Low cost, high accuracy laser warning receiver
AssigneeBAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
InventorsMichael J. CHOINIERE, Will R. GRIGSBY, Eric C. HOENES, Jeffrey L. JEW
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laser warning receiver system and method having at least four optical components mapped to a photodetector array to provide for omnidirectional detection of incident laser light. In some cases, a fifth optical component is mapped to the central portion of a photodetector array to provide hemispheric detection of laser light. The laser warning receiver system is configured to detect laser light in the NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and/or LWIR range using a single photodetector array and ROIC.
Claims20
A laser warning receiver comprising,
- an active pixel image sensor comprising a read out integrated circuit and a photodetector array configured to detect laser light, wherein the photodetector array has a surface and at least four edges;
- and
- at least four optical components, each having a field of view of at least 90 degrees azimuth and 45 degrees elevation, wherein each of the at least four optical components is mapped to a separate portion of the surface of the photodetector array along one of the at least four edges of the photodetector array to provide omnidirectional detection of incident laser light.
A laser warning receiver comprising,
- an active pixel image sensor comprising a read out integrated circuit and a photodetector array configured to detect incident laser light, wherein the photodetector array has a surface and at least four edges;
- at least four optical components, each having a field of view of at least 90 degrees azimuth and 45 degrees elevation, wherein each of the at least four optical components is mapped to a separate portion of the surface of the photodetector array along one of the at least four edges of the photodetector array to provide omnidirectional detection of incident laser light;
- and
- a fifth optical component being mapped to a central portion of the surface of the photodetector array and having a field of view of at least 90 degrees to provide for hemispheric detection of incident laser light.
A method of detecting incident laser light comprising:
- providing a laser warning receiver comprising,
- an active pixel image sensor comprising a read out integrated circuit and a photodetector array configured to detect laser light, wherein the photodetector array has a surface and at least four edges;
- and
- at least four optical components, each having a field of view of at least 90 degrees azimuth and 45 degrees elevation, wherein each of the at least four optical components is mapped to a separate portion of the surface of the photodetector array along one of the at least four edges of the photodetector array to provide omnidirectional detection of incident laser light;
- detecting, with the photodetector array, incident laser light captured by the at least for optical components;
- merging direction information, with the read out integrated circuit, wherein the direction information was captured by the at least four optical components and was mapped to the separate portions of the photodetector array to provide omnidirectional laser light detection;
- and
- providing, to an operator, the direction information for the incident laser light, wherein the direction information comprises azimuth and elevation information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.