Dual Purpose Laser Range Finder and LIDAR Sensor

Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation (SPEC) proposes an eye-safe Dual Purpose Miniature LIDAR and Laser Range Finder based on SPEC’s latest direct detect SPEC LIDAR technology, which dramatically extends our proven miniature, hardened LIDAR product lines with PRN encoded (Pseudo Random Number) pulse burst technology. Operating at 1550nm, the proposed Dual Purpose Range Finder and LIDAR Sensor can detect and capture the first 6 targets in range through foliage and/or camouflage nets. The proposed Dual Purpose LIDAR is a revolutionary advance in airborne, multi-platform ISR capabilities for virtually every level of airborne platform and mission. SPEC LIDARs use encoded pulse bursts with PRN encoding (Pseudo Random Number) -- a far-reaching technology which vastly exceeds our last generation Barker encoding.  The Barker encoding provided a 13/1 improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) which achieved range accuracies of Ľ inch.  The PRN encoding provides SNR improvement of ~1000 with much lower power to achieve long ranges and range accuracy down to 1mm (.040 inch).  The PRN code also allows lower peak power, while avoiding fiber optic non-linearity problems.  The electronics and fiber laser are packaged in a PCIe104 package with embedded processing for rapid image formation.  The current long range direct detect LIDAR uses 32 pixel receiver fiber coupled to the scanner telescope image plane.  This architecture uniquely supports rapid 3D imaging, limited only by the time of flight and range fold over.  For faster speeds, pixels can be added in 16 pixel increments.  The close-range framing speed is baselined at 400kHz, 12.8Mpps.  The principal objectives of this fast moving Phase I program begin with:  1) collecting and specifying the detailed system requirements for the dual purpose laser range finder and LIDAR sensor, followed by 2) performing system trades and modeling to define the optimal system architecture and performance for the LIDAR and pipeline processing software.  Potential benchtop upgrades of modified design blocks will be tested. Additionally, the Gen V LIDAR receiver will be upgraded with a new digital receiver board, combined with any block changes, and tested.  Range performance in all weather conditions will be modeled.  A design baseline of the Dual Purpose LIDAR will be developed to meet SWAPc requirements and specifications for: 1) cross range resolution (targeted initially for better than .06mr), and 2) range resolution, targeted initially at 3 to 6mm, but expected to improve to 1 to 2mm with the implementation of the 1023 PRN transmit waveform code (which will also reduce power draw in the laser while maintaining range performance).  Lastly, the onboard imaging software will be benchmarked to verify the chosen image processor can maintain the desired imaging rate and image processing to produce a global coordinates amplitude image for transmission or display.