2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Kobe International Conference Center
Kobe, Japan, May 12-17, 2009
Real-time ultrasonic distance measurements for autonomous mobile
robots using cross correlation by single-bit signal processing
Shinnosuke Hirata, Minoru Kuribayashi Kurosawa, and Takashi Katagiri
Abstract— Distance measurement using an ultrasonic wave
is suitable for environment recognition in autonomous mobile
robots. Ultrasonic distance measurement with the pulse-echo
method is based on determining the time-of-flight (TOF) of the
reflected echoes. The pulse-echo method with pulse compres-
sion, the cross-correlation method, can improve the distance
resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the reflected
echo. However, cross correlation of the cross-correlation method
requires the high-cost digital signal processing. A sensor signal
processing method of cross correlation using a delta-sigma
modulated single-bit digital signal has been proposed. Cross
correlation by single-bit signal processing reduces the calcula-
tion cost of cross correlation. Furthermore, cross correlation
by single-bit signal processing improves the time resolution of
digital signal processing. In this paper, the distance resolution
of cross correlation by single-bit signal processing is evalu-
ated by computer simulations and experiments of ultrasonic
distance measurement. Distance measurement from the high-
time-resolution cross-correlation function obtained by single-
bit signal processing realized high distance resolution from
experimental results, despite the low calculation costs.
I. INTRODUCTION
Autonomous mobile robots require many kinds and large
numbers of sensors to measure the distance, the velocity, and
the scale of objects for environment recognition. The signal
processing of each sensor requires real-time environment
recognition with high accuracy and resolution, despite the
limited computational ability in the signal processing for
each sensor. Distance measurements using an ultrasonic
wave are widely used in industrial applications because an
ultrasonic wave is easily reflected by structures. Additional
advantages of ultrasonic sensors include their low purchase
cost, small size, and simple hardware. Therefore, ultrasonic
distance measurements have been studied and used for envi-
ronment recognition in autonomous mobile robots[1]-[3].
The method of ultrasonic distance measurement is based
on the pulse-echo method, which determines the time-of-
flight (TOF) of an ultrasonic wave[4]. The TOF is the interval
from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse to reception of an
echo reflected from an object. The distance of the object is
estimated from the product of the TOF and the propagation
velocity of an ultrasonic wave. For effective improvement of
the distance resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Research Fellowships of
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.
S. Hirata and M. K. Kurosawa are with the Interdisciplinary gradu-
ate school of science and engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Yokohama, 226-8502, Japan hirata.s.ab@m.titech.ac.jp,
mkur@ip.titech.ac.jp
T. Katagiri is with Sutekina Inc., Komagane, 399-4117, Japan
978-1-4244-2789-5/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE
of the received signal, pulse compression has been employed
in the pulse-echo method[5]. A frequency-modulated (FM)
signal or a signal coding by pseudo-random sequence is
typically transmitted in the pulse-echo method with pulse
compression, the cross-correlation method[2][3][5]-[7]. In
the case of a linear-frequency-modulated (LFM) signal, a
received signal is correlated with a reference LFM signal.
The TOF of the received LFM signal is estimated from the
maximum peak time in the cross-correlation function of the
received signal and the reference LFM signal.
A calculation of cross correlation, consisting of huge itera-
tions of multiplications and accumulations, requires the high-
cost digital signal processing. Therefore, real-time distance
measurements by the cross-correlation method are difficult
because of the limited computational ability of autonomous
mobile robots. To reduce the calculation costs of cross corre-
lation, a sensor signal processing method using a delta-sigma
modulated single-bit digital signal has been proposed[8]-
[10]. Cross correlation by single-bit signal processing of the
proposed method consists of a recursive cross-correlation
operation of single-bit signals and a smoothing operation
accomplished by a moving average filter[10]. The calculation
costs of cross correlation are reduced by the recursive cross-
correlation operation of single-bit signals.
In the cross-correlation method, resolution of the TOF of
the received LFM signal is typically improved by interpo-
lation of the cross-correlation function with the phase or
improvement of the time resolution of digital signal pro-
cessing. In the case of interpolation of the cross-correlation
function with the phase, a lookup table of arctangent and
complex cross-correlation operation is required. In the case
of improving the time resolution of digital signal processing,
the calculation costs of cross correlation are increased. How-
ever, the calculation costs of cross correlation by single-bit
signal processing are constant and independent of the sam-
pling frequency of digital signal processing. Therefore, cross
correlation by single-bit signal processing is an effective
method for improving the time resolution of digital signal
processing despite the computational ability of autonomous
mobile robots.
In the present study, the cross-correlation function ob-
tained by single-bit signal processing was examined by
computer simulations and ultrasonic distance measurements.
Furthermore, the distance resolution of ultrasonic distance
measurement of the proposed method was evaluated based
on the experimental results.
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 LFM signal Loudspeaker Object

