Thermotrex Corporation

Trex Enterprises Corporation

George Houghton

Mark Squire

Murray Dunn

John Arthur Lovberg

Brett A Spivey

Randall B Olsen

Jean-Marie Tran

Paul A Johnson

Peter J Martin

Vladimir Kolinko

Kenneth Y Tang

Richard Chedester

Lee Morsell

Thomas Lambert

Richard Trissel

Steve Horton

Daniel Leslie

Howard Hyman

An apparatus and method for aligning the antennas of two transceivers of a point-to-point wireless millimeter wave communications link. A narrow band oscillator power source is substituted for the signal transmitting electronics associated with a first antenna and a power detector is substituted for the signal receiving electronics associated with a second antenna. In preferred embodiments after a first alignment procedure is performed, the procedure is repeated with an oscillator power source connected to the second antenna and a power detector connected to the first antenna. In other preferred embodiments the antennas are pre-aligned using a signaling mirror or a narrow beam search light or laser. After the antennas are aligned the transceiver electronics are reconnected. In preferred embodiments the communication link operates within the 92 to 95 GHz portion of the millimeter spectrum and provides data transmission rates in excess of 155 Mbps.

Method and apparatus for aligning the antennas of a millimeter wave communication link using a narrow band oscillator and a power detector

A projectile tracking system for acquiring and precisely tracking a projectile in flight in order to reveal the source from which the projectile was fired. The source is revealed by the back projection of a 3-dimensional track file. The system is particularly suited for tracking a bullet fired by a sniper and identifying the location of the sniper. Projectiles of interest typically become hot due to aerodynamic heating. A telescope focuses infrared light from a relatively large field of view on to an infrared focal plane array. In a detection mode, the system searches for the infrared signature of the projectile. The telescope's field of view is steered in the azimuth by a step and stare mirror which is driven by an azimuth drive motor mounted on the frame. When a projectile is detected, the system switches to a tracking mode and the mirror is steered by the azimuth drive motor and a pivot motor to track the projectile. A laser radar system provides a laser beam which is optically coaligned with the telescope axis. Mirror angular position information, laser radar pulse travel time, and the missile spot position on detector array are used by a computer to calculate projectile trajectory information and to determine the origin of the projectile using known ballistic trajectory methods. Although only a small portion of the total trajectory may be captured, the very accurate position information permits extrapolation to determine the launch point of the projectile.

Projectile tracking system

The present invention provides a projectile tracking system for acquiring and precisely tracking a projectile in flight in order to reveal the source from which the projectile was fired. The source is revealed by the back projection of a 3-dimensional track file. The system is particularly suited for tracking a bullet fired by a sniper and identifying the location of the sniper. Projectiles of interest are typically traveling at a substantial fraction of the speed of sound or even faster than the speed of sound and therefore become hot due to aerodynamic heating. A telescope focuses infrared light from a relatively large field of view on to an infrared focal plane array. In a projectile detection mode, the system searches for the infrared signature of the fast moving projectile. The telescope's field of view is steered in the azimuth by a step and stare mirror which is driven by an azimuth drive motor mounted on the frame. When a projectile is detected the system switches to a tracking mode and the mirror is steered by the azimuth drive motor and a pivot motor to track the projectile. A short pulse high repetition rate laser in a laser radar system provides a pulsed laser beam which is optically coaligned with the telescope axis. Mirror angular position information, laser radar pulse travel time and the missile spot position on detector array are used by a computer to calculate bullet trajectory information and to determine the source or origin of the projectile using known ballistic trajectory methods. Although only a small portion of the total trajectory may be captured, the very accurate position information permits extrapolation to determine the launch point of the projectile.

The invention provides a digital x-ray mammography device capable of imaging a full breast. A movable aperture coupled with a movable x-ray image detector permits x-ray image data to be obtained with respect to partially overlapping x-ray beam paths from an x-ray source passing through a human breast. A digital computer programmed with a stitching algorithm produces a composite image of the breast from the image data obtained with respect to each path. In a preferred embodiment, a Schmidt camera images visible light produced at an x-ray to visible light conversion surface onto a digital detector array to produce an overlapping image pane with respect to each overlapping beam path.

Full breast digital mammography device

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

George Houghton