Echo Profile Processing with Reshaped Threshold Function
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pulse-echo ranging systems face challenges in accurately identifying the echo of interest in noisy environments, such as tanks, where obstacles and noise distort the echo profile, leading to underestimated confidence levels and erroneous loss of echo reports.
Innovation Solution
The method involves determining if the threshold function corresponding to the selected echo is part of a hump-shaped section, reshaping this section to reduce amplitude, and recalculating the confidence level based on differences between the echo profile and the reshaped threshold function, thereby improving the accuracy of the echo of interest selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a time-varying threshold function is used to identify valid echoes, then echoes can be distinguished from noise and obstacles, but the confidence level of selected echoes is underestimated when secondary echoes are present
Solution Approach 1:
The threshold function is segmented into multiple sections, with special attention to hump-shaped sections that correspond to secondary echoes. Each section is processed independently to determine its impact on confidence level calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful hump-shaped sections of the threshold function are extracted and removed or corrected. By identifying and eliminating these distorted sections caused by secondary echoes, the confidence level calculation is purified to reflect only the true echo characteristics.
2Reliability
If the threshold function is adjusted to account for hump-shaped sections, then confidence levels are corrected, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The threshold function is pre-analyzed to identify hump-shaped sections before they affect confidence level calculations. By performing this detection and correction in advance, the overall processing remains efficient while ensuring accurate confidence levels.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for processing an echo profile generated by a pulse-echo ranging system, the echo profile is compared with a time-varying threshold function to identify valid echoes in those portions of the echo profile which exceed the TVT function. Based on the amplitude and/or area above the TVT function, each echo is rated and attributed a level of confidence. The echo with the highest level of confidence is selected as the echo of interest, and the level of confidence is reported. To provide an improved echo processing with increased accuracy in determining the confidence level of the selected echo of interest, it is furthermore determined whether the portion of the threshold function which timely corresponds to the selected echo of interest is part of a hump-shaped section of the threshold function. If so, said section is reshaped to reduced hump amplitude, and the confidence level of the echo of interest is redetermined based on the amplitude and/or area above the reshaped TVT function.