Variable analog delay line

Claim 1

A variable analog delay line apparatus comprising in combination: a plurality of SAW delay line units respectively connected to each other to form a series circuit, the first SAW delay line unit of said plurality of SAW delay line units receiving an input signal and the last SAW delay line unit of said plurality of SAW delay line units outputting the delayed signal, said delayed signal comprising the input signal that is delayed by the delay time that is set in each of said plurality of SAW delay line units, said delay time in each of said plurality of SAW delay line units is variable between zero delay and some predetermined delay time, and a plurality of solid state amplifier units to compensate for the signal amplitude loss that occurs in each of said plurality of SAW delay line units, said plurality of solid state amplifier units are connected respectively to the input of said plurality of SAW delay line units and a final solid state amplifier unit is connected to the output of said last SAW delay line unit, each SAW delay line unit of said plurality of delay line units comprises in combination: a surface acoustic wave device having an input transducer to receive said input signal and a plurality of output taps, said surface acoustic wave device providing a different linear delay time between said input transducer and each of said plurality of output taps, said delay time comprising a predetermined number of delay increments, and a means for switching operatively connected to said surface acoustic wave device, said switching means having an output arm and a plurality of input arms which are respectively connected to said plurality of output taps, said plurality of input arms being mutually exclusive switchable to said output arm such that if one input arm is connected to said output arm the remaining input arms are disconnected from said output arm, one of said plurality of input arms operatively coupled to said input transducer to provde a signal bypass path for said input signal, if selected, to said output arm, and a plurality of impedance matching pads respectively connected between said plurality of input arms and said plurality of output taps.