Ultrasonic
d0 pulse
d1
Reflected echo
Microphone

Delta-sigma Recursive cross-correlation operation

modulator Received signal
-1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 -1
Smoothing operation
-1
C1(t) CS(t)
+
-2 Σ 1/N π/4
+
2
-1 z-1 FIR low-pass filter
Summation of
-1 -1 -1 -1 1 1 1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 1 1 1-bit samples
Digital comparator Reference signal

Fig. 1. Design of cross correlation by single-bit signal processing, consisting of a recursive cross-correlation operation and a smoothing operation.

II. CROSS CORRELATION BY SINGLE-BIT several hundred zero-cross points. There are the same values,
SIGNAL PROCESSING 1 or -1, between two zero-cross points in h1 (i). Therefore,
Cross correlation by single-bit signal processing of the the values of h1 (N − i) − h1 (N − i + 1) are expressed as
proposed method consists of a recursive cross-correlation
h1 (N − i) − h1 (N − i + 1)
operation of single-bit signals and a smoothing operation
accomplished by the FIR low-pass filter, as illustrated in Fig. 
2, · · · h1 (N − i) > h1 (N − i + 1) .
1. In the proposed method, an LFM signal is transmitted

= −2, · · · h1 (N − i) < h1 (N − i + 1) . (3)
by a loudspeaker. The received signal of a microphone is
0, · · · h1 (N − i) = h1 (N − i + 1) .

converted into a single-bit received signal x1 (t) by a delta-
sigma modulator. The transmitted LFM signal is converted The calculation of the recursive cross-correlation operation
into a single-bit reference signal h1 (i) of N samples by a is performed by integrating the difference of the cross-
digital comparator. The cross-correlation function C1 (t) of correlation function of Eq. (2).
the received signal x1 (t) and the reference signal h1 (i) is The calculation cost of the recursive cross-correlation
expressed as operation is integration and several hundred summations of
π 1 single-bit samples. The calculation cost depends on the num-
C1 (t) = · · ΣN −1
i=0 h1 (N − i) · x1 (t − i) . (1) ber of zero-cross points in the LFM signal. Therefore, the
4 N
calculation cost is constant and independent of the sampling
The calculation of the cross-correlation operation of Eq. (1)
frequency of digital signal processing. The recursive cross-
requires huge numbers N of multiplications and accumula-
correlation operation of single-bit signals thus reduces the
tions of single-bit signals.
The difference of the cross-correlation function, C1 (t) − calculation costs of cross correlation.
C1 (t − 1), is expressed as The single-bit received signal x1 (t) contains a large
quantity of quantized noise in a high-frequency band because
C1 (t) − C1 (t − 1) x1 (t) is a delta-sigma modulated signal. The high-frequency
noise decreases the accuracy of the cross-correlation function
π 1
= · · ΣN −1
i=0 h1 (N − i) · x1 (t − i) C1 (t). To improve the accuracy of the cross-correlation func-
4 N tion, the smoothing operation by the FIR low-pass filter is
π 1
− · · ΣN −1
i=0 h1 (N − i) · x1 (t − i − 1) . required to cancel the high-frequency noise in C1 (t). In the
4 N
π 1 present study, the cross-correlation function was smoothed by
= · · [x1 (t) · h1 (N ) − x1 (t − N ) · h1 (N ) a triangular weighted moving average filter, which consists
4 N
+ΣN −1 of a pair of moving average filters, as the FIR low-pass filter.
i=1 {h1 (N − i) − h1 (N − i + 1)}
·x1 (t − i)] (2) III. SIMULATION
The values of h1 (1) and hN (i) are 1 and -1 because h1 (i) is Ultrasonic distance measurement using cross correlation
the LFM signal converted into the single-bit signal. h1 (i) has by single-bit signal processing was evaluated by computer

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 100
0.2

80
Amplitude [V] 0.1

Probability [%]
60
0

40
-0.1

20
-0.2

6 8 10 12 14 0
0.999 1 1.001
Time [ms] Distance [m]
(a)
Fig. 2. The cross-correlation function obtained by single-bit signal
100
processing in MATLAB.

