Responder Beam Selection for Fast Multipath Direction Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing responders face challenges in suppressing the influence of multipath interference, which causes a decrease in reception intensity and phase shift due to overlapping wave components, requiring complex software calculations like FFT-MUSIC methods to determine signal arrival directions.
Innovation Solution
A responder system utilizing a plurality of antennae, a reference signal generator, modems, a parallel-time-series signal converter, a frequency divider, a multiplier, and a beam selector to perform multipath suppression calculations using hardware, enabling rapid determination of arrival directions through hardware-based frequency division and intensity analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If software-based FFT-MUSIC method is used to determine arrival direction, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to large number of product-sum calculations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based FFT-MUSIC calculations with a hardware-based signal processing system comprising parallel-time-series signal converter, frequency dividers, multipliers, and beam selector. This hardware implementation performs the same arrival direction determination function but eliminates the time-consuming software product-sum calculations, thereby reducing loss of time while maintaining measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the signal processing task into parallel operations: multiple frequency dividers process different frequency components simultaneously, multiple multipliers perform parallel multiplications, and the beam selector processes multiple multiplication signals in parallel to determine arrival direction. This segmentation enables concurrent processing that dramatically reduces calculation time compared to sequential software execution
2Productivity
If hardware-based signal processing is implemented, then productivity is improved through rapid processing, but device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple signal processing functions into an integrated hardware system where parallel-time-series signal converter, frequency dividers, multipliers, and beam selector work together as a unified signal processing chain. This merging enables high-speed parallel processing that improves productivity while the integrated design minimizes the actual increase in device complexity compared to implementing separate software modules
Data Source
AI summary
A responder that receives an interrogation wave from an interrogator and transmits a response wave to the interrogator includes a plurality of antennae receiving the interrogation wave, a reference signal generator generating a reference signal, a plurality of modems outputting quadrature phase amplitudes based on reception signals output from the antennae when the interrogation wave is received and the reference signal, a parallel-time-series signal converter converting a parallel signal having the quadrature phase amplitude output from each of the modems into a time-series signal, a frequency divider outputting a frequency division signal having a frequency and a phase for detecting the time-series signal, a multiplier outputting a multiplication signal obtained by multiplying the time-series signal by the frequency division signal, and a beam selector determining an arrival direction of the interrogation wave based on the multiplication signals.