US 11,953,582 B2
Distance measuring apparatus and method using impulse correlation
Tae Wook Kim, Seoul (KR); and Sung Young Lee, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, YONSEI UNIVERSITY, Seoul (KR)
Filed by INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, YONSEI UNIVERSITY, Seoul (KR)
Filed on Dec. 16, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/123,227.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2020-0038714 (KR), filed on Mar. 31, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0302559 A1, Sep. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 13/34 (2006.01); G01S 7/288 (2006.01); G01S 13/10 (2006.01); G01S 13/50 (2006.01); G04F 10/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 13/346 (2013.01) [G01S 13/10 (2013.01); G01S 13/50 (2013.01); G04F 10/005 (2013.01); G01S 7/2886 (2021.05)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A distance measuring apparatus comprising:
a digital-to-time conversion (DTC) generator unit configured to generate DTC signals, the DTC signals having edges delayed to define time segments in units of a pre-designated time interval from a starting time point at which an impulse signal is emitted;
a template generator unit configured to generate template signals consecutively in a pre-designated number within the time segments in response to the DTC signals, the template signals having a same waveform as the impulse signal;
a coarse time determiner unit configured to determine a time segment in which a delayed signal is received by calculating correlations with the consecutively generated template signals, when the delayed signal is received after a delay as the emitted impulse signal is reflected off an object;
a fine time measurer unit configured to determine a time at which the delayed signal is received within the time segment determined at the coarse time determiner unit from results of calculating correlations between a plurality of template signals within the determined time segment and the delayed signal; and
a distance calculator unit configured to calculate a total delay duration of the delayed signal from the determined time segment and the time at which the delayed signal is received within the time segment and calculate a distance to a measurement target object from the calculated delay duration,
wherein the coarse time determiner unit calculates correlations between the plurality of template signals generated consecutively in each defined time segment and the delayed signal and determines a time segment for which the calculated correlation values are greater than or equal to a pre-designated threshold value,
wherein the fine time measurer unit determines the time at which the delayed signal is received by applying I/Q modulation to each of the plurality of template signals within the determined time segment to obtain a plurality of I template signals and a plurality of Q template signals and calculating correlations between the plurality of I template signals and the plurality of Q template signals and the delayed signal.