Systems and methods for millimeter and sub-millimeter wave imaging
First Claim
1. An s-mmw imaging system, comprisinga non-rotating diffuser destroying a spatial coherence of radiation incident on the diffuser and directing the radiation towards a field of view, wherein the diffuser comprises a spatially distributed diffuser and wherein the diffuser comprises a plurality of spatially distributed point scatterers;
- at least one radiation source disposed to illuminate the diffuser, the at least one radiation source generating radiation having a wavelength between about 0.1 mm and about 10 mm;
a quasi-optical element disposed between the field of view and a multi-element receiver, the quasi-optical element directing radiation from the field of view toward an imaging plane;
said multi-element receiver disposed in the imaging plane, wherein particular ones of the receiver elements transform radiation into a set of electrical signals; and
a processor coupled to receive the electrical signals from the receiver, the processor causing the point scatterers to be controlled based on information determined from the electrical signals.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus 10 for imaging. At least one source 12 (or 12/14) of composite radiation illuminates a field of view 16. The radiation includes a set of multiple phase-independent partials that are independently controllable and exhibit distinct physical features. A quasi-optical element 21 is disposed between the field of view 16 and a multi-element receiver 18. The multi-element receiver 18 is disposed to receive image radiation 28 from the quasi-optical element 21. Particular ones of the receiver elements transform the image radiation 28 into a set of electrical signals that include information relating to features of the partials.
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Citations
79 Claims
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1. An s-mmw imaging system, comprising
a non-rotating diffuser destroying a spatial coherence of radiation incident on the diffuser and directing the radiation towards a field of view, wherein the diffuser comprises a spatially distributed diffuser and wherein the diffuser comprises a plurality of spatially distributed point scatterers; -
at least one radiation source disposed to illuminate the diffuser, the at least one radiation source generating radiation having a wavelength between about 0.1 mm and about 10 mm;
a quasi-optical element disposed between the field of view and a multi-element receiver, the quasi-optical element directing radiation from the field of view toward an imaging plane;
said multi-element receiver disposed in the imaging plane, wherein particular ones of the receiver elements transform radiation into a set of electrical signals; and
a processor coupled to receive the electrical signals from the receiver, the processor causing the point scatterers to be controlled based on information determined from the electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A source of partially coherent radiation for illuminating a field of view, the source comprising:
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at least one non-movable diffuser destroying a spatial coherence of radiation being incident on the diffuser and directing the radiation towards a field of view, the diffuser including an array of independently controllable radiation scatterers; and
at least one radiation emitting source being arranged to illuminate said diffuser with radiation;
wherein each radiation scatterer comprises a static high-Q resonant scatterer exhibiting frequency resonance belonging to a particular frequency band and wherein the radiation emitting source comprises a radiation source that sweeps over the particular frequency band. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A millimeter wave system comprising:
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a source of radiation, the radiation comprising a set of independently controllable radiation components, each radiation component comprising a doublet that includes two spectral lines, and each radiation component being labeled by a given frequency shift between the two spectral lines;
a receiver including an array of receiver elements disposed to receive the radiation emitted by the source, the receiver transforming the received radiation into an array of electrical signals; and
a processing system coupled to receive the array of electrical signals and for decoding the array of electrical signals based on the labels of the radiation components. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
a pair of voltage controlled oscillators operating at a s-mmw frequency and having a first characteristic polarization state;
a set of load-modulated point scatterers that are illuminated by the voltage controlled oscillators, the set of load-modulated point scatterers being preferentially sensitive to the first characteristic polarization state;
wherein the load of each point scatterer is modulated with a time varying signal; and
wherein the scattered radiation is directed to an object being imaged.
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44. The system of claim 43 wherein the time varying signal is a periodic signal.
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45. The system of claim 39 wherein the source of radiation is in a substrate configuration, the source further comprising means to combine the radiation of the two spectral lines of each component.
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46. The system of claim 39 wherein the source of radiation is in a waveguide configuration, the source further comprising means to combine the radiation of the two spectral lines of each component.
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47. The system of claim 39 wherein the two spectral lines have co-polarization characteristics.
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48. The system of claim 39 wherein the two spectral lines have cross-polarization characteristics.
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49. The system of claim 39 wherein the receiver elements comprise mixers which generate difference frequency signals for the radiation components.
