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:
Apr. 16, 2013
Filed:
Apr. 30, 2010
Eric C. Fest, Tucson, AZ (US);
James P. Mills, Austin, TX (US);
Nicholas D. Trail, Tucson, AZ (US);
Jim R. Hicks, Tucson, AZ (US);
Eric C. Fest, Tucson, AZ (US);
James P. Mills, Austin, TX (US);
Nicholas D. Trail, Tucson, AZ (US);
Jim R. Hicks, Tucson, AZ (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
An optical transceiver is provided with a light pipe that intercepts, offsets and redirects a portion of the collimated transmit beam to create a virtual object in the receiver field-of-view to perform the BIT. The light pipe comprises an input face and first reflective surface in the transmitter FOV to intercept a portion of the beam along a first axis and re-direct the beam, a second reflective surface and output face in the receiver FOV that re-directs the portion of the beam along a second axis towards the receiver to create the virtual object in the receiver FOV and an optical channel that guides the redirected portion of the beam from the first reflective surface to the second reflective surface to offset the second axis from the first axis. The same detector used during normal operation of the transceiver is used to perform the BIT, which may include a simple 'on/off' test or a radiometry test. The light pipe may be designed with an acceptance FOV that preserves collimation, which facilitates a measurement of alignment error between the transmit beam and receiver.