangement for determining the starting instant t o of the leading edge of a received high-frequency pulse signal V of the form V=A.(t-t o ).sin 2π Ft, where V is the instantaneous voltage, A is the slope of the leading edge, t is the time (t>t o ), and F is the frequency, said arrangement comprising: (a) receiving means for receiving the pulse signal V; (b) delay means electrically connected to the receiving means for delaying the received pulse signal V by a time equal to k/2F (where k is an integer) and thereby producing a second pulse signal V R of the form V R =A.(t-t o -k/2F).sin 2π; and (c) processing means electrically-connected to the receiving means and to the delay means for determining t o from the signals V and V R by performing the calculation ##EQU10## and for producing a signal representative of t o .

Claim 3

An arrangement as in claim 1 wherein k=2.

Claim 4

An arrangement as in claim 1 or 2, where the delay means comprises a delay circuit.

Claim 5

An arrangement as in claim 1 or 2, comprising a threshold circuit for triggering the processing means from the moment the amplitude of the receiving pulse signal V attains a predetermined magnitude.

Claim 6

An arrangement as in claim 1 or 2 where the processing means includes sampling means for sampling the pulse signals at a rate which is high relative to the frequency F.

Claim 7

An arrangement as in claim 1 or 2 where the processing means includes sampling means for sampling the pulse signals at a rate which is on the order of magnitude of the frequency F.

Claim 8

An arrangement for determining the starting instant t o of the leading edge of a received high-frequency pulse signal V of the form V=A.(t-t o ).sin 2π Ft, where V is the instantaneous voltage, A is the slope of the leading edge, t is the time (t>t o ), and F is the frequency, said arrangement comprising: (a) receiving means for receiving the pulse signal V; (b) first delay means electrically connected to the receiving means for delaying the received pulse signal V by a period of time equal to α and thereby producing a pulse signal Vα of the form V.sub.α =A.(t-t o -α).sin 2π F(t-α); (c) second delay means electrically connected to the receiving means for delaying the received signal V by a period of time equal to β and thereby producing a pulse signal V.sub.β of the form: V.sub.β =A.(t-t o -β).sin 2π F(t-β); and (d) processing means electrically connected to the receiving means and to the first and second delay means for determining t o from the signals V, V.sub.α and V.sub.β by performing the calculation ##EQU11## and for producing a signal representative of t o .

Claim 9

An arrangement for determining the starting instant t o of the leading edge of a received high-frequency pulse signal V of the form V=A.(t-t o ).sin 2π Ft, where V is the instantaneous voltage, A is the slope of the leading edge, t is the time (t>t o ), and F is the frequency, said arrangement comprising: (a) receiving means for receiving the pulse signal V; (b) first delay means electrically connected to the receiving means for delaying the received pulse signal V by a period of time equal to α and thereby producing a pulse signal Vα of the form V.sub.α =A.(t-t o -α).sin 2π F(t-α); (c) second delay means electrically connected to the receiving means for delaying the received signal V by a period of time equal to β and thereby producing a pulse signal V.sub.β of the form: V.sub.β =A.(t-t o -β).sin 2π F(t-β); and (d) processing means electrically connected to the receiving means and to the first and second delay means for determining t o from the signals V, V.sub.α and V.sub.β by performing the calculation ##EQU11## and for producing a signal representative of t o .