MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

HARDWARE

We have designed, fabricated and are testing a transmitter antenna driver chip (Fig. 2). We have just submitted for fabrication a chip (Fig. 3) with the remaining subsystems for completion of transceivers that can demonstrate sub-meter range accuracy over 100 meter distances in real time. The major components in this chip include:

A 200 MHz phase-locked loop, in low noise logic;
All three stages of the Real Time Clock, with the high speed stages in low noise logic, including event registers and comparators for both transmit and receive;
A code sequence generator each for transmit and receive, which includes a 25-stage Linear Feedback Shift Register, a run-length counter, and a doublet generator, all in low noise logic;
32 Time-Integrating Correlator phases; each phase has a reference code latch, code/signal multiplier, integrator, offset correction, sample-and-hold, and output mux;
An 800 MHz broadband differential receiver antenna amplifier with 60 dB gain.

The production of these chips was made possible by the invention of a new analog circuit development and testing methodology, one that has allowed us to fabricate one or more test chips per month since February.

SOFTWARE

Upgraded "lab bench" Localizer demonstration to do software impulse train synchronization.
Developed a Simulator that allows us to exercise and debug the actual Localizer software for synchronization and ranging.
Programmed the control and measurement system for testing our chips.
Wrote program for interfacing between different CAD tools.

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