The matched filter is one of the most useful tools available to the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) engineer. Matched filtering maximizes the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the filter output when a signal matching a known pattern is passed through it. This process is extremely useful for “finding” signal patterns, possibly hidden within a noisy signal (low SNR). One application is in...
Hacking the Signal from a Remote Control Dog Training Collar – Part 2
This is a continuation of a previous post in which I examined the signal characteristics of a non-branded dog training collar. I purchased an additional training collar which has two functions: warning, and shock. Our 5 year old lab mix has a dangerous habit of chasing vehicles, and I wanted to curb his behavior as well as keep him safe if he bolted from our front door or gate. With the same...
Hacking the Signal from a Remote Control Dog Training Collar – Part 1
I picked up a remote control training collar for our 7 year old Maltese to help train her in order to curb barking. In the spirit of keeping everything humane, we only use two of the three functions (alarm, vibrate, and shock), avoiding the shock function for obvious reasons. I became interested in the modulation used to encode the functions, so I used my Real Time Spectrum Analyzer to analyze...