When a frequency domain sensor is under the effect of an input stimulus, there is a frequency shift at its output. One of the most important advantages of such sensors is their converting a physical input parameter into time variations. In consequence, changes of an input stimulus can be quantified very precisely, provided that a proper frequency counter/meter is used. Unfortunately, it is well known in the time-frequency metrology that if a higher accuracy in measurements is needed, a longer time for measuring is required. The principle of rational approximations is a method to measure a signal frequency. One of its main properties is that the time required for measuring decreases when the order of an unknown frequency increases. In particular, this work shows a new measurement technique, which is devoted to measuring the frequency shifts that occur in frequency domain sensors. The presented research result is a modification of the principle of rational approximations. In this work a mathematical analysis is presented, and the theory of this new measurement method is analysed in detail. As a result, a new formalism for frequency measurement is proposed, which improves resolution and reduces the measurement time.

In a television, obtaining a good acoustic response is a challenging issue because of slim mechanical structures. The area dedicated for speaker’s placement is limited and inadequate space inside the cabinet of a TV prevents possible solutions to increase the sound performance. In addition, frame of the TV’s is getting narrower as the customers searching for the highest screen to body ratio. These designing aspects restrain optimal speaker positioning to achieve good sound performance. In this paper, an analysis related to speaker’s placement and mounting angle is proposed. A rotation setup compatible with a TV was prepared to measure different facing position of the speaker. This paper proposes the analysis of speaker’s rotation and facing direction in a flat panel television and its effects on sound pressure level together with deviation of the acoustic response. Measurement results are analyzed with an audio analyzer together with a statistics tool to achieve precise results.

A new method of optical frequency beat counting based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis is described. Signals with a worse signal-to-noise ratio can be counted correctly comparing to the conventional counting method of detecting each period separately. The systematic error of FFT counting below 10 Hz is demonstrated and can be decreased. Additionally the modulation width of a frequency-stabilized laser with high frequency modulation index can be simultaneously measured during a carrier frequency measurement against an optical frequency synthesizer or other laser.

In order to achieve higher frequency measurement accuracy, this paper proposed a characteristic pulse detection method of fuzzy area based on the quantized phase processing method of different frequency groups. First, the fuzzy area of the group phase coincidence points continuously moved on the time axis after passing through delay elements. The moving distance, that is, the number of the delay elements was determined by the main clock cycle of the D flip-flop. After that, three groups of phase coincidence detection fuzzy areas in different positions were sent to the digital logic module to extract the edge pulses of the phase coincidence detection fuzzy area. The pulse width is determined by the difference between the clock cycles of the delay elements. The clock cycles of different delay units were adjusted to obtain nanosecond or even picosecond circuit detection resolution. Finally, the pulses generated at the edge of the phase coincidence fuzzy area are taken as the switching signal of the frequency signal counter, so the stability of the gate signal and the accuracy of the gate time measurement are improved. The experimental results show that frequency stability can reach the order of E-13/s. In addition, compared with the traditional measurement method, it is characterized by simple structure, low cost, low noises, and high measurement resolution.

Passive radar does not have its own emitter. It uses so-called signals of opportunity emitted by non-cooperative illuminators. During the detection of reflected signals, a direct signal from a non-cooperative emitter is used as the reference signal. Detection of electromagnetic echoes is, in present day radars, performed by finding the maximum of the cross ambiguity function. This function is based on the multiplication of the received signal and the reference signal. Detection of echoes by means of a quadrature microwave phase discriminator QMPD was proposed in the work as an alternative solution for ambiguity function evaluation. This discriminator carries out vectorial summing of the received and the reference signals. The summing operations in QMPD are carried out with the aid of microwave elements and without the use of expensive digital signal processors. Definitions of the phase and phase difference of the so-called simple signals and noise signals were described. A proposal of a passive radar equipped with several independent quadrature microwave phase discriminators was presented. Ideas of algorithms of object detection and of the distance-to-object estimation designed for this radar have been also sketched.

Structures and characteristics ofwideband small-size phase shiftersmade with the use of single parallel stubs are presented in this paper. The stubs can be short-circuited or open-circuited on termination. Such devices arewell known, but are primarily used as components of filters ormatching circuits. The novelty, then, comes from the establishment of simple, but helpful formulae, which enable to describe the insertion phase shift and differential phase shift of a line with short and open stubs connected in parallel. These equations can be very useful for designing complex microwave multi-ports. The results of simulations and measurements of the devices, which were designed and made, are shown herein. It was also proved that the presented devices have several usable operating frequency sub-bands, and that the differential phase shift values in the higher sub-bands are greater than those in the lower operating frequency ranges. Thanks to this, the described phase shifters can be used in more than one frequency sub-band. It was stated that in the conditions under analysis, larger phase shifts can be achieved using open-circuited stubs rather than short-circuited stubs. However, the phase shifters with shorted parallel stubs can operate in a wider frequency band.

A novel all optical measurement scheme is proposed to measure wideband microwave frequencies up to 30 GHz. The proposed method is based on a four-wave mixing (FWM) approach in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) of both even order side-bands generated by an unknown microwave frequency modulating an optical carrier. The optical power of a generated FWM signal depends on frequency spacing between extracted side-bands. A mathematical relation is established between FWM power and frequency of an unknown signal. A calibration curve is drawn based on the mathematical relation which predicts the unknown frequency from power withdrawn after FWM