The Boeing Company

Hrl Laboratories, LLC

Gary Alan Ray

James Bryan Baker

Bentley Edwin Northon

Peter Petre

Robert Tilman Worl

Bradley James Mitchell

Charles E Martin

Shankar R Rao

Jonathan Martin Saint Clair

Robert Paul Higgins

Alec Adams

David Christien Soreide

Mitchell D Voth

Paul Frederic Sjoholm

Tyler M Anderson

Daniel Stewart Summers

Donald Allen Spurgeon

Julio A Navarro

Tai Anh Lam

Mark A Curry

Richard John Loftis

Brian David Gilbert

Henry E Halladay

James Ridgeway Gillis

Andy Armatorio

Bradley J Mitchell

Tuan A Nguyen

Systems, methods, and apparatus for processing a signal using a non-uniform antenna array are disclosed. In one aspect, a receiver apparatus for processing high frequency signals is provided. The receiver apparatus may comprise an antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements. The plurality of antenna elements may include a first antenna element and a remainder of the plurality of antenna elements. The remainder of the plurality of antenna elements may be uniformly spaced apart from one another by a first distance and arranged in a substantially linear orientation. The remainder of the plurality of antenna elements may include a second antenna element spaced apart from the first antenna element by a second distance. The second distance may be different than the first distance.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for processing high frequency signals

A receiver includes an antenna block configured to transduce impinging electromagnetic signals into electrical signals; a signal conditioning block configured to condition electrical signals received from the antenna block; and a down-converter block configured to down-convert conditioned electrical signals received from the signal conditioning block. The down-converter block comprises a plurality of signal channels. The receiver further includes a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) respectively connected to the signal channels of the down-converter block; and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA is configured to program the down-converter block by selecting a set of mixer frequencies and a set of bandwidths designed to remove interference signals in each signal channel. The selections are calculated to mitigate reductions in dynamic range in the ADCs due to interference. The FPGA is further configured to process digital signals received from the ADCs after the down-converter block has removed the interference signals.

Programmable RF front end for wideband ADC-based receiver

A method, apparatus, and system for counting events. a set of quantum registers is reset. A Hadamard operator is applied to the set of quantum registers. A quantum instruction is executed on the set of quantum registers, wherein the quantum instruction incorporates a function for an event vector comprising events identified by bits. The Hadamard operator is applied to the set of quantum registers after executing the quantum instruction. The set of quantum registers is measured to form a measurement of the set of quantum registers. An approximate count of the events is determined using the measurement of the set of quantum registers.

Quantum parallel event counter

A computer-implemented method for processing radar information comprises receiving synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data that specifics a sequence of radar acquisitions of a target area taken over a particular acquisition time. The method comprises forming a plurality of sub-aperture images, wherein each sub-aperture image is associated with radar acquisitions of the target area taken over a particular interval of the acquisition time. The method further comprises determining, based on the plurality of sub-aperture images, velocities associated with one or more target objects moving within the target area; and generating an image associated with the SAR data that depicts the one or more target objects and the velocities associated with one or more target objects.

Radar processing method and system

Methods for improving multiple signal reception using receiver diversity in the context of a wideband radar and communications receiver. The method allows for improved signal reception as well as improved angle of arrival estimation. A first approach uses a method that improves angle of arrival estimation while using the standard diversity technique of selection combining. A second approach uses a method of equalization of the signal rather than equalization of the channel to both improve the signal SNR over standard selection combining and further improve the angle of arrival estimate over the first approach.

Systems and methods for multiple signal reception using receiver diversity

Systems and methods which use adjunct signals from a remote highly stable clock to enhance performance of a digital wideband receiver equipped with a less stable local clock system. The digital wideband receiver includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and an adjunct receiver system connected to the output of the ADC. The adjunct receiver system includes matched filters and circuitry configured to generate an interpolation coefficient vector based on the matched filter outputs. The adjunct receiver system further includes an interpolating filter which is configured to remove jitter from the digitized samples output by the ADC using the interpolation coefficient vector.

System and method using adjunct signals to increase wideband receiver performance

Systems and methods for direct signal down-conversion and decimation in a digital receiver. The digital receiver produces a decimated passband version of the signal without the problems associated with use of digital mixers. The digital receiver includes a passband-to-passband decimator/down-converter that implements an algorithm which takes the signal band (frequency and bandwidth or lower and upper frequencies) where a signal is present and produces a decimation rate and phase for use by a low-pass mixer-free down-conversion. The digital receiver technology may be efficiently implemented on a digital signal processor or field-programmable gate array.

