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:
May. 27, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 03, 2001
Michael M. Jones, Arab, AL (US);
Robert R. Mitchell, Huntsville, AL (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
The Side-Scatter Beamrider Missile Guidance System projects into the guidance field a pulsed beam that is spatially encoded with azimuth and elevation scans of pre-determined angles. This pulsed beam is indirectly relayed to side-looking missile-borne receivers by way of scattered radiation effected by atmospheric particles. Multiple optical receivers mounted on the exterior of the missile, each receiver having a different field-of-view from its adjacent receivers, receive light from the transmitting laser that is thusly scattered by atmospheric particles. In response to the received scattered radiation, the missile's signal processor calculates the missile's position within the guidance field by determining which of the receivers detects the scattered energy and when the detection shifts from that receiver to an adjacent receiver. Subsequently, steering commands are generated to guide the missile to or near the center of the guidance field, which center is normally coaxial with the target line-of-sight.