Performance assessment of a Kalman filter-based method for ultrasonic time-of-flight estimation

The paper deals with the performance assessment of a digital signal-processing method for ultrasonic time-of-flight (TOF) estimation. The method applies the discrete extended Kalman filter (DEKF) to the acquired ultrasonic signal in order to jointly estimate the shape parameters of echo envelope, thus granting unbiased location of its onset. Results attained in TOF-based distance measurements, conducted in different test conditions and configurations, confirm the method´s reliability and efficacy even in the presence of low signal-to-noise ratio as well as severe distortion of echo shape.