Method and apparatus for acquisition and tracking of light sources in a transient event rich environment
First Claim
1. A method for tracking a light source in the field-of-view of a tracking system in a transient event rich environment, the system having a charge-coupled-device (CCD) array, a processor, a memory for storing digitized data, and a communication means for communicating data as to the position and brightness of said light source to a host, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) obtaining a first data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of an acquisition window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array and storing said data set to memory;
b) obtaining a second data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of said acquisition window and storing said data set to memory;
c) comparing said first data set stored in memory with said second data set stored in memory so as to select the pixel coordinates of a target group of pixels from said second data set of said acquisition window and store the pixel coordinates of said target group in memory, said target group is determined from a group of contiguous pixels from said second data set having approximately the same brightness and location as a group of contiguous pixels from said first data set;
d) obtaining a third data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of a tracking window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array, wherein the center of said tracking window array has the same pixel coordinates as said target group of pixels, and storing said data to memory;
e) comparing the location of said target group of pixels with the brightness and location of the pixels of said tracking window array so as to determine the pixel coordinates of a tracking group of pixels, said tracking group determined from a group of contiguous pixels having approximately the same brightness and position as said target group; and
f) outputting to said host the pixel coordinates and brightness of said tracking group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for tracking a light source in a transient event rich environment locks on to a light source incident on a field-of-view 1 of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) array 6, validates the permanence of said light source and transmits data relating to the brilliance and location of said light source if said light source is determined to be permanent.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for tracking a light source in the field-of-view of a tracking system in a transient event rich environment, the system having a charge-coupled-device (CCD) array, a processor, a memory for storing digitized data, and a communication means for communicating data as to the position and brightness of said light source to a host, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) obtaining a first data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of an acquisition window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array and storing said data set to memory; b) obtaining a second data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of said acquisition window and storing said data set to memory; c) comparing said first data set stored in memory with said second data set stored in memory so as to select the pixel coordinates of a target group of pixels from said second data set of said acquisition window and store the pixel coordinates of said target group in memory, said target group is determined from a group of contiguous pixels from said second data set having approximately the same brightness and location as a group of contiguous pixels from said first data set; d) obtaining a third data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of a tracking window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array, wherein the center of said tracking window array has the same pixel coordinates as said target group of pixels, and storing said data to memory; e) comparing the location of said target group of pixels with the brightness and location of the pixels of said tracking window array so as to determine the pixel coordinates of a tracking group of pixels, said tracking group determined from a group of contiguous pixels having approximately the same brightness and position as said target group; and f) outputting to said host the pixel coordinates and brightness of said tracking group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for tracking a light source in the field-of-view of a tracking system in a transient event rich environment, the system having a charge-coupled-device (CCD) array, a processor, a memory for storing digitized data, and a communication means for communicating data as to the position and brightness of said light source to a host, the system comprising:
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a) means for obtaining a first data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of an acquisition window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array and means for storing said data set to memory; b) means for obtaining a second data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of said acquisition window and means for storing said data set to memory; c) means for comparing said first data set stored in memory with said second data set stored in memory so as to select the pixel coordinates of a target group of pixels from said second data set of said acquisition window and means for storing the pixel coordinates of said target group is in memory, said target group determined from a group of contiguous pixels from said second data set having approximately the same brightness and location as a group of contiguous pixels from said first data set; d) means for obtaining a third data set representative of the brightness of the field-of-view incident upon the pixels of a tracking window array comprising at least a portion of said CCD array, wherein the center of said tracking window array has the same pixel coordinates as said target group of pixels, and means for storing said data to memory; e) means for comparing the location of said target group of pixels with the brightness and location of the pixels of said tracking window array so as to determine the pixel coordinates of a tracking group of pixels, said tracking group determined from a group of contiguous pixels having approximately the same brightness and position as said target group; and f) means for outputting to said host the pixel coordinates and brightness of said tracking group. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification