The Boeing Company

Kyung Joon Kim

Cecil L Hayes

Robert L Caswell

A fiber-coupled receiver and associated method are provided for detecting two-dimensional and three-dimensional images in a cost-effective manner. The fiber-coupled receiver includes a plurality of optical fibers extending between respective first and second ends. At least some of the optical fibers impose different optical delays such that signals that are received in parallel by the first ends of the optical fibers are emitted at different times from the second ends of the optical fibers. For example, at least some of the optical fibers can have different lengths to thereby impose different optical delays. The fiber-coupled receiver also includes at least one detector for receiving the signals emitted at different times from the second ends of the optical fibers such that the signals that are received in parallel by the first ends of the optical fibers are received in series by the detector. By presenting the signals in series to the detector, the fiber-coupled receiver need not include a detector having separate array elements for each optical fiber. Instead, the fiber-coupled receiver of the present invention has a significantly fewer number of detectors than the number of optical fibers since each detector can receive signals in series from a number of optical fibers.

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La Mirada, CA, United States of America

Kyung Joon Kim