US 11,921,242 B2
Method and device for time-of-flight estimate
Davide Ruggiero, S. Agata de Goti (IT); Rosario Schiano Lo Moriello, Agrate Brianza (IT); Annalisa Liccardo, Agrate Brianza (IT); and Giuseppe Caiazzo, Corsico (IT)
Assigned to STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed by STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed on Oct. 20, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/506,554.
Claims priority of application No. 102020000024874 (IT), filed on Oct. 21, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0120883 A1, Apr. 21, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 7/527 (2006.01); G01S 15/10 (2006.01); G06F 17/14 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/5273 (2013.01) [G01S 15/101 (2013.01); G06F 17/14 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for providing an estimate of a time-of-flight between an ultrasonic signal emitted by a device and an ultrasonic echo signal returned from a target object hit by the ultrasonic signal and received at the device, the method comprising:
acquiring the ultrasonic echo signal;
obtaining an electric echo signal based on the ultrasonic echo signal;
determining a noise power of the electric echo signal;
determining an envelope signal indicative of an envelope of the electric echo signal;
determining at least one operative parameter of the envelope signal based on Particle Swarm Optimization;
determining a portion of the envelope signal based on the at least one operative parameter;
determining at least one Unscented Kalman Filter parameter of an Unscented Kalman Filter according to Particle Swarm Optimization;
processing the portion of the envelope signal and the noise power of the electric echo signal according to the Unscented Kalman Filter to obtain an estimate of the envelope signal, the estimate of the envelope signal being a regenerated version of the envelope signal based on the portion of the envelope signal; and
providing the estimate of the time-of-flight according to the estimate of the envelope signal.