Cryogenic Thermal Imager

A thermal imaging system comprising:

• a cryostat, the cryostat comprising a store of coolant and a detector assembly;
• wherein the detector assembly comprises:
• a focal plane array (FPA) comprising a plurality of pixel detectors, wherein each pixel detector has a corresponding pixel cell;
• a read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) bonded to the FPA, wherein the ROIC comprises a burst-frame memory bank and a programmable switch matrix for performing temporal compression;
• and
• a spatial compression switch matrix for performing spatial compression.

A method comprising:

• receiving, via a focal plane array (FPA) comprising a plurality of pixel detectors, infrared light;
• generating, based on the infrared light, a plurality of pixel signals;
• processing, by a read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) bonded to the FPA, the plurality of pixel signals, wherein processing comprises performing spatial compression on the pixel signals;
• storing, in a memory of the ROIC, the processed plurality of pixel signals, wherein storing comprises performing temporal compression on the pixel signals;
• wherein performing spatial compression and performing temporal compression occur independently in time;
• and
• outputting, based on the stored plurality of pixel signals, a thermal image.