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:
Nov. 09, 2004
Filed:
May. 30, 2003
Frank Chethik, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
A hybrid optical and millimeter wave beam acquisition and tracking system and method. A host platform includes an INS and a GPS for generating geolocation data, optical and RF receivers, and a common optical/RF aperture. An interface is coupled to the host platform by way of a mechanical gimbal and includes a beamsplitter, an optical gimbal and optical aperture, and an RF aperture. A CPU on the interface includes an optical track error processor for acquiring the optical beam by systematically searching for a focused light spot in a focal plane of the optical receiver, an RF track error processor for outputting gimbal angles of the mechanical gimbal that are derived from the aperture of the RF receiver that are referenced to the inertial navigation system, and a search and track processor that generates an optical gimbal control signal for the optical gimbal and a mechanical gimbal control signal for the mechanical gimbal for tracking the optical and RF beams.