Apparatus and method for assisting vertical takeoff vehicles
OwnerDennis Longstaffinventor
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Abstract
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radar altimeter which utilizes a downward looking MIMO phased array to form multiple beams, covering a relatively wide sector, e.g., +/−60 degrees or thereabouts. The distance to the ground is then measured in each beam allowing the ground profile to be formed. The beams may be tilted forward to cover from about +90 degrees forward (horizontal) to about 30 degrees behind nadir. The provision of such a forward tilt gives a greater degree of coverage in the direction of approach vector to the ground. This additional cover enables the altimeter to more accurately detect other vehicles in the proximity to the current approach vector of the vehicle to the desired landing zone.
Claims33
An imaging system for profiling an area of interest, said system comprising:
- a plurality of transmitter elements, wherein each transmitter element transmits a plurality of coded signals toward the area of interest;
- a plurality of receiver elements, each receiver element receiving a plurality of return signals corresponding to the transmitted coded signals from the area of interest;
- and
- at least one processor, said processor being adapted to:
- separate the return signals for each transmitter to receiver path received by each of the receiver elements to form a plurality of data channels;
- form a plurality of beams from the plurality of data channels by co-phasing the data channels to remove phase shifts associated with each of the received signals angle of arrival and sum each set of return signals received by each receiver and wherein each beam includes a first received signal;
- produce a set of range profiles from data contained in each of the plurality of beams;
- measure the distance to the nearest point in each beam based on delay time for receipt of the first return signal from each beam;
- produce a terrain profile of the area of interest from the distance measures;
- and
- display an image of the terrain profile of the area of interest.
A method of surveying an area of interest to produce a terrain profile, said method comprising:
- transmitting from a plurality of transmitter elements a plurality of coded signals toward the area of interest;
- receiving at a plurality of receiver elements, a plurality of return signals corresponding to the transmitted coded signals from the area of interest;
- separating the return signals for each transmitter to receiver path received by each of the receiver elements to form a plurality of data channels;
- forming a plurality of beams from the plurality of data channels by co-phasing the data channels to remove phase shifts associated with each of the received signals angle of arrival and sum each set of return signals received by each receiver, wherein each beam includes a first received signal;
- producing a set of range profiles from data contained in each of the plurality of beams;
- measuring the distance to the nearest point in each beam based on delay time for receipt of the first received signal from each beam;
- producing a terrain profile of the area of interest from the distance measurements;
- and
- displaying the terrain profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.