System and method for sensing a signal
The present disclosure relates to a system for sensing a signal. The system comprises a sampling unit configured to sample the signal, thereby recording a number of sampling points; a reference oscillator configured to provide a reference signal; an alignment unit configured to align the sampling points with the reference signal, thereby correlating each sampling point with a phase value of the reference signal at the respective sampling time of the sampling point; and a processing unit configured to generate a representation of the signal based on the correlation between the sampling points and the phase values.
1 . A system, comprising:
a sampling unit configured to sample a signal, and to record a number of sampling points;
a reference oscillator configured to provide a reference signal;
an alignment unit configured to align the sampling points with the reference signal, and to correlate each sampling point with a phase value of the reference signal at a respective sampling time of the sampling point, wherein the phase value is a measurement of a phase shift of the reference signal at the sampling time; and
a processing unit configured to generate a representation of the signal based on the correlation between the sampling points and the phase values,
wherein the sampling unit is configured to sample the signal at a sampling rate which is lower than twice the frequency of the highest frequency component in the signal, wherein the highest frequency component in the signal corresponds to a highest frequency of interest, and
wherein each sampling point comprises a measurement value, and wherein the processing unit is configured to map the measurement values of the sampling points to the respective phase values based on a phase relation to the frequency of the reference signal.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a trigger unit configured to trigger the recording of sampling points at one or more determined phase values of the reference signal.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to average over the recorded measurement values at each phase value or within a certain phase interval in order to enhance a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the processing unit is configured to interpolate between the mapped measurement values in order to generate the representation of the signal.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the display unit is configured to display the averaged and non-averaged measurement values.
6 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the display unit is configured to display the averaged and non-averaged measurement values.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to interpolate between the mapped measurement values in order to generate the representation of the signal.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a display unit configured to display the representation of the signal.
9 . A quantum sensor system, comprising:
a sampling unit configured to sample a signal, and to record a number of sampling points, wherein the sampling unit is formed by a quantum sensor of the quantum sensor system;
a reference oscillator configured to provide a reference signal;
an alignment unit configured to align the sampling points with the reference signal, and to correlate each sampling point with a phase value of the reference signal at a respective sampling time of the sampling point, wherein the phase value is a measurement of a phase shift of the reference signal at the sampling time; and
a processing unit configured to generate a representation of the signal based on the correlation between the sampling points and the phase values,
wherein the sampling unit is configured to sample the signal at a sampling rate which is lower than twice the frequency of the highest frequency component in the signal, wherein the highest frequency component in the signal corresponds to a highest frequency of interest, and
wherein each sampling point comprises a measurement value, and wherein the processing unit is configured to map the measurement values of the sampling points to the respective phase values based on a phase relation to the frequency of the reference signal.
10 . The quantum sensor system of claim 9 , wherein the quantum sensor comprises Rydberg atoms, trapped ions, cold atoms/molecules, ultracold atoms/molecules, a degenerate Fermi gas, or a Bose-Einstein condensate.
11 . The quantum sensor system of claim 9 , wherein the quantum sensor system is configured to analyze electric waves, magnetic waves, electromagnetic waves, or gravitational anomalies.
12 . A system for sensing a signal, comprising:
a sampling unit configured to sample the signal, and to record a number of sampling points;
a reference oscillator configured to provide a reference signal;
an alignment unit configured to align the sampling points with the reference signal, and to correlate each sampling point with a phase value of the reference signal at a respective sampling time of the sampling point, wherein the phase value is a measurement of a phase shift of the reference signal at the sampling time; and
a processing unit configured to generate a representation of the signal as a function of phase based on the correlation between the sampling points and the phase values,
wherein each sampling point comprises a measurement value, and wherein the processing unit is configured to map the measurement values of the sampling points to the respective phase values based on a phase relation to the frequency of the reference signal, and
wherein the processing unit is configured to convert the representation of the signal as the function of phase to a time representation of the signal for one or more frequencies of interest.