Experimental systems implementation of a hybrid optical-digital correlator.
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.
Sharp
J H
JH
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laser and Optical Systems Engineering Centre, University of Glasgow, UK. j.sharp@mech.gla.ac.uk
MacKay
N E
NE
Tang
P C
PC
Watson
I A
IA
Scott
B F
BF
Budgett
D M
DM
Chatwin
C R
CR
Young
R C
RC
Tonda
S
S
Huignard
J P
JP
Slack
T G
TG
Collings
N
N
Pourzand
A R
AR
Duelli
M
M
Grattarola
A
A
Braccini
C
C