Adaptive communications focal plane array
First Claim
1. A multi-channel adaptive communications focal plane array comprising:
- a plurality of optical detectors, a subset of which receive one or more optical beams transmitted by one or more optical transmitter assemblies;
a plurality of signal discrimination circuits, each of which is operatively connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of optical detectors, and performs the following;
detects the presence of an optical beam that is currently being received by its corresponding optical detector;
computes an estimated signal-to-noise ratio associated with an optical beam it has detected; and
sets a value of the estimated signal-to-noise ratio to a set value when it has not detected the presence of the optical beam;
a plurality of switching circuits, each of which is operatively connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of optical detectors and a corresponding one of the plurality of signal discrimination circuits, and each of the plurality of switching circuits comprising two or more analog output ports where each analog output port corresponds to a different channel of the multi-channel adaptive communications focal-plane array, wherein each of the plurality of switching circuits performs the following;
controls a flow of information being received in the form of an optical beam by either suppressing the flow completely or by outputting the flow to any one of the two or more analog output ports;
outputs a location relative to other detectors of the plurality of optical detectors indicative of the corresponding optical detector receiving the optical beam; and
outputs the estimated signal-to-noise ratio provided by its corresponding signal discrimination circuit; and
an analog output detector operatively connected to a first of the two or more analog output ports of each of the plurality of switching circuits, the analog output detector informing each of the plurality of switching circuits whether or not information being received by an optical detector from an optical beam is currently being output via the first of the two or more analog output ports of any one of the plurality of switching circuits.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Adaptive communications focal plane arrays that may be implemented in, e.g., a specially-configured camera that can be utilized to receive and/or process information in the form of optical beams are presented. A specialized focal plane array (FPA) having a plurality of optical detectors is utilized, where one or more optical detectors are suppressed such that data is not allowed to be output from the one or more suppressed optical detectors, and only a significantly smaller number or subset of optical detectors receiving optical beams are allowed to output data. In this way, the rate at which data is to be output by an adaptive communications FPA (ACFPA) can be significantly reduced.
318 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A multi-channel adaptive communications focal plane array comprising:
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a plurality of optical detectors, a subset of which receive one or more optical beams transmitted by one or more optical transmitter assemblies; a plurality of signal discrimination circuits, each of which is operatively connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of optical detectors, and performs the following; detects the presence of an optical beam that is currently being received by its corresponding optical detector; computes an estimated signal-to-noise ratio associated with an optical beam it has detected; and sets a value of the estimated signal-to-noise ratio to a set value when it has not detected the presence of the optical beam; a plurality of switching circuits, each of which is operatively connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of optical detectors and a corresponding one of the plurality of signal discrimination circuits, and each of the plurality of switching circuits comprising two or more analog output ports where each analog output port corresponds to a different channel of the multi-channel adaptive communications focal-plane array, wherein each of the plurality of switching circuits performs the following; controls a flow of information being received in the form of an optical beam by either suppressing the flow completely or by outputting the flow to any one of the two or more analog output ports; outputs a location relative to other detectors of the plurality of optical detectors indicative of the corresponding optical detector receiving the optical beam; and outputs the estimated signal-to-noise ratio provided by its corresponding signal discrimination circuit; and an analog output detector operatively connected to a first of the two or more analog output ports of each of the plurality of switching circuits, the analog output detector informing each of the plurality of switching circuits whether or not information being received by an optical detector from an optical beam is currently being output via the first of the two or more analog output ports of any one of the plurality of switching circuits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification