Synthetic aperture ladar system using incoherent laser pulses
US6559932B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 30, 2001 |
| Grant date | May 6, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 30, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S17/50
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An incoherent ladar transmitter (12) adapted for use with synthetic aperture processing. The system (12) includes a first mechanism (44, 48, 50) for generating a laser beam (18). A second mechanism (44, 68) records phase information pertaining to the laser beam (18) and subsequently transmits the laser beam (18) from the system in response thereto. A third mechanism (40) receives a reflected version (20) of the laser beam and provides a received signal in response thereto. A fourth mechanism (72) corrects the received signal based on the phase information recorded by the second mechanism (44, 68). In a more specific embodiment, the ladar system (12) includes a synthetic aperture processor (46) for correcting the received signal based on the phase information and providing a corrected laser signal in response thereto. The synthetic aperture processor (46) includes a mechanism (76) for applying, a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) to the corrected laser signal to obtain high frequency resolution and cross-range resolution. A fifth mechanism (48) constructs a range-Doppler image based on the corrected laser signal and the movement of the ladar system (12).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.