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microns.

Thisproject,anopticaldistance
measurementfrom1993,Shows
howtomeasuredistanceaccurate
upto1micronbymeasuringthe
phasedifferenceofareflectedbeam
oflight.
Alightbeam,usingeitheralaser
diodeoralightemittingdiode,is
reflectedoffofanobjectandthe
reflectedlightbeamiscomparedto
thetransmittedlightbeam.The
differenceinphasebetweenthetwo
allowsacuratemeasurementofthe
distancebetweentheobjetcstoan
accuracyotbetween1and10

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ExecutiveSummaryoftheOpticalDistanceMeasurement
Alightbeamencoderformeasuringabsolutedistanceoveralinearpathwithan
accuracyofatleastthatprovidedbyincrementalopticalencoders,butoverlonger
rangesthancanreadilybeachievedwithopticallinearencodersduetothe
difficultyofprovidingasufficientlylongopticalscalewiththerequisiteaccuracy
andresolution.

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Theresolutionprovidedbythelightbeamencodercanbeapproximately110
microns.Ahighfrequencyamplitudemodulatedlightbeamisreflectedbya
ClickHereNowtousethe
reflectordisposedatthedistancetobemeasured,andthephaselagofthe
formabovetogetyour
reflectedlightbeamisdeterminedtoprovideanabsolutemeasureofthedistance.
Valuableinformation
absolutelyfree.
Theencodermixesalocaloscillatorsignalgeneratedbyaphaselockedloopwith
bothareferenceoscillatorsignalandthedistancesignal.Thus,theheterodyne
mixersprovidetwolowfrequencysignalspreservingthephaselagbetweenthe
twoopticalsignals.Inapreferredembodiment,highresolutioncomputationofthe
phaselagisaccomplishedwithamicroprocessorreceivingprecisecrossovertime
informationindicatingtimedelaysandperiodsoverseveralcyclesofthelow
frequencysignalsusinglinearandnonlinearfilteringandaveragingalgorithms.

Projects
Distance
Optical

BackgroundoftheOpticalDistanceMeasurement
Opticalglassscalelinearencodersareknownformeasuringdistancesalonga
linearpathbydetectinglightreflectedfromortransmittedthroughalinearly
extendingglassscale.Therangeofdistancesoverwhichsuchencodersoperate
maybelimitedduetothedifficultyofprovidingasufficientlylongglassscalewith
therequisiteresolutionandaccuracy.
Anothertypeoflinearencoderisalaserinterferometer.Whilethistypeof
encodergenerallyprovideshighaccuracyandresolution,suchencodersrequire
coherentradiation,wavelengthstabilizedlasers,areveryexpensive,dependupon
incrementalcountingofinterferencecycles,andprovidenozeroreferenceindex
asadatumpoint.
Electronicdistancemeasurementsystems(EDM)areknownformeasuring
relativelylongdistances,suchasinlandsurveying.Thesesystemsoperateby
generatinganamplitudemodulatedlightbeamusingalaseroralightemitting
diodeanddeterminingthedistancebythephaselagofthebeamreturningfroma
reflector.
Phaselagismeasuredbycountingtimeclockincrementsbetweencrossovers
fromthetransmittedbeamtothereceivedbeam,providingresolutionsaroundone
millimeter.Coarsemeasurementsarefirstmadeusinglowfrequencymodulation
followedbyhighermodulatingfrequenciesfortherequiredresolution.
KnownEDMsystemsarenotcapableofachievingveryhighresolutionsandhigher
resolutionsarenotneededforEDMuse.

