[time-nuts] wtd: WWVB info

[Alexander Pummer]

it looks like somebody already made a decoder for a wwvb like  
transmission, see here:


  Performance Analysis and Receiver Architectures of DCF77
  Radio-Controlled Clocks

  *
    Daniel Engeler
    Daniel Engeler
    <researcher/75928367_Daniel_Engeler>

Zuhlke Engineering AG, Schlieren, Switzerland.
IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control 
<journal/1525-8955_IEEE_transactions_on_ultrasonics_ferroelectrics_and_frequency_control> 
(Impact Factor: 1.5). 05/2012; 59(5):869-84. DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2012.2272
Source: PubMed <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22622972>

*ABSTRACT* DCF77 is a long-wave radio transmitter located in Germany. 
Atomic clocks generate a 77.5-kHz carrier which is amplitude- and 
phase-modulated to broadcast the official time. The signal is used by 
industrial and consumer radio-controlled clocks. DCF77 faces competition 
from the Global Positioning System (GPS) which provides higher accuracy 
time. Still, DCF77 and other long-wave time services worldwide remain 
popular because they allow indoor reception at lower cost, lower power, 
and sufficient accuracy. Indoor long-wave reception is challenged by 
signal attenuation and electromagnetic interference from an increasing 
number of devices, particularly switched-mode power supplies. This paper 
introduces new receiver architectures and compares them with existing 
detectors and time decoders. Simulations and analytical calculations 
characterize the performance in terms of bit error rate and decoding 
probability, depending on input noise and narrow-band interference. The 
most promising detector with maximum-likelihood time decoder displays 
the time in less than 60 s after power-up and at a noise level of 
E(b)/N(0) = 2.7 dB, an improvement of 20 dB over previous receivers. A 
field-programmable gate array-based demonstration receiver built for the 
purposes of this paper confirms the capabilities of these new 
algorithms. The findings of this paper enable future high-performance 
DCF77 receivers and further study of indoor long-wave reception.

The DCF77 has very similar modulation scheme as the new wwvb, therefore 
the methode used to decode the DCF77 could be used --perhaps with some 
modifications -- to decode the phase modulation of the wwvb also
74
KJ6UHN
Alex

On 8/9/2015 7:57 PM, John Allen wrote:
> Hi Jim -
>
> You wrote:
> At some point, multiproject wafers (like MOSIS) might become a hobby
> product.  So far, it's in the "several kilobuck" minimum purchase, and,
> as well, the tools aren't easy to come by. Or, more properly, good
> design tools are expensive, tedious design tools are free.. you CAN
> layout an IC for MOSIS with a ruler and and a quadrille pad.. get your
> copy of Carver and Mead and have at it)
>
> I assume that you mean Carver Mead and Lynn Conway, Introduction to VLSI System Design 1978.
>
> I am enjoying this thread!
>
> Regards, John Allen K1AE
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lux
> Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2015 9:12 PM
> To: time-nuts at febo.com
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] wtd: WWVB info
>
> On 8/9/15 4:33 PM, Bob Camp wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> If you never have tried to keep an IC in production, there are some basic things
>> that may not be very obvious:
>>
>> <snip>
> There's always Rochester Electronics.. "leaders in the trailing edge"
> (no kidding, that's their slogan)..
>
> They buy old fabs, masks, etc, and keep producing small runs of older
> parts.  For a price.
>
> At some point, multiproject wafers (like MOSIS) might become a hobby
> product.  So far, it's in the "several kilobuck" minimum purchase, and,
> as well, the tools aren't easy to come by. Or, more properly, good
> design tools are expensive, tedious design tools are free.. you CAN
> layout an IC for MOSIS with a ruler and and a quadrille pad.. get your
> copy of Carver and Mead and have at it)
>
> For digital stuff, small boards with FPGAs or microcontrollers on them
> are probably the sweet spot for small runs.
>
> The same is not true for analog.
>
>
>
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