80
simulations using MATLAB. The frequency of the transmit-

Probability [%]
ted LFM signal linearly swept from 50 kHz to 30 kHz. The 60
length of the LFM signal was 5 ms. The distance to the
object was 1 m. The propagation velocity of an ultrasonic 40
wave in air was approximately 345.1 m/s at 22.4 ◦ C. The
received signal was converted into the single-bit delta-sigma
modulated signal by the 7th-order delta-sigma modulator. For 20
comparison, the received signal was also converted into an
8-bit digital signal. The sampling frequencies of the single- 0
0.999 1 1.001
bit delta-sigma modulated signal and the 8-bit digital signal Distance [m]
were 12.5 MHz and 250 kHz, respectively. (b)
The single-bit received signal was correlated with the 100
single-bit reference signal, which was the transmitted LFM
signal converted into a single-bit digital signal by the digital 80
comparator. The cross-correlation function of the single-
Probability [%]

bit received signal and the single-bit reference signal was

60
obtained from the recursive cross-correlation operation of
single-bit signals and the smoothing operation accomplished
by the triangular weighted moving average filter. The single- 40
bit reference signal had 399 zero-cross points. Therefore, the
calculation cost of the recursive cross-correlation operation 20
was integration and 401 summations of single-bit samples.
The length of the triangular weighted moving average filter,
0
which consists of a pair of 50-tap moving average filters, for 0.999 1 1.001
the smoothing operation was 99 taps. Distance [m]
(c)
The cross-correlation function obtained by single-bit sig-
nal processing is illustrated in Fig. 2. The cross-correlation Fig. 3. The probability distributions of the estimated distance in MATLAB.
function in Fig. 2 has two peaks, which correspond to the (a): the distance is estimated from the cross-correlation function obtained by
peaks from the transmitted LFM signal and from the received single-bit signal processing, (b): the distance is estimated from the cross-
correlation function of 8-bit digital signals, (c): the distance is estimated
LFM signal, respectively. The TOF of the received LFM from the cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital signals interpolated with
signal was estimated from the interval of two peaks in a linear approximation of the phase.
the cross-correlation function. The distance to the object is
estimated from the product of the TOF of the received LFM
signal and the propagation velocity of an ultrasonic wave in
air. distance are illustrated in Fig. 3. The probability distribution
The distance to the object was estimated from the 500 of the distance estimated from the cross-correlation function
simulations. The probability distributions of the estimated obtained by the single-bit signal processing is indicated in

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 LFM signal
Wall
Function generator
Loudspeaker
(Tektronix AFG3252)
(Pioneer PT-R4)
Amplifier
(NF HSA4014) Ultrasonic
d0 pulse
d1
Reflected echo
Microphone
Mic-amp (B&K 4138)
(B&K 5935L)
Delta-sigma modulator
(Analog Devices AD7720)
8-bit signal 1-bit DSM signal
Fig. 4. Experimental setup for ultrasonic distance measurement.
Fig. 3 (a). The distance error of ±1 sample is brought about
by signal processing, cross correlation by single-bit signal
processing.
For comparison, the 8-bit received signal was correlated
with the 8-bit complex reference signal for interpolation of
the cross-correlation function with the phase. The probability
distribution of the distance estimated from the real part
of the cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital signals is
indicated in Fig. 3 (b). The distance resolution depends on
the time resolution of digital signal processing. Therefore, the
distance resolution of conventional digital signal processing,
cross correlation of 8-bit digital signals, is lower than the
distance resolution of cross correlation by single-bit signal
processing.
The distance resolution of conventional digital signal
processing can be improved by interpolation of the cross-
correlation function with the phase. The phase of the cross-
correlation function is estimated from the real and imaginary
parts of the complex cross-correlation function with a lookup
table of arctangent. The cross-correlation function of 8-bit
digital signals is interpolated with a linear approximation
of the phase. The probability distribution of the distance
estimated from the cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital
signals interpolated with the phase is indicated in Fig. 3 (c).
The distance resolution of the cross-correlation function of
8-bit digital signals is improved by interpolation with a linear
approximation of the phase.
IV. EXPERIMENT
A. Experimental setup
Cross correlation by single-bit signal processing was eval-
uated by experiments regarding ultrasonic distance mea-
surement. The experimental setup for ultrasonic distance
measurement is illustrated in Fig. 4. The frequency of the
3604
0.2
0.1
Amplitude [V]
0
-0.1
-0.2
0 5 10 15
Time [ms]
Fig. 5. The received signal detected by the microphone.
transmitted LFM signal linearly swept from 50 kHz to 30
kHz. The length of the LFM signal was 5 ms. The LFM
signal was generated from a function generator and amplified
by a amplifier. The ultrasonic pulses were transmitted from
a loudspeaker, and the echo reflected from the wall was
then detected by a microphone. The distance d1 to the wall
from the center of the loudspeaker and the microphone was
1.000 m. The distance d0 between the loudspeaker and the
microphone was 0.100 m. The distances were measured by
a laser distance meter. The propagation velocity v of an
ultrasonic wave in air was approximately 345.1 m/s at 22.4
◦
C.
The received signal detected by the microphone is illus-
trated in Fig. 5. The received signal includes the transmitted
ultrasonic pulse and the reflected echo. The received signal
was converted into the single-bit delta-sigma modulated
signal by a 7th-order delta-sigma modulator, and the single-
bit received signal was then taken into the computer through
an oscilloscope. For comparison, the received signal was
converted into an 8-bit digital signal, and the 8-bit received
signal was then also taken into the computer through the
oscilloscope. The sampling frequencies of the single-bit
delta-sigma modulated signal and the 8-bit digital signal were
12.5 MHz and 250 kHz, respectively.
In the computer using MATLAB, the single-bit received
signal was correlated with the single-bit reference signal,
which was the transmitted LFM signal converted into the
single-bit digital signal by the digital comparator. The cross-
correlation function of the single-bit received signal and
the single-bit reference signal was obtained from the re-
cursive cross-correlation operation of single-bit signals and
the smoothing operation accomplished by the triangular
weighted moving average filter. The length of the triangular
weighted moving average filter was 99 taps. For comparison,
the 8-bit received signal was correlated with the 8-bit com-
plex reference signal for interpolation of the cross-correlation
function.
 10
0.2

