title: Experimental systems implementation of a hybrid optical-digital correlator.
abstract: A high-speed hybrid optical-digital correlator system was designed, constructed, modeled, and demonstrated experimentally. This correlator is capable of operation at approximately 3000 correlations/s. The input scene is digitized at a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels and the phase information of the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform calculated and displayed in the correlator filter plane at normal video frame rates. High-fidelity reference template images are stored in a phase-conjugating optical memory placed at the nominal input plane of the correlator and reconstructed with a high-speed acousto-optic scanner; this allows for cross correlation of the entire reference data set with the input scene within one frame period. A high-speed CCD camera is used to capture the correlation-plane image, and rapid correlation-plane processing is achieved with a parallel processing architecture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laser and Optical Systems Engineering Centre, University of Glasgow, UK. j.sharp@mech.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: MacKay
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Budgett
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Chatwin
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tonda
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Huignard
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Slack
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Collings
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pourzand
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grattarola
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braccini