US20060227317A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Efficient lidar with flexible target interrogation pattern
Assignee: Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies Inc
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Filing: 2005-04-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2025-04-06
Abstract
Abstract A system for observing a field of view including a light transmitter and a light detector. A path is defined between the transmitter and the detector. The light transmitter generates substantially coherent light onto a transmit portion of a light path and the light detector is positioned in a receive portion of the light path defined by reflected light from some of the target locations. The system includes a component for configuring at least a portion of the light path such that a subset of the plurality of potential target points are included in the light path.
Inventors
- 👤 Sammy Henderson
- 👤 Paul Suni
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-22 15:26
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/48; G01S7/481; G01S7/4811; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/02; G01B11/026; G01S17/00; G01S17/88; G01S17/89; G01S7/4817
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
104 words
1 . A system for observing a field of view, wherein the field of view comprises a plurality of potential target points, the system comprising: a transmitter; a detector, wherein a path is defined between the transmitter and the detector; wherein the transmitter generates electromagnetic (EM) energy into a transmit portion of the path; wherein the detector is positioned in a receive portion of the path defined by reflected EM energy from some of the target locations; and means for configuring at least a portion of the path such that a subset of the plurality of potential target points are included in the path.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
104 words
1 . A system for observing a field of view, wherein the field of view comprises a plurality of potential target points, the system comprising: a transmitter; a detector, wherein a path is defined between the transmitter and the detector; wherein the transmitter generates electromagnetic (EM) energy into a transmit portion of the path; wherein the detector is positioned in a receive portion of the path defined by reflected EM energy from some of the target locations; and means for configuring at least a portion of the path such that a subset of the plurality of potential target points are included in the path.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the transmitter generates energy in a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum ranging from far infrared to extreme ultraviolet.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring comprises a beam forming element positioned in the transmit portion of the path.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
4 . The system of claim 3 wherein the beam forming element illuminates a selected subset of the plurality of potential target points in the field of view.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
5 . The system of claim 3 wherein the beam forming element alters one or more characteristics of the EM energy selected from the group consisting of: direction, phase, frequency, amplitude and polarization.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring comprises a beam forming element positioned in the receive portion of the path.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the detector comprises a plurality of detector elements and the beam forming element directs the receive portion of the path to a selected subset of a plurality of detector elements.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
43 words
8 . The system of claim 6 wherein the detector comprises a plurality of detector elements and the beam forming element alters one or more characteristics of the reflected EM energy selected from the group consisting of: direction, phase, frequency, amplitude and polarization.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
9 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a signal processor coupled to the detector and operable to process signals generated by the detector.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
63 words
10 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a signal processor coupled to the detector and operable to process signals generated by the detector, wherein the detector comprises a plurality of detector elements and wherein the signal processor is coupled to the means for configuring at least a portion of the path to select a subset of the detector elements for processing.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
11 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a local oscillator (LO) laser beam aligned with the return portion of the path to implement coherent detection.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
22 words
12 . The system of claim 11 wherein the LO uses the means for configuring at least a portion of the path.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
30 words
13 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a second means for configuring at least a portion of the path, wherein the LO uses the second means for configuring.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
14 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring at least a portion of the path comprises fixed passive elements.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
15 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring at least a portion of the path comprises switchable passive elements.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
16 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring at least a portion of the path comprises active elements.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
49 words
17 . The system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring at least a portion of the path comprises a device selected from the group consisting of: liquid crystal array, deformable mirror, micro-mirror array, micro-prism array, transmissive phase control devices, diffractive optical devices, refractive optical devices and holograms.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
31 words
18 . The system of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a number of elements that is larger than the number in the subset of the plurality of potential target points.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
32 words
19 . The system of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a number of elements that is substantially equal to the number in the subset of the plurality of potential target points.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
20 . The system of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a number of elements that is less than the number in the subset of the plurality of potential target points.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
94 words
21 . A method for observing a field of view, wherein the field of view comprises a plurality of potential target points, the method comprising: transmitting electromagnetic (EM) energy into a transmit portion of a path; directing the light path to the field of view, wherein some of the EM energy in the path is reflected to form a reflected portion of the path; detecting the reflected EM energy; and configuring at least a portion of the path such that a subset of the plurality of potential target points are included in the path.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
94 words
21 . A method for observing a field of view, wherein the field of view comprises a plurality of potential target points, the method comprising: transmitting electromagnetic (EM) energy into a transmit portion of a path; directing the light path to the field of view, wherein some of the EM energy in the path is reflected to form a reflected portion of the path; detecting the reflected EM energy; and configuring at least a portion of the path such that a subset of the plurality of potential target points are included in the path.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
23 words
22 . A method comprising using the method of claim 21 to determine a characteristic of an object in the field of view.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
31 words
23 . The method of claim 22 wherein the characteristic is selected from the group consisting of: range, speed, velocity, acceleration, direction of motion, vibration, texture, reflectivity, color, dimension and shape.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
40 words
24 . The method of claim 21 wherein the act of configuring at least a portion of the path comprises: configuring the transmit portion of the path to direct the path to only selected location in the field of view.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
25 . The method of claim 21 wherein the act of configuring at least a portion of the path comprises: configuring the receive portion of the path to direct the receive portion of the path to selected portions of a detector used to perform the detecting.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
36 words
26 . The method of claim 21 wherein the act of configuring the path comprises altering one or more characteristics of the EM energy selected from the group consisting of: direction, phase, frequency, amplitude and polarization.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
27 . The method of claim 21 wherein the transmitter generates energy in a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the spectrum ranging from far infrared to extreme ultraviolet.
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