SummaryoftheOpticalDistanceMeasurement
Alightbeamencodermeasuresabsolutedistancesoveralinearpathwithan
accuracyofatleastthatprovidedbyincrementallinearencoders,butoverlonger
rangesthanarereadilyachievablewithopticallinearencoders.Theresolution
achievablewiththepresentlightbeamencoderisapproximately110microns.
Ahighfrequencyamplitudemodulatedlightbeamisreflectedbyareflector
disposedatthedistancetobemeasured.Thereflectedlightbeamprovidesahigh
frequencyphaseshifteddistancesignal,thephaselagofwhichisindicativeofthe
distancebetweenthelightbeamsourceandthereflector.
Theencodermixesalocaloscillatorsignalgeneratedbyalownoise,phaselocked
loopwithbothahighfrequencyreferencesignalandthehighfrequencyphase
shifteddistancesignal.Thephasedifferenceispreservedinthetworesultinglow
frequencysignals.Inordertoachievethehighresolutionrequiredforencoder
purposes,phaselagiscomputedfrommeasurementsofbothtimedelaysand
periodsoverseveralcyclesofthetwolowfrequencysignals.
Inordertoaccomplishthehighresolutionsneededforencoderpurposes(110
microns),signalsensingisaccomplisheddowntobasiccircuitnoiselevelsand
componentstabilitylevels,requiringoptimaltradeoffsbetweenspeedofresponse
andultimateresolutioninposition.Oneembodimentprovidesadaptivedigital
filteringyieldingfastdynamicresponsewithmoderateresolutionathighinput
velocities,butswitchingtohigherresolutionwithslowerresponseasthemotion
slowsdownforfinalsettling.
Thepresentdesignusesalightbeamproduced,forexample,byeitheralaser
diodeoralightemittingdiode.Moregenerally,anycollimatedlightbeamcanbe
usedinthepresentdesignsinceitisthephaseoftheamplitudemodulatedlight
beam,asopposedtoacoherentopticalwavelengthphase,thatisrelevanttothe
performanceofthelightbeamencoder.

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Theencoderofthedesignincludesacornerreflectorwhichismovablealongthe
measurementpath,andadetectorforreceivingalaserbeamreflectedbythe
cornerreflector.Thelaserbeamsourceisamplitudemodulatedbyareference
oscillatorsignalandthedetectorconvertsthereflectedlightbeamintoahigh
frequencyphaseshifteddistancesignalwithaphaseshiftrelativetothephase
ofthereferenceoscillatorsignal.

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Inoneembodiment,thelightbeamencoderincludesanRFsectionwhichprovides
thereferenceoscillatorsignal,alocaloscillatorsignal,andalowfrequencyphase
referencesignal.
Alsoprovidedisaheterodynesectionwithamixerwhichreceivesthehigh
frequencyphaseshifteddistancesignalandthelocaloscillatorsignal,and
generatesalowfrequencydistancesignal,shiftedinphasebythesameamount
asthehighfrequencydistancesignal.Thelowfrequencydistancesignaliscoupled
toastablehighresolutioncrossoverdetectoramplifier(CRA)whichyieldsa
squarewavesignalwithhighresolutiontransitions.
Ameasurementsectionincludesatimeintervalcounterthatreceivesthelow
frequencydistancesquarewavesignal,aphasereferencesquarewavesignal,and
ahighfrequencyclocksignal,whichmaybederivedfromthehighfrequency
referenceoscillatorsignal.Thetimeintervalcountercontinuallycountstheclock
signalandlatchesthecountvaluesatthetwosquarewavetransitioninstantsof
bothsquarewavesignals,transmittingthecountdatatoamicroprocessorsection.
Themicroprocessorsectionreceivesthetimeinstantdataandcomputesthephase
angleasaratioofthedelaystothecycleperiodsbetweenreferenceand
distancesignalpaths.Redundantandaveragedcomputationsarescaledand
filteredtoprovidehighresolutiondistancesignals.Thecomputationsmayalso
providecompensationcorrectionsfromperiodicrecalibration,ifneeded,andfrom
airdensitytransducersindicatingchangingenvironmentaleffectsonlightbeam
velocity.
Figure1:Isablockdiagramofanembodimentofthelightbeamencoderof
theinvention
fortheopticaldistancemeasurementdevice

