Millimeter wave all azimuth field of view surveillance and imaging system

A millimeter-wave radiation imaging system for generating an image of a scene, said system comprising:

• a spherical lens, said spherical lens collecting and focusing millimeter-wave radiation from the scene;
• a plurality of millimeter-wave radiation receivers positioned around the lens and detecting the millimeter-wave radiation collected and focussed by the lens, the plurality of receivers being positioned on a plurality of sensor cards that are attached together to form a first ring structure around the lens, said plurality of receivers providing electrical signals of the received radiation to define a 360° instantaneous field-of-view around the system;
• and
• a processing system receiving the electrical signals from the receivers and generating an image of the scene, said processing system including processing circuitry positioned on a second ring structure connected to the first ring structure and being on an opposite side of the lens from the first ring structure.

A millimeter-wave radiation imaging system for generating a 360° instantaneous image of a scene, said system comprising:

• a spherical Luneburg-type lens having a varying index of refraction from a center of the lens to an outer surface of the lens, said spherical lens collecting and focusing millimeter-wave radiation from the scene;
• a plurality of sensor cards attached together to form a first ring structure around the lens, each of said sensor cards including a plurality of millimeter-wave direction detection radiation receivers positioned in the focal plane of the lens to define a one-dimensional focal plane array, said plurality of receivers detecting the millimeter-wave radiation collected and focussed by the lens and providing electrical signals of the received radiation to define a 360° instantaneous field-of-view around the system;
• a processing system receiving the electrical signals from the receivers and generating an image of the scene, said processing system including processing circuitry positioned on a second ring structure connected to the first ring structure and being on an opposite side of the lens from the first ring structure;
• and
• an actuation system connected to the second ring structure and actuating the second ring structure to cause the first ring structure to precess around the lens at a fixed angle relative to a fixed reference direction to provide an elevational scan of the 360° field-of-view about a plane perpendicular to the reference direction.

A method of generating an image of a scene, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a lens;
• collecting and focusing millimeter-wave radiation with the lens;
• providing a plurality of millimeter-wave radiation receivers positioned around the lens in a ring configuration such that the receivers are in the focal plane of the lens;
• detecting the millimeter-wave radiation collected by the lens to provide a 360° instantaneous field-of-view around the lens;
• and
• providing an image of the scene based on the detected radiation from the receivers.

An imaging system for generating an image of a scene, said system comprising:

• a Luneberg lens having a varying index of refraction from a center of the lens to an outer surface of the lens, said lens collecting and focusing radiation from the scene;
• a plurality of radiation receivers positioned around the lens and detecting the radiation collected by the lens to provide a 360E instantaneous field-of-view around the system;
• and
• a processing system receiving electrical signals from the plurality of receivers, said processing circuitry generating an image of the scene from the electrical signals.

An imaging system for generating an image of a scene, said system comprising:

• a lens, said lens collecting and focusing radiation from the scene;
• a plurality of radiation receivers positioned around the lens and detecting the radiation collected by the lens to provide a 360E instantaneous field-of-view around the system, wherein the plurality of receivers are positioned on a plurality of sensor cards attached together to form a ring structure around the lens, and wherein a plurality of the plurality of receivers are on each sensor card;
• a processing system receiving electrical signals from the plurality of receivers, said processing circuitry generating an image of the scene from the electrical signals;
• and
• an actuation system, said actuation system being connected to the ring structure and actuating the ring structure to cause it to move relative to the lens.