Method and apparatus for compensating for a parameter change in a synthetic aperture imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10042049-B2
Application number	US-201514928194-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2015
Priority date	Jun 28, 2010
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

There is described a method for processing data generated by a synthetic aperture imaging system, comprising: receiving raw data representative of electromagnetic signals reflected by a target area to be imaged; receiving a parameter change for the synthetic aperture imaging system; digitally correcting the raw data in accordance with the parameter change, thereby compensating for the parameter change in order to obtain corrected data; and generating an image of the target area using the corrected data.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for processing data generated by a synthetic aperture imaging system, comprising the steps of:
receiving raw data representative of return signal echoes from a target area to be imaged;
receiving a parameter change causing a variation of an interference pattern parameter for said synthetic aperture imaging system, said interference pattern parameter being one of a Fresnel zone plate focal length and a Fourier slice scaling parameter;
using a processing unit, digitally correcting said raw data in accordance with said parameter change, said correcting comprising determining a scaling factor using said parameter change and scaling said raw data in accordance with said scaling factor, thereby compensating for said parameter change in order to obtain corrected data; and
generating an image of said target area using said corrected data, said generating comprising:
generating an incident light;
modulating said incident light in accordance with said corrected data, thereby obtaining a modulated light; and
optically processing said modulated light, thereby obtaining an optical image of said target area.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step of detecting said optical image to obtain a digital image of said target area.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said parameter change comprises a change of one of a pulse repetition frequency, a range sampling frequency, and a slant range distance.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said receiving said raw data comprises receiving said raw data from one of a synthetic aperture radar system, a synthetic aperture sonar system, a synthetic aperture lidar system, a synthetic aperture terahertz system, and a synthetic aperture infrared system.

5. A system for generating a synthetic aperture image of a target area, comprising:
a memory configured to store raw data representative of return signal echoes from said target area and a parameter change causing a variation of an interference pattern parameter for said synthetic aperture imaging system, said interference pattern parameter comprising one of a Fresnel zone plate focal length and a Fourier slice scaling parameter;
a processing unit configured to determine a scaling factor using said parameter change and to scale said raw data in accordance with said scaling factor in order to compensate for said parameter change and obtain corrected data; and
an image generator configured to generate an image of said target area using said corrected data, said image generator comprising:
a light source configured to generate incident light;
a light modulator configured to modulate said incident light in accordance with said corrected data, thereby obtaining a modulated light; and
an optical processor configured to optically process said modulated light, thereby obtaining said image of said target area.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said image generator further comprises an image sensor configured to detect said optical image and to generate a digital image of said target area.

7. The system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said parameter change comprises a change of one of a pulse repetition frequency, a range sampling frequency, and a slant range distance.

8. The system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said memory is configured to store said raw data generated by one of a synthetic aperture radar system, a synthetic aperture sonar system, a synthetic aperture lidar system, a synthetic aperture terahertz system, and a synthetic aperture infrared system.

Assignees

• Institut Nat Doptique

Inventors

• Bergeron Alain
• Marchese Linda

Classifications

• G01S17/90

  using synthetic aperture techniques · CPC title

• G06T5/50

  using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction · CPC title

• G03H2001/046

  Synthetic aperture · CPC title

• G01S13/904 Primary

  SAR modes · CPC title

• G02B27/58

  Optics for apodization or superresolution; Optical synthetic aperture systems · CPC title