Programmable Delay Line Calibration for Drift-Stable Trigger Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing radar systems face challenges in providing reliable and efficiently tuned delayed signals due to temperature and fabrication variations, which are difficult to compensate for using analog circuits and potentiometers.
Innovation Solution
The use of a digitally programmable delay line with calibration techniques that compare a delayed signal to a known fixed delay, allowing for precise adjustment and calibration of multiple delay points, and the combination of fine step and coarse step delays to achieve strobe modulation for equivalent time sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If analog circuits with dual-ramp mode are used to generate trigger signals, then delay can be achieved, but the system performance varies at different operating temperatures and ages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/analog ramp circuit system with a digital system. A digitally controlled delay element is used instead of analog ramps, and the entire trigger generation is done through digital logic circuits. This substitution eliminates the temperature-dependent analog components while maintaining the delay functionality through digital control mechanisms that are much less sensitive to temperature variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operating parameters from analog voltage levels to digital states. The delay amount is controlled by digital parameters rather than analog voltage levels, making the system immune to temperature-induced parameter drift. The digital control allows for precise delay adjustment without the performance degradation that occurs in analog systems under varying temperature conditions.
2Ease of operation
If analog circuits with potentiometers are used for tuning delay, then delay adjustment is possible, but precise tuning during operation is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical potentiometer-based tuning system with a digital control system. Digital control elements allow for precise, repeatable delay adjustments through electronic means rather than mechanical rotation. This enables much finer resolution in delay tuning and allows for programming of specific delay values, achieving both ease of operation and high precision that cannot be obtained with analog potentiometers.
Solution Approach 2:
The digitally controlled system can automatically adjust and maintain precise delay values without requiring manual intervention. The system can self-calibrate and self-adjust delay parameters through digital control logic, eliminating the need for operators to manually tune potentiometers while maintaining high precision. This self-service capability achieves both ease of operation and measurement precision simultaneously.
3Measurement precision
If digitally programmable delay line with calibration is used, then delay precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the calibration functionality directly into the digital control logic of the delay element. Rather than adding separate calibration hardware, the calibration process is integrated into the existing digital control structure. This allows the system to achieve high delay precision while minimizing additional complexity, as the calibration routines are implemented through software/firmware rather than additional physical components.
Data Source
AI summary
A variable delay apparatus comprises a calibrating unit receiving a signal from a variable delay unit and from a plurality of fixed delay sources, the calibrating unit comparing the signal from the variable delay unit with a plurality of signals from the fixed delay sources to control operation of the variable delay unit over a delay range independently of environmentally-induced drift.