Adaptive communications focal plane array
First Claim
1. An optical communications camera array comprising a plurality of optical communications cameras, wherein electronic inputs and outputs of each optical communications camera are interfaced with a single optical receiver assembly control electronics, and wherein each optical communications camera comprises:
- an imaging lens and an adaptive communications focal plane array, wherein an optically sensitive surface of the adaptive communications focal plane array lies in a focal plane of the imaging lens, the 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;
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, wherein each of the plurality of switching circuits controls a flow of information being received in the form of an optical beam, outputs a location relative to other optical 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 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 by any one of the plurality of switching circuits.
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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.
310 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An optical communications camera array comprising a plurality of optical communications cameras, wherein electronic inputs and outputs of each optical communications camera are interfaced with a single optical receiver assembly control electronics, and wherein each optical communications camera comprises:
an imaging lens and an adaptive communications focal plane array, wherein an optically sensitive surface of the adaptive communications focal plane array lies in a focal plane of the imaging lens, the 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; 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, wherein each of the plurality of switching circuits controls a flow of information being received in the form of an optical beam, outputs a location relative to other optical 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 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 by any one of the plurality of switching circuits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method comprising:
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detecting a presence of a first optical beacon; extracting from the first optical beacon, identifying information associated with an entity associated with the first optical beacon; displaying in an augmented reality presentation, the identifying information extracted from the first optical beacon; suppressing output of the first optical beacon by turning off switches in all switching circuits associated with optical detectors that are receiving the first optical beacon; detecting a presence of a second optical beacon; extracting from the second optical beacon, identifying information associated with an entity associated with the second optical beacon; displaying in an augmented reality presentation, the identifying information extracted from the second optical beacon; suppressing output of the second optical beacon by turning off switches in all switching circuits associated with optical detectors that are receiving the second optical beacon; and repeating the presence detection, extraction and display of identifying information, and output suppression regarding subsequently detected optical beacons until all optical beacons detectable within a field of view of an optical communications camera have been detected and corresponding identifying information has been extracted and displayed in the augmented reality presentation. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification