In-Pixel Signal Processing for Hypertemporal Applications

Nova Sensors has developed the world’s first infrared 1K x 1K focal plane array with in-pixel memory and switched capacitor processing circuitry. These developments have “paved the way” for other on-focal plane signal processing designs in which circuitry contained directly in the readout integrated circuit (ROIC) may be used to greatly simplify the overall system. The massively parallel pixel-based architecture of such imaging sensors can be of great speed, cost and power advantage when local temporal and spatial operations are applied directly at the pixel level. We propose to design and develop a new ROIC that (a) exploits the advantages of an in-pixel Resistive Transimpedance Amplifier (RTIA) and (b) applies hypertemporal imaging (HTI) algorithms to pixel intensity data directly at the sensor. Investment of a few milliwatts of electrical power in the ROIC can result in dynamically-tunable temporal filtering operations that aid in the detection and discrimination of boosting targets against highly cluttered backgrounds. This proposal will outline a program that develops actual silicon test chip hardware that demonstrates the feasibility of this approach for future MDA HTI applications. Lockheed Santa Barbara Focalplane and recognized experts in the field of hypertemporal algorithms are technology partners in this effort.