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50. The system of claim 39 wherein the source of radiation includes:
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a first voltage controlled oscillator operating at a first frequency;
a second voltage controlled oscillator operating at a second frequency; and
an embedded mixer;
wherein the combined energy of the first and second voltage controlled oscillators is divided into two unequal parts, a major part being used to direct to a destination and a minor part being used to control a difference frequency between the two spectral lines by mixing the minor part in the embedded mixer.
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51. The system of claim 39 wherein the two spectral lines comprise a cross-polarized doublet and wherein the source of radiation includes:
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a first set of load-modulated point scatterers, the first set exhibiting a first polarization state;
a second set of load-modulated point scatterers, the second set exhibiting a second polarization state, the first polarization state being orthogonal to the second polarization state; and
a voltage controlled oscillator operating at an s-mmw frequency having a third characteristic polarization state which differs from the said first and second polarization states, the voltage controlled oscillator illuminating the first and second sets of load-modulated point scatterers.
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52. A method for creating radiation that includes a polarized doublet, the method including:
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emitting radiation at a first s-mmw frequency;
emitting radiation at a second s-mmw frequency, wherein the difference between the first s-mmw frequency and the second s-mmw frequency is much smaller than the average of the first s-mmw frequency and the second s-mmw frequency;
controlling the difference between the first s-mmw frequency and the second s-mmw frequency;
polarizing the radiation at the first s-mmw frequency into a first characteristic polarization;
polarizing the radiation at the s-mmw frequency into a second characteristic polarization;
combining the radiation at the first s-mmw frequency and the radiation at the second s-mmw frequency; and
directing the combined radiation to a destination. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A method of creating radiation that includes a cross-polarized doublet, the method comprising:
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providing a voltage controlled oscillator operating at a first s-mmw frequency;
directing energy of the oscillator to uniformly illuminate first and second sets of load-modulated point scatterers, the first set exhibiting a first polarization state and the second set exhibiting a second polarization state, wherein the first polarization state is orthogonal to the second polarization state;
polarizing the oscillator in a third characteristic polarization state;
positioning the first and second sets of point scatterers such that the first and second polarization state substantially differs from the third characteristic polarization state;
modulating the load of the first scatterer with a first time varying signal;
modulating the load of the second scatterer with a second time varying signal, wherein the ground harmonic of first time varying signal essentially differs from any harmonic of the second harmonic time varying signal; and
scattering radiation from the first and second sets of point scatterers. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A millimeter wave transmitter-receiver apparatus for transmitting and receiving image or communication data comprising:
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a source of radiation, the radiation comprising a set of independently controllable radiation components, each radiation component comprising a doublet that includes two spectral lines, and each radiation component being labeled by a given frequency shift between the two spectral lines;
a receiver including an array of receiver elements disposed to receive the radiation emitted by the source, the receiver transforming the received radiation into an array of electrical signals; and
a processing system coupled to receive the array of electrical signals and for decoding the array of electrical signals based on the labels of the radiation components. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71)
at least one pair of voltage controlled oscillators operating at different s-mmw frequencies;
a plurality of paired couplers each of which is individually coupled to an output of one of the voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) for dividing VCO radiation into a major portion for transmitting in free space and a minor portion for mixing;
a first mixer for mixing the minor radiation portion the VCO radiation to produce a first beat signal;
a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit providing phase-locking of the first beat signal by the reference signal, wherein one input of the PLL circuit is supplied by the first beat signal, another PLL circuit input is supplied by the reference signal and an output correction voltage produced by the PLL circuits is provided to a frequency correcting driving voltage input of one of the VCOs; and
an antenna system to transmit the major radiation portions produced by the VCOs in free space.
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72. An s-mmw imaging system, comprising:
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a non-rotating diffuser destroying a spatial coherence of radiation incident on the diffuser and directing the radiation towards a field of view, wherein the radiation incident on the diffuser includes doublet spectral components and wherein the radiation incident on the diffuser is modulated by modulating a spectral shift between doublet spectral components;
at least one radiation source disposed to illuminate the diffuser, the at least one radiation source generating radiation having a wavelength between about 0.1 mm and about 10 mm;
a quasi-optical element disposed between the field of view and a multi-element receiver, the quasi-optical element directing radiation from the field of view toward an imaging plane; and
said multi-element receiver disposed in the imaging plane, wherein particular ones of the receiver elements transform radiation into a set of electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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Specification