Technique for realising transversal filters using charge-coupled devices

The development of a technique for the nondestructive sensing of the signal charge propagating in a c.c.d. structure is described. An analysis of the sensing circuit is performed, particular attention being paid to the nonlinearities inherent in the charge-sensing method. The noise properties of the circuit are discussed, together with other parameters such as transfer efficiency, charge-handling capability, and tap-weighting errors, relevant to the use of c.c.d.s in systems applications. Finally, a prototype matched-filtering subsystem is described which utilises this tapping technique in the generation and correlation of a 13 bit Barker-coded sequence.