HIGH-EFFICIENCY APPROACH LIGHTING SYSTEM BASED ON NON-IMAGING CONDENSER AND ELLIPTICAL HOLOGRAPHIC DIFFUSER

AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO A FULLY CENTRALIZED (ONE SOURCE, MANY LIGHT POINTS) FIBER OPTIC APPROACH LIGHTING SYSTEM, PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (POC) PROPOSES A MORE REALISTIC AND MUCH MORE COST-EFFECTIVE DESIGN. A SINGLE LAMP, WITH POWER CONSUMPTION ONE-THIRD THAT OF LAMPS NOW IN USE, FEEDS A FEW NEAREST LIGHTS THROUGH A PLASTIC FIBER. THIS ACHIEVES THE MAJOR GOAL OF FIBER OPTIC IMPLEMENTATION: REMOVING THE LAMPS FROM ELEVEVATED MASTS. TWO CRUCIAL COMPONENTS RECENTLY DEVELOPED AT POC CONTRIBUTE TO THE HIGH LIGHT EFFICIENCY OF THE SYSTEM. A NON-IMAGING CONDENSER PROVIDES AN EXTREMELY HIGH (ALMOST 1.0) INPUT NUMERICAL APERTURE, THUS COLLECTING MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LIGHT FROM THE LAMP. AT THE SAME TIME, THE ADJUSTABLE OUTPUT NUMERICAL APERTURE PERMITS HIGHLY EFFICIENT LIGHT COUPLING INTO THE FIBER. AT THE EMITTING END OF THE FIBER, POC WILL USE ITS PROPREITARY ELLIPTICAL HOLOGRAPHIC DIFFUSER WHICH COMBINES HIGH TRANSMISSION WITH A CONTROLLABLE SCATTERING PATTERN. AS A RESULT, THE OUTGOING LIGHT WILL BE CONFINED TO THE SOLID ANGLE SPECIFIED BY ICAO FOR CAT I APPROACH HLIGHTS, 9 DEGREES OF VERTICAL AND 20 DEGREES OF HORIZONTAL SPREAD. ELIMINATION OF UNWANTED SCATTERING LOWERS THE LAMP POWER REQUIREMENT.