APPLICATION OF HYMOSS SIGNAL PROCESSING CIRCUITRY TO SENSOR FUZED SUBMUNITIONS

IRVINE SENSORS CORPORATION (ISC) PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) WHICH WILL PROVIDE A HIGHER PERFORMANCE PASSIVE GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR A VARIETY OF MISSILES AND PROJECTILES, SUCH AS SKEET AND SENSOR FUZED SUBMUNITIONS. CURRENT SYSTEMS OF THIS TYPE UTILIZE ONLY A FEW INFRARED DETECTOR ELEMENTS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE THE NUMBER OF ELECTRICAL LEADS WHICH MUST EXIST THROUGH THE CRYOGENIC DEWAR WALL, SINCE MULTIPLEXING IS TYPICALLY DONE OFF-FOCAL PLANE. THE NUMBER OF DETECTOR ELEMENTS IS ALSO LIMITED BY DATA RATE, POWER, AND WEIGHT LIMITATIONS. THE INNOVATIVE ISC PROPOSES IS AN IC WHICH WILL PROVIDE LONGER RANGE ACQUISITION CAPABILITIES FOR NONIMAGING SEEKERS FOR A VARIETY OF PROJECTILE MISSIONS BY PROVIDING ON-FOCAL PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING CIRCUITRY FOR UP TO 32 DETECTOR ELEMENTS. THIS WILL INCLUDE SUITABLE TRADE-OFFS IN DEWAR SIZE, COST, AND THERMAL INTEGRITY. THIS WILL BE POSSIBLE BECAUSE ISC'S PROPOSED CIRCUITRY CAN PROVIDE ALL REQUIRED CONTROL ELECTRONICS ON THE FOCAL PLANE, AS WELL AS PER-CHANNEL AMPLIFICATION, FILTERING, ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION, AND MULTIPLEXING. ALL THIS SIGNAL PRE-PROCESSING WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN THE VOLUME AND POWER CONSTRAINTS OF THE MINIATURE DEWAR ASSEMBLIES UTILIZED IN SKEET-TYPE PROJECTILES. ISC'S PHASE I PROGRAM WILL CONDUCT THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND ANALYTICAL VERIFICATION OF THE CIRCUIT, INCLUDING SIZE AND POWER BUDGETS. IN PHASE II, ISC WILL FINALIZE THE IC DESIGN, FABRICATE, AND ELECTRO-OPTICALLY CHARACTERIZED TEST ICS.