8
Amplitude [V] 0.1

Probability [%]
6
0

4
-0.1

2
-0.2

0 2 4 6 8 10 0
0.999 1 1.001
Time [ms] Distance [m]
(a)
Fig. 6. The cross-correlation function obtained by single-bit signal
100
processing in experiments.

80

Probability [%]
The cross-correlation function obtained by single-bit sig-
nal processing is illustrated in Fig. 6. The cross-correlation 60
function in Fig. 6 has two peaks, which correspond to the
peaks from the LFM signal transmitted from the loudspeaker 40
and from the LFM signal reflected from the wall, respec-
tively. The TOF of the received LFM signal was estimated 20
from the interval of two peaks in the cross-correlation
function. The distance to the wall was estimated as
0
q 0.999 1 1.001
2 Distance [m]
(T OF · v + d0 ) − d0 2
d= , (4) (b)
2 10
B. Experimental results
8
To evaluate cross correlation by single-bit signal pro-
Probability [%]

cessing, the distance to the wall was estimated in the 500

experiments. The probability distributions of the estimated 6
distance are illustrated in Fig. 7.
The probability distribution of the distance estimated from 4
the cross-correlation function obtained by single-bit signal
processing is indicated in Fig. 7 (a). The average and 2
standard deviation of the estimated distance were 0.999975
m and 193 µm, respectively. The probability distribution
0
of the distance estimated from the real part of the cross- 0.999 1 1.001
correlation function of 8-bit digital signals is indicated in Fig. Distance [m]
7 (b). The average and standard deviation of the estimated (c)
distance were 0.999785 m and 236 µm, respectively. The Fig. 7. The probability distributions of the estimated distance in exper-
probability distribution of the distance estimated from the iments. (a): the distance is estimated from the cross-correlation function
cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital signals interpolated obtained by single-bit signal processing, (b): the distance is estimated
from the cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital signals, (c): the distance
with a linear approximation of the phase is indicated in Fig. is estimated from the cross-correlation function of 8-bit digital signals
7 (c). The average and standard deviation of the estimated interpolated with a linear approximation of the phase.
distance were 0.999974 m and 192 µm, respectively.
The distance errors are thought to have been caused by
fluctuations of air. Cross correlation by single-bit signal V. CONCLUSION
processing can improve the distance resolution without inter-
polation of cross-correlation function with a linear approxi- Distance measurement using cross correlation by single-
mation of the phase. bit signal processing was evaluated by comparison with

3605
conventional digital signal processing, cross correlation of 8-
bit digital signals, and interpolation of the cross-correlation
function with a linear approximation of the phase in ex-
periments. Distance measurement from the cross-correlation
function obtained by single-bit signal processing realized
high distance resolution without interpolation with a linear
approximation of the phase. Therefore, the distance resolu-
tion of ultrasonic distance measurement can be effectively
improved despite the computational ability of autonomous
mobile robots.
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