Information-efficient spectral imaging sensor with TDI
US6678048B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 13, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 20, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N25/768
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A programmable optical filter for use in multispectral and hyperspectral imaging employing variable gain time delay and integrate arrays. A telescope focuses an image of a scene onto at least one TDI array that is covered by a multispectral filter that passes separate bandwidths of light onto the rows in the TDI array. The variable gain feature of the TDI array allows individual rows of pixels to be attenuated individually. The attenuations are functions of the magnitudes of the positive and negative components of a spectral basis vector. The spectral basis vector is constructed so that its positive elements emphasize the presence of a target and its negative elements emphasize the presence of the constituents of the background of the imaged scene. This system provides for a very efficient determination of the presence of the target, as opposed to the very data intensive data manipulations that are required in conventional hyperspectral imaging systems.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.