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DescriptionoftheOpticalDistanceMeasurement
ReferringtoFIG.1,alightbeamencoder10formeasuringdistanceoveralinear
pathincludesanRFsection11,alaserencodersection26,aheterodynesection
40,ameasurementsection24,andamicroprocessorsection60.Acorner
reflector34isattachedtoadevicelocatedatadistanceDfromareference
location,wheredistanceDistobemeasured.
Moreparticularly,thecornerreflector34ismoveablealongthelinearpathin
accordancewiththedevicehavingadistancetobeencoded.Thedistanceis
measuredbydeterminingthephaselagofanamplitudemodulatedlightbeam
directedtowardandreflectedbythecornerreflector34,aswillbedescribed.
Referringtotheencodersection26,thelightbeamtravelsoverthetotaldistance
2Dwithavelocityofc=3.times.108meter/second(actualvelocityinairisslightly
lessandiscompensatedforusingairdensitytransducers).Thusthetransittime
forthebeamoverthepathwillbe:

Forexample,ifD=1.5meters,thetransittimebecomes108seconds,or10

nanoseconds.Iftheamplitudemodulationfrequencyis100Mhzwithaperiodof10
nanoseconds,aphaselagof360willbeseenatthereceiver.Forlesser
distances,thephaselagbecomes:

Todetectadistanceincrementto10micronsresolution,thecorrespondingphase
lagmustbedetectableto:

Thisis100.times.finer

resolutionthanisrequiredbyalandsurveyingEDMforonemillimeterresolution.
Othermodulationfrequenciesandresolutionrequirementscanbeselected,for
example:
f

75Mhz

2.0M/cy

10uM

.0018

300Mhz

0.5M/cy

1uM

.00072

Stable,highresolutionsensingofsmallphaseincrementsisaccomplishedwiththe
newtechnologiesofthisdesign.Theencoderoperatingrangecanbeextended
overmultiplecyclespanswithverylowresolutionencodingusingthewellknown
"V"or"U"scanlogicwiththelightbeamencoderhighresolutiondistancereadout.
Apreferredimplementationisaccomplishedwithinthelightbeamencoderby
periodicswitchingofthereferenceoscillatorfrom100MHzto10MHz,thus
providinga10.times.1.5meteroperatingrange,or15meters.
TheRFsection11includesareferenceoscillator12forprovidingareference
oscillatorsignalf 1havingareferencephase,suchaszerodegrees.Aphaselocked
loopmixerisprovidedandincludesaphasedetector14,afilter16,avoltage
controlledoscillator(VCO)18,amixer20,andacrossoverdetectoramplifier
(CRA)22.
Thecrossoveramplifier22(aswellascrossoveramplifier44discussedbelow)
providessignalconversionfordetectinglowlevelvoltagecrossoversandcreating
veryfastslewingtransitions.Forpurposesofdiscussingtheoverallencoder
operationinconjunctionwithFIG.1,itshallbeassumedthatthesteadystate
referencephaseofsignalf 1isinfactzerodegrees,asshown.
Figure2:Isamoredetailedblockdiagramofaportionofthelightbeam
encoderoffig.1
fortheopticaldistancemeasurementdevice.

Theeffectofanynoiseonthephaseofreferenceoscillatorsignalf 1andothersof
theencodergeneratedsignalswillbediscussedbelowinconjunctionwithFIG.2.
Referenceoscillatorsignalf 1isahighfrequencysignal,e.g.,100MHz,andis
coupledtoacounterdivider24thatdividesthefrequency(andphase)ofthe
referenceoscillatorsignalf 1byafactorN,forexampleN=150,000,toprovidea
signalF1offrequencyf 1/N.
Thephasedetector14ofthephaselockedloopreceivesthesignalF1andafter
filtering,connectstotheVCO18whichproducesthelocaloscillatorsignalf 2.
Mixer20receivesthesignalf 2andthereferenceoscillatorsignalf 1andproduces
afiltereddifferencesignal(f 1f 2)whichissquaredupbythecrossoveramplifier
22whoseoutputF2feedsbacktothephasedetector14.

