Radar and method therefor

• US 6,377,201 B1
• Filed: 06/03/1998
• Issued: 04/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Leidos, Inc. (Leidos Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Science Applications International Corporation
• Inventors: Chu, Adam Ning
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US09/089,340
• Time in Patent Office: 1,420 Days
• Field of Search: 342/21, 342/22, 342/25, 342/134, 342/175, 342/176, 342/179, 342/190, 342/191, 342/192, 342/193, 342/195, 342/118, 356/27, 356/28
• US Class Current: 342/22
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/003 Bistatic radar systems; Multistatic radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0209 Systems with very large relative bandwidth, i.e. larger than 10 %, e.g. baseband, pulse, carrier-free, ultrawideband
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/885 for ground probing prospecting or detecting using electromagnetic waves G01V3/12

Abstract

A radar (300) comprises a transceiver (302) for transmitting pulses directed to a subsurface area of interest (102) and for receiving a reflected wave (210) from the subsurface area of interest. The pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation, d²|E|e/m≦1 Angstrom, where d is the pulse duration in seconds, E is the pulse amplitude in volts/meter, e equals the charge of an electron in Coulombs, and m equals the mass of an electron in Kg. A processing device (304), in communication with the transceiver, processes the reflected wave and displays an image of the subsurface area of interest and identifies the material composition of subsurface objects that have known properties that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

Claims

1. A radar comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting pulses directed to a subsurface area of interest and for receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest, the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

2. The radar of claim 1, wherein the processing device controls the selection of the pulse duration and amplitude to enhance the image of the subsurface area of interest.

3. The radar of claim 1, wherein the processing device identifies the material composition of a plurality of subsurface objects based upon the reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

4. The radar of claim 3, wherein the known properties include permittivity, permeability, phase shift, and delay.

5. The radar of claim 3, wherein the processing device controls the selection of the pulse duration and amplitude to enhance the identification of the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

6. The radar of claim 1, wherein the pulses are in the radio-frequency range of the frequency spectrum.

7. The radar of claim 1, wherein the pulses are in the laser-frequency range of the frequency spectrum.

8. The radar of claim 1, wherein the pulses are coherent electromagnetic radiation.

9. The radar of claim 1, wherein the processing device includes:

a signal processor for processing the reflected wave;

a memory device, in communication with the signal processor, for storing the processed reflected wave and known properties of a plurality of subsurface objects, wherein the known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude;

a processing unit, in communication with the memory device, for providing an output based upon the stored processed reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects corresponding to the pulse duration and amplitude of the transmitted pulses; and

a display device for displaying the output provided by the processing unit, wherein the displayed output identifies the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

10. The radar of claim 9, wherein the processing unit dynamically software filters the stored processed reflected wave to provide discrete binning of the stored processed reflected wave, wherein the processing unit individually analyzes the bins in providing the output based upon the stored processed reflected wave and the known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects.

11. A radar comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting pulses of variable pulse duration and amplitude directed to a subsurface area of interest and for receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest;

a processing device, in communication with the transceiver, for identifying the material composition of a plurality of subsurface objects based upon the reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

12. The radar of claim 11, wherein the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

13. The radar of claim 11, wherein the processing device controls the selection of the pulse duration and amplitude to enhance the identification of the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

14. The radar of claim 11, wherein the processing device displays an image of the subsurface area of interest based upon the reflected wave.

15. The radar of claim 14, wherein the processing device controls the selection of the pulse duration and amplitude to enhance the image of the subsurface area of interest.

16. The radar of claim 11, wherein the pulses are in the radio-frequency range of the frequency spectrum.

17. The radar of claim 11, wherein the pulses are in the laser-frequency range of the frequency spectrum.

18. The radar of claim 11, wherein the pulses are coherent electromagnetic radiation.

19. The radar of claim 11, wherein the known properties include permittivity, permeability, phase shift, and delay.

20. A radar for exploring a subsurface area of interest, the radar comprising:

a transceiver transmitting pulses directed to the subsurface area of interest and receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest, the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

21. The radar of claim 20 comprises a display device displaying the output provided by the processing device, wherein the displayed output is an image of the subsurface area of interest.

22. A radar for exploring a subsurface area of interest that includes a plurality of subsurface objects, the radar comprising:

a transceiver transmitting pulses of variable pulse duration and variable amplitude directed to a subsurface area of interest and receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest; and

a processing device, in communication with the transceiver, providing an output representing an identification of the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects based upon the reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

23. The radar of claim 22 comprises a display device displaying the output provided by the processing device, wherein the displayed output identifies the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

24. The radar of claim 22, wherein the pulses have a pulse duration and variable amplitude constrained by the equation,

25. A radar comprising:

an impulse generator for generating a sequence of ultra-narrow pulses of variable pulse duration and amplitude, the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

26. A radar comprising:

means for transmitting pulses directed to a subsurface area of interest, the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

27. The radar of claim 26, wherein the means for providing an output comprises means for displaying the output, wherein the displayed output is an image of the subsurface area of interest.

28. A radar comprising:

means for transmitting pulses of variable pulse duration and variable amplitude directed to a subsurface area of interest;

means for receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest; and

means for providing an output representing an identification of the material composition of a plurality of subsurface objects based upon the reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

29. The radar of claim 28, wherein the means for providing an output comprises means for displaying the output, wherein the displayed output identifies the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

30. The radar of claim 28, wherein the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

31. A method comprising:

transmitting pulses directed to a subsurface area of interest, the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,

32. The method of claim 31 further comprises displaying the output, wherein the displayed output is an image of the subsurface area of interest.

33. A method comprising:

transmitting pulses of variable pulse duration and variable amplitude directed to a subsurface area of interest;

receiving a reflected wave from the subsurface area of interest;

providing an output representing an identification of the material composition of a plurality of subsurface objects based upon the reflected wave and known properties of the plurality of subsurface objects that vary as a function of the pulse duration and amplitude.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprises displaying the output, wherein the displayed output identifies the material composition of the plurality of subsurface objects.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the pulses have a pulse duration and amplitude constrained by the equation,