Hybrid Optical/Digital Processor for Radar Imaging
Abstract
Essex is developing a prototype hybrid optical/digital processor for radar image formation using wideband arbitrary waveforms. The processor is called the Advanced Optical Processor (AOP) and is a hybrid acousto-optic/digital processor that generates high dynamic range, range-Doppler images from wideband radar returns. This work is being funded by the Missile Defense Agency's office of Manufacturability and Producibility (MDA/MP) and will be tested at the MIT/LL Lexington Development Facility. The processor supports high resolution processing necessary for target discrimination and kill assessment by enabling the use of true arbitrary, wideband waveforms. The selected architecture combines the advantages of both embedded optical signal processing for the front-end receiver and embedded high-speed digital signal processing for the real-time post processing. This combination provides the capacity to process signals with 1 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth in a real-time environment without the need for wideband analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). This is achieved in a compact lightweight package that combines both an optical coherent channelizer and a WILDSTARIITM FPGA VME board from Annapolis Micro Systems that performs the real-time post processing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA428391
Entities
People
- Keith Frampton
- Patrick Stover