Thus,thefrequencyandphaseofF2ismadetotrackF1,at666.7Hz.Thesteady
statephaseofsignalf 2isideallylockedtothatofthereferenceoscillatorsignalf 1
andthusisideallyzerodegrees,asindicatedinFIG.1.Thefrequencyofsignalf 2
isrelatedtothatofsignalf 1bytherelation:

Anyphasenoiseonreferencesignalf 1isreproducedinthelocaloscillatorsignal
f 2withinthebandwidthofthephaselockedloopdynamicresponse.Consequently
thesubsequentheterodynemixingoff 1andf 2todeterminethedistancephaselag
willminimizedifferentialphasenoise.
FurthermoreanyphasenoiseoriginatingfromwithintheVCO18isfedback
throughthemixer20inthephaselockedloopandisthussuppressed.Notethat,
inpriorartsystemshavingaconventionalphaselockedloop,asignaldivideris
coupledinafeedbackrelationshipbetweentheoutputoftheVCOandaninputof
thephasedetectorandthus,thelocaloscillatornoiseisnotsuppressednoristhe
phasenoiseofthereferencesignalf 1reproducedinsignalf 2forcancellinginthe
heterodynemixing.
Themixer20ispreferablyimplementedusingahighspeedfourquadrantanalog
multiplierwhichacceptsthetwosinewavesignals,f 1andf 2andproducesoutput
sinewaveswithsumanddifferencearguments.Thesummedfrequencywaveis
eliminatedbyafilter(notshown)leavingasinewaveatthedifferencefrequency
anddifferencephase.
Theanalogmultipliermixerdoesnotproduceanyothersignificantharmonicsthat
mightotherwisebiasthedifferencefrequencycrossovers.FIG.2showsinmore
detailhowphasenoisefromthereferenceoscillatorandthelocaloscillatorare
substantiallyreduced.Thesteadystatephaseofthereferenceoscillatoristaken
tobe0,thusanynoiseislabeled1,asshown.
TheVCOoutputphase2trackstheinputphase1andsuppressesVCOphase
noisesothattwoinputstomixer20arenearlyidenticalinphase.Thusonly
differentialphasenoiseshouldappearatthemixeroutput.
Themixeroutputisasinewaveofminimumphasenoiseandatthedifference
frequency(f 1f 2),or6662/3Hz.Atypicalamplitudeis0.1volts,leadingtoa
crossoverslopeofabout4v/10nanoseconds.Inthispreferredembodiment,10
nanosecondscorrespondstoaphaseincrementof0.0024andonedistance
resolutionincrementof10M.
Thiscrossoverinstantmustbepreservedinstable,highgain,lownoise
amplification.Themixer20isfollowedbythecrossoveramplifier22ofspecial
featurestoaccomplishthisrequirement.
Figure3:Isablockdiagramofanexemplarycrossoveramplifieroffig.1
fortheopticaldistancemeasurementdevice.

FIG.3providesafunctionalschematicdiagramofthecrossoveramplifier22.The
mixeroutputisasinewavecurrentthatiscoupledtoaninputofpreamplifier76
withastepuptransformertunedtothedifferencefrequency,667Hz.Thestepup
factorandthecircuitloadingareselectedtoprovideoptimalcrossovertonoise
ratio,includingconsiderationofthepreampinputnoisesources.
Thepreamp76mustsupplyhighgainandnosaturationtransientsandminimum
noise.Thepreampmustbeveryfastandhaveahighgaininordertorecover
rapidlyfromsaturationasthesignalapproachesthecrossoverinstantfromboth
directions.Suchastagewillinvolvehighfrequencygaussiannoisewhichmust
thenbeminimizedinfilter78,butwithenoughbandwidthtopassthecrossover
transientduringtheshortdurationoflinearamplificationbetweenexcursionsfrom
thesaturationrails.
Insomeapplicationsthepreamplifiermaybechopperstabilizedtopreventa
changingdcoffsetfrombiasingthecrossoverinstant.Thefilteroutputcouplesto

