Synthetic aperture optical imaging system
US4950880A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 28, 1989 |
| Grant date | Aug 21, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 28, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B27/58
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A distributed optical aperture imaging system for generating visual images with arbitrarily high angular resolutions. A large number of relatively small optical receiver modules are optically and electronically phased to synthesize a coherent collecting aperture. Each of the optical receivers performs localized figure measurement, figure control and the collection of optical energy from which the angle versus angle images are generated. These optical receivers generate quadrature measurement data of the reflected radiation field. From these quadrature measurements, either phase and/or magnitude information regarding the target structure can be derived and employed in image synthesis algorithms. The system employs either broadband, narrow band, single line or multi-line laser illuminators having an angular resolution of the order of the angular resolution of a single optical receiver element. Computationally intensive calculations may be performed on a distributed, parallel-processing basis within each receiver module for faster response, or on a centralized basis in a shared host processor to reduce the cost and complexity of the individual receiver modules.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.