Method and apparatus for transmission line and waveguide testing

Abstract

A multi-port junction is used in combination with an Inverse Fourier Transform to detect distance to fault in an RF transmission line or waveguide without the use of heterodyne down-conversion circuits. To provide an ultra-wide bandwidth frequency domain reflectometer the output ports of the multi-port junction are used to calculate distance to fault and return loss. The Inverse Fourier Transform algorithm is modified to take into account both phase shift per unit length of the transmission line and attenuation per unit of length in the transmission line, with the output of the modified Inverse Fourier Transform being applied to a module that subtracts out the effect of previous faults by solving for the distances ahead of time before knowing amplitudes and for solving for amplitude at each prior fault starting with the first fault. The output of this module is then used thresholded to remove the effects of noise, secondary reflections and inconsequential peaks. The result is a time domain waveform in which peak positions indicate the distance to real faults and in which return loss or percent reflection is calculated for each of the faults. Moreover, internal calibration loads and specialized processing are used to effortlessly calibrate the reflectometer in the field.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This Application claims rights under 35 USC § 119(e) from U.S. Application Ser. No. 60 / 536,886 filed Jan. 15, 2004, and U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 536,977 filed Jan. 15, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to frequency domain reflectometers and more particularly to a down-conversionless system employing the use of a multi-port junction in combination with an Inverse Fourier Transform. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] It will be appreciated that faults in RF transmission lines and waveguides require detection so that the distance to the fault may be calculated. Moreover, the ability to detect and locate multiple faults that oftentimes result in ghosts that resemble faults requires sophisticated techniques to eliminate the need for skilled technicians. [0004] Nowhere are reflectometers more desirable than in aircraft applications in which long lengths of cable or wa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a new system for detecting and locating faults in RF transmission lines using a multi-port junction and an Inverse Fourier Transform. The system eliminates the need for complex and expensive down-conversion circuits and uses a simple and fast Inverse Fast Fourier Transform to estimate the complex reflection coefficient. The system also compensates for variations in the RF source power and detection circuitry characteristics. The multi-port junction allows for the detection of multiple faults and the use of both phase shift and attenuation to accurately measure the distance to fault and return loss. The system also uses a modified Inverse Fourier Transform that takes into account both phase shift and attenuation to accurately measure the complex reflection coefficient. The system is calibrated to account for variations in the RF source power and detection circuitry characteristics. The ultra-wide bandwidth frequency domain reflectometer has a high dynamic range and can detect, classify, and locate multiple faults in a single transmission line. The system also uses a calibration technique to make it convenient to use the multi-port junction in the field.

Problems solved by technology

Likewise, for satellite and terrestrial-based communications, RF transmissions lines and waveguides can become faulty, especially at the interface between two cables as at a connection, and the ability to identify and locate the fault is a paramount concern.

A fault is anything that causes a change of impedance in the material properties of the cable or waveguide that causes some of the energy that is being transmitted through the transmission line to be reflected.

Typically the faults occur at the interface between two cables, for instance, if a connection is not torqued properly or the connectors are old.

Thus, cable discontinuities or faults can be the result of interface problems between the cables or when a cable is bent and tweaked enough, the material properties will change at the bend that cause a reflection.

Also, if the shielding to the cable is damaged in any way, part of the cable may couple to, for instance, the body of an aircraft, causing an impedance mismatch.

However, when one starts to get into high frequency applications exceeding for example 1 GHz, obtaining a physical system to produce an impulse that is of short enough duration is very difficult to realize in hardware.

Moreover, even if one can create such a short pulse, the shape of the pulse is hard to control.

It is noted that those employing time domain reflectometry do not obtain information on spectral characteristics.

The problem with the methods described in these two patents is that they only measure the amplitude of the reflection coefficient, not the phase.

However, the number of spurious responses increases exponentially with multiple faults.

In short, there are an extremely large number of spurious responses when a device under test contains several faults and removing them all becomes both cumbersome and, in some cases, impossible, at least by visual inspection of the results of an Inverse Fourier Transform (IFT).

Down-conversion adds its own set of problems and involves many local oscillators and mixers.

The result is that one may fail to recognize a subsequent stronger fault.

Thus, those systems that do not adjust for prior faults are incapable of distinguishing, in subsequent faults, the severity of the fault.

The result is that it takes an extremely skilled technician to be able to recognize that a certain peak is the result of a fault, especially when the peaks start to fall into the noise level due to the amplitude attenuation associated with the line itself.

Secondly, those systems that use an inverse amplitude attenuation function to compensate for attenuation tend to mask the faults at greater and greater distances.

However, those systems that measure phase shift only which are based on real phase shifts, have no attenuation information.

While they do take into account phase shifts per unit length of transmission line, they fail to take into account attenuation per unit length of transmission line.

Finally, those systems that use an Inverse Fourier Transform without further processing are incapable of subtracting out the effect of previous faults when trying to identify or locate peaks useful in determining distance to a fault; or in determining the severity of a fault.

The trouble is that for a wide bandwidth, the prior art systems use down-convert, down-mix or heterodyning circuits, employing a local oscillator to down-mix to a signal that one can sample.

This is a relatively easy task at a single frequency, but the problem is, as soon as one starts trying to do it over a wide range of frequencies, devices become non-ideal and they are hard to calibrate.

Thus, measuring a device over a wide frequency range is very difficult.

As mentioned above, in multi-fault scenarios, prior frequency domain reflectometers suffer from ambiguities or ghosts, with ghost faults appearing at distances that are multiples of the actual distance between each fault.

This occurs because the magnitude of the reflection coefficient does not contain enough information to resolve the actual locations therefore ghosts appear.

This results in false alarms that do not reflect where the fault is or even whether or not there is a fault.

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