thecomparator80inputterminals,where,withfurtherlineargaininthecrossover
region,theoutputsquarewavesareformedwithveryhighresolutiontransition
instantsinordertodefinethecrossoverinstantsasrequiredbytheencoder
application.
Noteinparticularthatthesignalatthepreampinputisstillalinearsinewave
withoptimalsignaltonoiseratio,butwitharelativelyslowvoltagerateatthe
transition.Fromthispointonthesignalmustbedirectcoupledtomakethe
transitioninstantindependentofanydissymmetryofthesubsequentsaturated
signals.
Alsoveryimportantistheuseofdifferentialsignalcouplingandamplificationall
thewayfromthemixeroutputtothecomparatoroutput,insteadofsinglesided
transmissionthatwouldbevulnerabletocommonmodebiasandnoiseeffects.
Thuscrossoveramplifier22providesthehighgain,lownoisesensingofthemixer
signalswithatimeresolutionontheorderofananosecondandexcursion
resolutioninthemicrovoltrange.
Timejitteroftheoutputtransitionsbecomesadirectfunctionoftheratioofthe
noiseamplitudetocrossovervoltagerate.Forexample,anoiseamplitudeof2
microvoltRMSandasignalcrossoverrateof4V/10nanosecondswouldresultin
atimejitterof5nanoseconds.Noisemaybebothrandomgaussiantypeandnon
randomsystemicnoisefromtheelectronicimplementation.
Subsequentdigitalfilteringandaveragingtoachievehighresolutioncomputation
ofthedistancephaseangleisdescribedbelow.
ReferringagaintoFIG.2,theheterodynesection40receivesthelocaloscillator
signalf 2<2fromtheRFsection11alongwiththephaseshifteddistancesignalf 1
<1fromthelaserencodersection26.Mixer42andCRA44functionasdo
mixer20andCRA22aboveintheRFsection,producingahighresolutionsquare
waveF2<12thatnowincludesthephaseshiftproportionaltothedistance
D.
NotethatboththissquarewaveandthereferencesquarewaveF2<12contain
theresidualdifferentialphasenoise(12)thatissmallmagnitudecompared
witheither1or2,entirelybecauseofthemixertypephaselockloopdescribed
above.
Thesubsequentdeterminationofthephasedifferencebetweenthesesignals
furtherreducesphasenoiseerrorincomputingthedistanceoutput.
Figure4:Isaschematicofanexemplarytimeintervalcounteroffig.1
fortheopticaldistancemeasurementdevice.

FIG.1showsthetwosquarewavescoupledtothemeasurementsection24,where
alltransitioninstantsarecontinuouslymeasuredandpassedontothe
microprocessorsection60.FIG.4isablockdiagramofthehighspeedtime
intervalcounter30.A24bitcounter88continuouslyrunsinresponsetoaclock
inputsignal.
Inthepreferredembodiment,theclocksignalisderivedfromthereference
oscillatorsignalf 1,at100MHz.Thecounter88ispreferablyimplementedby
MotorolaECLPSorotherhighspeedASICdevices.Theparalleloutputofcounter
88isbussedtoapairofhighspeedlatches,90and92,thatareenabled
alternatelybysuccessivetransitionsofthetwosquarewavesfromCRA22and
CRA44.

