The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 07, 1988
Filed:
Jun. 04, 1986
John W Taylor, Jr, Baltimore, MD (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
Method for determining and using clutter estimates in a radar clutter map. The method does not require synchronization of the transmitted radar pulses with the azimuth coordinates of the map cells. Data inputs close to each map azimuth location are used to estimate the echo amplitude in the map cell which would result if the antenna beam was pointing directly at the clutter when one data sample occurred. A burst of pulses are transmitted and return echoes are processed to produce clutter signals at least twice within the time it takes for the antenna to scan one beamwidth. Clutter echoes received adjacent in azimuth to the map cell for which the value is being calculated are converted by a formula into a value for adjusting the present map cell value. The formula takes into consideration the magnitude of the values, the difference between the values, the antenna beam width, and the azimuth spacing of the samples. The map values are outputted for threshold level control by other techniques including the selection of the larger of the two stored cell values straddling the azimuth of the threshold controlled signal.