System and method for direct signal down-conversion and decimation

A collision avoidance system includes a monopulse radar antenna array of monopulse radar antenna segments mounted to a vehicle with respective fixed fields of view. Each monopulse radar antenna segment comprises a comparator network configured to form a sum signal representing a summation of return signals and a first difference signal representing a first difference of the return signals. The system further includes a user interface configured to present information in a form perceptible to a person operating the vehicle and a radar antenna array controller configured to calculate a range of the object and a first (azimuth) angle of arrival of the return signal from the object. The comparator network is further configured to form a second difference signal which the radar antenna array controller uses to calculate a second (elevation) angle of arrival.

Distributed monopulse radar antenna array for collision avoidance

Systems and methods for estimating frequency and bandwidth of unknown signals using learned features of a filter pair for the purpose of detecting, separating and tracking these signals in an electronic receiver. The techniques could be part of a signal cueing system that initiates signal detection, separation and tracking or a signal separation and tracking system which is initialized by the cueing system and adaptively updates frequency and bandwidth estimates so as to continuously separate and track signals after initial detection. The methodology is to train the filter responses using machine learning by creating a grid of training data based on signal examples that cover a span of frequencies and bandwidths. The system estimates frequency and bandwidth in real time, inputs those estimates into interpolating lookup tables to retrieve filter coefficients, and provides those filter coefficients to a tunable tracking filter.

Signal frequency and bandwidth estimation using a learned filter pair response

A method and apparatus for generating a frequency comb. A sine wave comprising samples is generated at a selected sampling rate and a selected increment corresponding to a number of samples for a period of the sine wave using a lookup table or a CORDIC algorithm. The sine wave is processed by a universal differential equation to generate the frequency comb. Characteristics of the frequency comb generated from the sine wave are controlled by changing the sampling rate and the increment.

Variable frequency comb generation

Systems and methods for tracking swarms of flying objects for collision avoidance using area-scanning optical systems. Images of the volume of space forward of an aircraft in flight are captured using one or more cameras and then the images are processed to determine whether the image data indicates the presence of a swarm. The camera-based collision avoidance system is configured to detect and angularly track small objects flying in a swarm at sufficiently far ranges to cue or alert the flight control system onboard an autonomous or piloted aircraft to avoid the swarm. A swarm angle tracking algorithm is used to recognize swarms of flying objects that move in unison in a certain direction by detecting a consistent characteristic of the pixel values in captured images which is indicative of swarm motion.

Camera-based angle tracking of swarms for collision avoidance

Systems and methods for forming optimized transmit or receive beams using an array antenna. A parallelized beam forming algorithm is employed that allows the beam to be optimized to increase performance over typical time-delay beam steering. The parallelized beam forming optimization algorithm is based on a limited-memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno algorithm with bound constraints. Using a matrix form of both the beam and beam gradient functions allows parallel optimization through beam matching against a designed target beam. Because the optimization is both efficient and parallelizable, beams may be optimized beams in real time. Hence the optimization technique may be implemented directly as part of a beam steering controller.

Method to optimize beams for phased array antennas

Systems and methods for rapidly finding detectable signals within the field-of-view of a phased array antenna. The transmit beam pattern is modified over time to increase signal spatial search performance over typical time-delay steering by producing a coarse-to-fine angular beam pattern with a tree-based approach to signal detection. A tree-based beam search is employed to select a beam having a narrower beamwidth for transmission at an angle from boresight that lies in an angular space where a signal has been previously detected.

Fast spatial search using phased array antennas

A system and a method that enable time transfer and position determination services during operation of a combined radar/communications system. One aspect of the method is broadcasting a signal that any system receiving it can use to synchronize system clocks to the set of master clocks among a selected subset of transmitting platforms. This broadcast signal can occur during both radar and communications operations. In addition, with three or more mobile or fixed platforms broadcasting the signal, any one receiving the signal can also derive position information. The time transfer and position determination service can operate at the same time as operation of both radar and communications functions. The broadcast information is derived from internal time and position information as determined by the individual transmitting platforms. A small set of such platforms are configured to broadcast signals that transfer both accurate time and accurate position to all other platforms within radiofrequency (RF) range.

Time transfer and position determination during simultaneous radar and communications operation

A collision avoidance system comprises a pair of video cameras mounted to a vertical stabilizer of the aircraft, a machine vision processing unit, and a system to inform the pilots of a potential collision. The machine vision processing unit is configured to process image data captured by the video cameras using stereoscopic and structure from motion techniques to detect an obstacle that is near or in the path of the aircraft. Estimates of the range to the object and the rate of change of that range are computed. With the range and range rate, a time to collision can be estimated toward every point of the aircraft. A pilot warning can be sounded based on the nearness of the potential collision. A method of calibrating the video cameras using existing feature points on the top of the aircraft is initiated in response to power being turned on.

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Issaquah, WA, United States of America

Gary Alan Ray