InFIG.4,thesquarewavefromCRA22islabeledREFCRAandthesquarewave
fromCRA44islabeledDISCRA.Alongwiththeparalleloutputofthecounter88,
thestatesofbothsquarewavesarelatchedintolatches90and92.
Thealternatelatchingofsignalsintolatch90and92isaccomplishedinlatch
selector86byXORingtheCRAsquarewaves,usingtheXORedsignaltotrigger
latch90andthecomplementXORedsignaltotriggerlatch92.TheXORedsignal
andcomplementarealsosynchronizedtotheclocksignal,butontheopposite
transitionrequiredtomakethecounterincrementthisensuresthecounterisnot
inthemiddleofatransitionwhentheoutputislatched.
Theoutputofthelatches,eachofwhichhasa24bitlatchedcountand2bitsfor
thelatchedCRAstates,arefedintothe4:1multiplexer94.Themultiplexer94
providesa16bitoutput,andeachofthefourchoicesofinputselectionisalso16
bitswide.Inputselectionofmultiplexer94isdeterminedbycontrolsignalsfrom
themicroprocessorsection60.
Inputselectionisscannedbythemicroprocessorinascendingordersuchthat
lowest16countbitsfromlatch90arefirst.Nextselectedarethehigher8count
bitsfromlatch90,plus2bitsfortherepresentativeCRAstates.Theadditional6
bitsforthisinputselectionarenotused.Thethirdmultiplexerinputselectionare
thelowest16countbitsfromlatch92.
Lastselectedarethehigher8countbitsfromlatch92,plus2bitsforthe
associatedCRAstates.The6remainingbitsforthelastinputselectionarealso
notused.AsectionofFIG.4outlinesthemultiplexerinput(data)selection.
Notethatinthepreferredembodiment,theintervalcounteruptothemultiplexer
94,usesECLsignals.Theoutputofmultiplexer94isalteredtoTTLsignals,using
ECLtoTTLconverter38,tointerfacewiththemicroprocessorsection60,sincea
verybroadselectionofmicroprocessorsoperateusingTTLsignals.
Also,themultiplexercontrolsignalsfromthemicroprocessorsectionarechanged
fromTTLsignalstoECLsignals,usingTTLtoECLconverter39.Thereasonfor
usingECLsignalsandcomponentsinthetimeintervalcounteristoprovidethe
fastestcountingandlatchingpossible.
Figure5:Isablockdiagramofanexemplarymicroprocessorsectionoffig.
1and
fortheopticaldistancemeasurement

Themicroprocessorsection60canbealmostanymicroprocessorwiththe
appropriateinterfacelogictothetimeintervalcounter,environmentalsensors,
andreadout.FIG.5isablockdiagramofanexemplarymicroprocessorsection60.
Inthepreferredembodiment,microprocessor46isaTexasInstruments
TMS320C30DigitalSignalProcessor.
Programcode,whichimplementsscanningforthetimeintervaldata,inputsthe
environmentaldata,andexecutesthealgorithmsforcalculatingdistance,aswell
aspassingthecalculateddistancetothereadoutinterface108,iscontainedin
programmemory104.Themicroprocessorisprovideda25MHzclock,whichin
thepreferredembodimentcanbederivedfromf 1throughthedivider100.
Memorymapdecoder98providesthemicroprocessor46withaninterfacetothe
timeintervalcounter30aswellastheenvironmentalsensors.Timeintervaldata,
plusthecorrespondingCRAstatesarepolledbythemicroprocessor46byfirst
sendingthroughthememorymapdecoderthemultiplexerinputselection,then
readingtheassociatedtimeintervaldata(asreferredtoinFIG.4).
Throughmemorymapdecoder106,themicroprocessor46canaccessthereadout
interface108.Inthepreferredembodiment,thereadoutinterfacepassesthe
computeddistancedatatoPC110.Althoughwiththeappropriateinterfaceany
computercanbeconnected,thisexamplereferstoanIBMcompatiblecomputer.

