Modulated-retroreflector based optical identification system
First Claim
1. An optical identification system, comprising:
- a handheld sighting unit;
a laser source disposed on the sighting unit for transmitting an unmodulated beam toward a vehicle;
a reflector disposable upon a vehicle the reflector being operative to reflect the unmodulated beam to thereby generate a reflected beam;
a shutter disposed on the reflector so that the reflected beam must pass through the shutter, the shutter being operative to modulate the polarization of the reflected beam with identification information to thereby generate a modulated reflected beam; and
a detector disposed on the sighting unit, the detector being operative to pass the modulated reflected beam and decode the identification information modulated on the modulated reflected beam which passes through.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical identification system for identifying a vehicle. The system comprises a laser source for generating a transmitted beam and a reflector in optical communication therewith. The reflector is operative to reflect the transmitted beam to thereby generate a reflected beam. The system further includes a shutter in optical communication with the reflected beam and operative to modulate the polarization of the reflected beam with identification information thereby generating a modulated reflected beam. The optical identification system of the present invention further includes a detector in optical communication with the modulated reflected beam. The detector is operative to pass the modulated reflected beam and decode the identification information modulated thereon.
64 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An optical identification system, comprising:
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a handheld sighting unit;
a laser source disposed on the sighting unit for transmitting an unmodulated beam toward a vehicle;
a reflector disposable upon a vehicle the reflector being operative to reflect the unmodulated beam to thereby generate a reflected beam;
a shutter disposed on the reflector so that the reflected beam must pass through the shutter, the shutter being operative to modulate the polarization of the reflected beam with identification information to thereby generate a modulated reflected beam; and
a detector disposed on the sighting unit, the detector being operative to pass the modulated reflected beam and decode the identification information modulated on the modulated reflected beam which passes through. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 30)
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20. A method of optical identification with a laser source, a shutter, a reflector, a polarizer and a detector, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) generating a transmitted beam with the laser source;
b) generating a reflected beam by reflecting the transmitted beam with the reflector;
c) generating a modulated reflected beam with the shutter by modulating the polarization of the reflected beam, the shutter modulating the reflected beam with identification information;
d) passing the modulated reflected beam to the detector with the polarizer when the polarization of the modulated reflected beam matches the polarization modulated by the shutter;
e) decoding the modulated reflected beam passed by the polarizer with the detector to determine the identification information. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A hand held optical identification device, comprising:
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a hand held sighting unit;
a laser source disposed on the sighting unit for transmitting an unmodulated beam toward an object of interest; and
a detector disposed on the sighting unit, operative to receive or block a modulated beam reflected by the object of interest according to a modulation code thereof and decode identification information modulated on the modulated beam received thereby. - View Dependent Claims (29, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification