Systems and methods for signal quantization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9753068-B2
Application number	US-201514675046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Jan 14, 2015
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system for detecting and precisely measuring information content of one or more environmental conditions. The system may include a plurality of oscillator circuits that are coupled together. The coupling of the oscillator circuits generates an output signal having a pattern of amplitude and frequency. The pattern of amplitude and frequency changes as one or more values of the environmental condition(s) change.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for detecting information content of one or more environmental conditions, the system comprising:
a plurality of separate and distinct oscillator circuits that are coupled together, wherein the coupling of the plurality of oscillator circuits generates an output signal having a pattern of amplitude and frequency, and wherein the pattern of amplitude and frequency changes as one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions change.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of oscillator circuits comprises multiple negative resistance non-linearities that provide multiple stable equilibriums.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the system is devoid of a separate and distinct reference source.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein one or both the multiple negative resistance non-linearities or the multiple stable equilibriums of the plurality of oscillator circuits are different.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein one or both the multiple negative resistance non-linearities or the multiple stable equilibriums of the plurality of oscillator circuits are the same.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of oscillator circuits are electromagnetically coupled together.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of oscillator circuits are one or both of mechanically or chemically coupled together.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more environmental conditions comprises two or more of attitude, altitude, position within a volume, velocity, temperature, pressure, or light intensity.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a pattern recognition unit operatively coupled to the plurality of oscillator circuits, wherein the pattern recognition unit is configured to receive the output signal and determine the one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions by analyzing the pattern of amplitude and frequency.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the pattern recognition unit matches the pattern of amplitude and frequency with an associated one of the one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the pattern recognition unit matches the pattern of amplitude and frequency with a stored pattern in a memory that is indicative of one of the one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of oscillator circuits comprises at least one inductor connected in parallel with at least on capacitor, and wherein at least one of the plurality of oscillator circuits is controlled with direct current voltage.

13. A method of detecting information content of one or more environmental conditions, the method comprising:
coupling a plurality of separate and distinct oscillator circuits together; and
generating an output signal having a pattern of amplitude and frequency through the coupling operation, wherein the pattern of amplitude and frequency changes as one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions change.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein each of the plurality of oscillator circuits comprises multiple negative resistance non-linearities that provide multiple stable equilibriums.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising refraining from using a separate and distinct reference source.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the coupling operation comprises electromagnetically coupling the plurality of oscillators together.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the coupling operation comprises one or both of mechanically or chemically coupling the plurality of oscillators together.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more environmental conditions comprises two or more of attitude, altitude, position within a volume, temperature, pressure, or light intensity.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
operatively coupling a pattern recognition unit to the plurality of oscillators;
receiving the output signal with the pattern recognition unit; and
using the pattern recognition unit to determine the one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions by analyzing the pattern of amplitude and frequency.

20. A vehicle comprising:
a main body including an internal cabin; and
one or more systems for detecting information content of one or more environmental conditions secured on or within the main body, each of the one or more systems comprising:
a plurality of oscillator circuits that are coupled together, wherein each of the plurality of oscillator circuits comprises multiple negative resistance non-linearities that provide multiple stable equilibriums, wherein the coupling of the plurality of oscillator circuits generates an output signal having a pattern of amplitude and frequency, and wherein the pattern of amplitude and frequency changes as one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions change; and
a pattern recognition unit operatively coupled to the plurality of oscillator circuits, wherein the pattern recognition unit is configured to receive the output signal and determine the one or more values of the one or more environmental conditions by analyzing the pattern of amplitude and frequency.

21. The vehicle of claim 20 , wherein the system is devoid of a separate and distinct reference source.

22. The vehicle of claim 20 , wherein the one or more environmental conditions comprises two or more of attitude of the vehicle, altitude of the vehicle, position of the vehicle within a volume of space, velocity of the vehicle, temperature, pressure, or light intensity.

Assignees

• Insitu Inc
• Insitu Inc

Inventors

• Viviani Gary Lee

Classifications

• H03B7/00

  Generation of oscillations using active element having a negative resistance between two of its electrodes (H03B9/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H03K5/13 Primary

  Arrangements having a single output and transforming input signals into pulses delivered at desired time intervals · CPC title

• G01R23/02 Primary

  Arrangements for measuring frequency, e.g. pulse repetition rate; Arrangements for measuring period of current or voltage · CPC title

• G01D5/243 Primary

  influencing the phase or frequency of AC · CPC title