James H Mcdowell

US Patent:

7746450, Jun 29, 2010

Filed:

Aug 28, 2007

Appl. No.:

11/845858

Inventors:

Christopher Allen Willner - Rochester MI, US
James McDowell - Rochester Hills MI, US

Assignee:

Science Applications International Corporation - San Diego CA

International Classification:

G01P 3/36

US Classification:

356 28, 356 285

Abstract:

Apparatuses and methods determine positional information from a reflected optical signal for an object on a per pixel basis. A spread spectrum imaging system includes a transmitting module transmitting a transmitted optical signal that illuminates a target space and contains a transmitted pulse that is modulated with a first pseudo-noise (PN) code. The imaging system includes a receiving module that receives a reflected optical signal from an object. The reflected signal is processed by an optical array that detects a detected signal from the reflected optical signal, where the detected signal contains a plurality of pixels spanning a target space. When the determined PN code corresponds to the selected PN code, image information and the positional information is presented for the object. When different positional information is obtained for different pixels in the image, the imaging system may determine that different objects appear in the received image.