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, 2008
Filed:
May. 24, 2006
Robert C. Marion, Pelham, NH (US);
Robert C. Marion, Pelham, NH (US);
BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, NH (US);
Abstract
An optical attenuator is included within an aircraft decoy driver system for driving a fiber optic towed decoy system to compensate for variability in the fiber optic connection to the towed decoy system. The attenuator is controlled by a control signal from the towed decoy system and adjusts the link gain based on this feedback control signal to compensate for link loss, which is highly variable and may include losses as a function of cable, connectors and splices, and to maintain a relatively constant gain. To ensure the broadest range of performance, a higher power laser can be used to drive an external Mach Zhender Modulator or an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) prior to the optical attenuator. The result is a fiber optic towed decoy system that is adaptable to various platforms and design configurations without degradation in performance of the towed decoy system.