Infrared thermal imaging system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9277142-B2
Application number	US-201213482194-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2012
Priority date	May 29, 2012
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

An infrared thermal imaging system includes a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, read out integrated circuitry (ROIC) operatively coupled to the FPA, and a microcontroller having at least one video display interface operatively coupled to the ROIC. The FPA is configured to generate an output signal in response to infrared radiation impinging upon the infrared detectors. The microcontroller is configured to send data to the ROIC via the at least one video display interface, the data including non-uniformity correction terms for correcting non-uniformities of the FPA.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An infrared thermal imaging system comprising:
a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, the FPA being configured to generate an output signal in response to infrared radiation impinging thereupon, the output signal including an analog signal;
read out integrated circuitry (ROIC) operatively coupled to the FPA and including an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the analog signal into a digital video signal; and
a microcontroller having at least one bidirectional video display interface operatively coupled to the ROIC, the microcontroller being configured to receive the digital video signal from the ROIC via the at least one bidirectional video display interface and to send data to the ROIC via the at least one bidirectional video display interface, the data including non-uniformity correction terms for correcting non-uniformities of the FPA.

2. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one video display interface includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) interface.

3. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is further configured to generate at least a portion of the data including correction terms for correcting the output signal of the FPA.

4. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 3 , wherein the ROIC is configured to correct thermal variations in the output signal of the FPA using the correction terms.

5. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 4 , wherein the data further includes synchronization data for synchronizing the output signal of the FPA with the data sent to the ROIC from the microprocessor, and wherein the FPA is further configured to generate the output signal using the synchronization data.

6. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 5 , wherein the ROIC is further configured to convert the output signal of the FPA into a format compatible with a visible light image processor.

7. A method of operating an infrared thermal imaging system having a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, read out integrated circuitry (ROIC) operatively coupled to the FPA, and a microcontroller including at least one bidirectional video display interface operatively coupled to the ROIC, the method comprising:
sending data from the microcontroller to the ROIC via the at least one bidirectional video display interface, the data including non-uniformity correction terms for correcting an output signal of the FPA, the output signal including an analog signal;
converting, by the ROIC, the analog signal into a digital video signal including at least one of a CMOS video signal and a CCD video signal; and
sending the digital video signal from the ROIC to the microcontroller via the at least one bidirectional video display interface.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising generating, by the microcontroller, at least a portion of the data including the non-uniformity correction terms.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising correcting thermal variations in the output signal of the FPA using the correction terms.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
producing synchronization data with the microcontroller;
providing the synchronization data to the FPA via the at least one video display interface; and
generating the output signal of the FPA using the synchronization data.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising converting the output signal of the FPA into a format compatible with a visible light image processor.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises receiving, by the microcontroller, the digital video signal from the ROIC via the at least one bidirectional video display interface.

13. An infrared thermal imaging system, comprising:
a first integrated circuit (IC) chip including a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors and read out integrated circuitry (ROIC), the first IC chip configured to generate a video signal output in response to infrared radiation impinging thereupon; and
a second IC chip including a microprocessor having at least one bidirectional video display interface operatively coupled to the first IC chip;
wherein the first IC chip is configured to send the video signal output to the microprocessor via the at least one bidirectional video display interface; and
wherein the second IC is configured to send data from the microprocessor to at least one of the FPA and the ROIC via the at least one bidirectional video display interface.

14. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one video display interface includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) interface.

15. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the FPA is configured to generate an output in response to infrared radiation impinging thereupon, and wherein the first IC chip is configured to correct thermal variations in the output of the FPA using at least a portion of the data.

16. The infrared thermal imaging system of claim 15 , wherein the second IC chip is configured to generate at least a portion of the data including synchronization data for synchronizing the output of the FPA with at least one of the second IC chip and an external display unit operatively coupled to the infrared thermal imaging system.

Assignees

• Kuiken Matthew T
• Black Stephen H
• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Kuiken Matthew T
• Black Stephen H

Classifications

• H04N25/671 Primary

  for non-uniformity detection or correction · CPC title

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title

• H04N23/23

  from thermal infrared radiation · CPC title

• H04N5/33 Primary

  Transforming infrared radiation (cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20) · CPC title

• H04N5/23293

  Electricity · mapped topic