Detection device and detection method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12099020-B2
Application number	US-202117995574-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2021
Priority date	Apr 20, 2020
Publication date	Sep 24, 2024
Grant date	Sep 24, 2024

Abstract

An inspection device and method suppressing measurement time and power consumption. A detection device according to the present disclosure includes a first probe with a first antenna unit for transmission, a second probe with a second antenna unit for reception, the second probe being opposed to the first probe at a predetermined distance, a measurement unit that measures a measurement signal including a propagation characteristic of an electromagnetic wave in a medium between the first and second antenna units, and a calculation unit that calculates characteristics information of the medium based on the measurement signal. In a first mode, the measurement unit measures the measurement signal in a first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave propagating in the medium, and in a second mode, the measurement unit measures the measurement signal in a second frequency band, which is a part of the first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A detection device comprising:
a first probe that includes a first antenna unit for transmission;
a second probe that includes a second antenna unit for reception, the second probe being opposed to the first probe at a predetermined distance;
a measurement unit that measures a measurement signal including information regarding a propagation characteristic of an electromagnetic wave in a medium between the first and second antenna units; and
a calculation unit that calculates characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal,
wherein, in a first mode, the measurement unit measures the measurement signal in a first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave propagating in the medium, and the calculation unit calculates the characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a first characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the first frequency band, and
in a second mode, the measurement unit measures the measurement signal in a second frequency band, which is a part of the first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave, and the calculation unit calculates the characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a second characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequency band.

2. The detection device according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the first mode, the calculation unit generates relationship information between the first characteristic amount and a partial characteristic amount on a basis of the partial characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequency band out of the measurement signal in the first frequency band, and
in the second mode, the calculation unit calculates the characteristics information of the medium by applying the second characteristic amount to the relationship information.

3. The detection device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the calculation unit includes:
a delay time calculation unit that calculates a propagation delay time of the electromagnetic wave between the first and second probes as the characteristic amount on a basis of the measurement signal;
a relative permittivity calculation unit that calculates a relative permittivity of the medium as the characteristics information on a basis of the propagation delay time;
a water content calculation unit that calculates a water content in the medium on a basis of the relative permittivity; and
a relationship information generation unit that generates the relationship information.

4. The detection device according to claim 3 ,
wherein, in the first mode, the calculation unit calculates a first propagation delay time on a basis of the measurement signal in the first frequency band, calculates a partial delay time obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequency band out of the measurement signal in the first frequency band, and generates the relationship information using the first propagation delay time and the partial delay time, and
in the second mode, the calculation unit calculates a second propagation delay time on a basis of the measurement signal in the second frequency band, generates a corrected delay time obtained by converting the second propagation delay time into a propagation delay time in the first frequency band by applying the second propagation delay time to the relationship information, and calculates a relative permittivity of the medium and a water content in the medium using the corrected delay time.

5. The detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the second frequency band is a band including a peak frequency at which an intensity of the measurement signal in the first frequency band is maximum.

6. The detection device according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the first mode, the measurement unit measures the electromagnetic wave at a first frequency spacing, and
in the second mode, the measurement unit measures the electromagnetic wave at a second frequency spacing wider than the first frequency spacing.

7. The detection device according to claim 6 , wherein a width of the second frequency band is substantially equal to a width of the first frequency band.

8. The detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the second frequency band is a specific frequency in the first frequency band.

9. The detection device according to claim 8 , wherein the characteristic amount is a phase or an amplitude of the electromagnetic wave at the specific frequency.

10. The detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the characteristic amount is a propagation delay time of the electromagnetic wave between the first and second antenna units, a shape of a frequency characteristic of the electromagnetic wave, or a waveform of the propagation delay time obtained on a basis of the frequency characteristic of the electromagnetic wave.

11. The detection device according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a mode switching unit that switches between the first mode and the second mode.

12. The detection device according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the second frequency band, an upper limit of a level of the transmission signal out of the first frequency band is higher than an upper limit of a level of the measurement signal in another frequency band, and
in the second frequency band, the first antenna unit sets the level of the transmission signal to be higher than that in the another frequency band in the first frequency band.

13. A detection method using a detection device including a first probe that includes a first antenna unit for transmission, a second probe that includes a second antenna unit for reception, the second probe being opposed to the first probe at a predetermined distance, a measurement unit that measures a measurement signal including information regarding a propagation characteristic of an electromagnetic wave in a medium between the first and second antenna units, and a calculation unit that calculates characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal, the detection method comprising:
in a first mode, measuring the measurement signal in a first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave propagating in the medium, and calculating the characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a first characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the first frequency band; and
in a second mode, measuring the measurement signal in a second frequency band, which is a part of the first frequency band for the electromagnetic wave, and calculating the characteristics information of the medium on a basis of a second characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequency band.

14. The detection method according to claim 13 ,
wherein, in the first mode, the calculation unit generates relationship information between the first characteristic amount and a partial characteristic amount on a basis of the partial characteristic amount obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequency band out of the measurement signal in the first frequency band, and
in the second mode, the calculation unit calculates the characteristics information of the medium by applying the second characteristic amount to the relationship information.

15. The detection method according to claim 14 ,
wherein, in the first mode, the calculation unit calculates a first propagation delay time on a basis of the measurement signal in the first frequency band, calculates a partial delay time obtained from the measurement signal in the second frequen

Assignees

• Sony Group Corp

Inventors

• Mihota Norihito
• Iida Sachio

Classifications

• G01S7/4915

  Time delay measurement, e.g. operational details for pixel components (signal extraction and conditioning G01S7/493); Phase measurement · CPC title

• G01N33/245

  for agricultural purposes · CPC title

• G01R27/2676

  Probes · CPC title

• G01R27/2623

  Measuring-systems or electronic circuits (G01R27/2635, G01R27/2682 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01R29/0878

  Sensors; antennas; probes; detectors (wave guide measuring sections G01R1/24) · CPC title