Figure6:Isatimingdiagramofanexemplarysquarewavetransition
samplingandcomputingalgorithm
fortheopticaldistancemeasurement

FIG.6showsatimingdiagramofthereferenceandthedistancesquarewavesand
illustratesanefficientalgorithmforcomputingphaseangleinthepresenceof
noise.ThetimingdiagramshowsabouttwocyclesofthereferencewaveF2<0
andthelaggingdistancewaveF2<.
Forclaritythelagisshownatabout90,butmaybeanyamountfromzeroupto
awholecycle.Thetransitioninstantsarelabeledr 0tor 4forthereferencewave
andd0tod3forthedistancewave.Ateachtransitionacounterreadingislatched
andpassedontothemicroprocessorsection.
Theabsolutecountvaluesareunimportantbecausecomputationsofdelayand
cycleperiodsareallmadefromdifferencereadings.Alltransitionsaresubjectto
noiseshiftsineitherdirection.Ineachcycletherearetwointervalswheretime
lagmaybemeasured:fromrisingedgetorisingedgeandfromfallingedgeto
fallingedge,asshownbytheshadedareas.
Inordertodistinguishphaselagfromsimpletimedelay,computationsaremade
oftheratioofeachdelayintervaltotheenclosingcycleperiodsfromboth
measuredwaveforms.Thusfourphaselagsamplesarecomputedandaveraged
ineachcycletominimizednoiseandoffseteffects,seeFIG.6.
Furthermore,additionalaveragingovernumbersofcyclesprovidesadditional
filteringattheexpenseofreducingreadoutrates.Inthedescribedembodiment,
thesquarewavefrequencyis667Hzandareadoutateachcyclewouldresultin
anequivalentNyquistbandwidthof333Hz.Manycurrentapplicationscanbe
servedwithaveragingover8cycleswhichprovidesalowerrorspreadofafew
micronsRMSandareadouteverytwelvemilliseconds.
Furthersmoothingforhigherresolution,whereneeded,isavailablefromthe
microprocessorwithrecursivedigitalfilteringandcorrespondinglyslowerresponse
time.
Adistinctionismadeherebetweenquantizeddigitalresolution,e.g.the10Mof
thedescribedembodiment,andtheexpectednoiseerrorspreadofaparticular
modelencoder.Withoutnoise,anydigitalsignalwillinvolveaquantizationerror
ofuniformdistributionbetween.+.0.5quantawiththeassociatedstandard
deviationofabout0.3quanta.
Ifthesignalinvolvesothernoiseitshouldbeseparatelyspecifiedandmaybe
rootsumsquaredwiththebasicquantizationerror.Theabovediscussionofnoise
tradeoffsinthelightbeamencoderdoesnotrefertodigitalquantization.
Anothermicroprocessortaskistoscaledistanceoutputdatatotheactualspan
correspondingtoonecompletecycleofmodulation.Inthedescribedembodiment
thisdistanceis1.5meters,withassumedvelocityoflightof3.times.108
meters/second.Actualvelocitydependsupontheambientairdensityandisa
functionoftemperatureandpressure.
Theactualonecycledistancespanis
whereT=(T59)F.,and

P=(P29.92)0.1"HgTemperatureandpressuretransducerssensetheambient
valuesoftheseairvariables,transmittothemicroprocessorandthecorrectspan
iscomputedandmultipliedbythephaselagratiotogeneratethedistanceoutput.
Otherembodimentsmaymakeuseofthisscalingfeature.Thelightbeammaybe

switchedeitherautomaticallyormanuallyintoafixed,accuratelyknownreference
opticalpathforcalibrationpurposes.Theresultingdistanceoutputcanbe
comparedwiththeknownreferencepathdistanceandthescalefactorcorrected.
Anotherembodimentmayprovidesubstantiallyincreasedfilteringonthe
computeddistanceoutputinordertorealizehigherresolutionindistancereadout,
howeversuchfilteringlimitsdynamicresponsetofastchanginginputmotion.An
adaptivesystemisaccomplishedbyfirstcomputinginputvelocityfromthe
unfiltereddistancesignal(themicroprocessorwilldividesuccessivedistance
readingsbyelapsedtime)andthenswitchintheextrafilteringforhighresolution
onlyaftertheinputmotionslowsdownforfinalpositioning.
Withthisadaptivefilteringfeature,theLBEmaybecomethepositionfeedback
elementinarapidresponseservosystem,whichresponseneedonlybe
compromisedasthevelocitydecreasesnearthefinaldestination.

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