APPLICATION OF 3-D FPA MODULES WITH DYNAMIC STARE TO AERIAL ELECTRO-OPTICAL SENSING

IRVINE SENSORS CORPORATION (ISC) PROPOSES TO EXAMINE TWO MAJOR EO AVIONICS SYSTEMS PROBLEMS WHICH ARE ADDRESSED BY THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3-D) FPAS WITH DYNAMIC STARE: 1) THE EXTREMELY POWERFUL, STRUCTURED,AND DYNAMIC BACKGROUND CLUTTER WHICH MAKES TARGET DETECTION NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE; AND 2) THE LARGE FIELD-OF-REGARD WHICH MUST BE VIEWED WITH GREAT RESOLUTION WHILE KEEPING REVISIT TIMES SHORT AND DATA RATES LOW. THE INNOVATION PROPOSED IS AN FPA SYSTEM WHICH WILL PROVIDE THE CAPABILITY TO EXTRACT TARGETS BASED BOTH UPON SPATIAL SIGNATURES AND MOTION RELATIVE TO THE BACKGROUND BY COMBINING SPATIAL (INTRAFRAME) AND TEMPORAL (INTERFRAME) PROCESSING ON THE FOCAL PLANE. THIS ALLOWS ALL WIDE BANDWIDTH, HIGH PRECISION PROCESSING TO BE PERFORMED IN PARALLEL IN THE 3-D FOCAL PLANE MODULE PRIOR TO MULTIPLEXING, THUS REDUCING THE DATA RATES AND COMPUTATIONAL LOADS OF THE OFF-FOCAL PLANE PROCESSOR TO MANAGEABLE VALUES. ISC'S PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM WILL: 1) INVESTIGATE THE BOUNDARIES OF PERFORMANCE FOR THE 3-D FPA/DYNAMIC STARE APPLICATION TO AN EO AVIONICS SYSTEM; AND 2) DEMONSTRATE PERFORMANCE WITH COMPUTER EMULATION AGAINST ACTUAL IR CLUTTER SCENES FROM SETS OF AIRBORNE SCENARIOS. IN PHASE II, A BREADBOARD SENSOR WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN PHASE I.