US4107673A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Radar system with improved brightness and resolution
Assignee: Raytheon Co
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Filing: 1976-12-29
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Granted: 1978-08-15
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Expires: 1996-12-29
Abstract
Abstract A radar system with improved display brightness in high ambient lighting conditions and with simplified deflection and video amplifiers. The incoming radar return signals are digitized and stored in shift registers with the timing to write the data into the shift registers dependent upon the radar range setting. After the digitized radar return signals have been read into the shift registers, they are read out to the display in a constant time period independent of the range setting. The radar system may be used at closer ranges than was previously possible.
Inventors
- 👤 Fritz A. Gross
- 👤 William M. Pease
- 👤 John E. Meade
- 👤 Harry Vickers
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 14:53
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/02; G01S7/04; G01S7/06; G01S7/068
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
96 words
In combination: means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing said representations into said storing means in a first time period; means for reading out said representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for the shorter ranges of a radar range setting and said second time period being constant for at least some ranges of said radar range setting; and means for displaying said signal, said displaying means being coupled to said reading out means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
96 words
In combination: means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing said representations into said storing means in a first time period; means for reading out said representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for the shorter ranges of a radar range setting and said second time period being constant for at least some ranges of said radar range setting; and means for displaying said signal, said displaying means being coupled to said reading out means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said storing means comprises one or more shift registers for storing said digital representations.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said storing means comprises: a random access memory; and means for addressing said memory, said addressing means being coupled to address inputs of said memory.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first time period is proportional to said radar range setting.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The combination in accordance with claim 4 wherein the brightness of said displaying means is constant among a plurality of predetermined range settings at the shorter ranges.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
162 words
A radar bright display system for displaying radar data on short radar ranges at substantially the same brightness as displayed on longer ranges comprising in combination: means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing said representations into said storing means in a first time period, said first time period being proportional to a radar range setting; means for reading out said representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said radar range setting and said second time period being constant among at least some of said shorter ranges of said radar range setting; means for displaying said signal in response to outputs of said storing means, the writing rate upon said displaying means being constant for a plurality of said range settings of both longer and shorter ranges; and means for transmitting a radar pulse.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
162 words
A radar bright display system for displaying radar data on short radar ranges at substantially the same brightness as displayed on longer ranges comprising in combination: means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing said representations into said storing means in a first time period, said first time period being proportional to a radar range setting; means for reading out said representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said radar range setting and said second time period being constant among at least some of said shorter ranges of said radar range setting; means for displaying said signal in response to outputs of said storing means, the writing rate upon said displaying means being constant for a plurality of said range settings of both longer and shorter ranges; and means for transmitting a radar pulse.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The combination in accordance with claim 6 further comprising means for receiving radar signals.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
The combination in accordance with claim 7 further comprising means for digitizing said radar signals, digitizing means having an input coupled to said receiving means and an output coupled to said storing means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
The combination in accordance with claim 8 further comprising means for converting said stored signals to an analog signal, said converting means being coupled to said displaying means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
The combination in accordance with claim 9 wherein said writing means comprises means for clocking said representations into said storing means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
175 words
A radar system comprising in combination: means for transmitting a radar pulse; means for receiving radar signals; means for converting received radar signals corresponding to a plurality of radar ranges to digital representations thereof; said converting means being coupled to said receiving means; means for storing digitized radar signals; means for clocking said digitized signals into said storing means in a first time period, said first time period being proportional to a radar range setting; means for clocking said representations out of said storing means in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said radar range setting, and said second time period being constant among at least some of said shorter ranges of said radar range setting; and means for displaying said signals in response to outputs of said storing means, the writing rate upon said displaying means and the brightness of said display being determined by said clocking out rate and constant for a plurality of said predetermined ranges.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
175 words
A radar system comprising in combination: means for transmitting a radar pulse; means for receiving radar signals; means for converting received radar signals corresponding to a plurality of radar ranges to digital representations thereof; said converting means being coupled to said receiving means; means for storing digitized radar signals; means for clocking said digitized signals into said storing means in a first time period, said first time period being proportional to a radar range setting; means for clocking said representations out of said storing means in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said radar range setting, and said second time period being constant among at least some of said shorter ranges of said radar range setting; and means for displaying said signals in response to outputs of said storing means, the writing rate upon said displaying means and the brightness of said display being determined by said clocking out rate and constant for a plurality of said predetermined ranges.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
108 words
The combination in accordance with claim 11 wherein said writing means comprises: a radar range switch for selecting among a plurality of ranges; first means for producing digital timing clock pulses; means for producing a continuously cycling binary count, said count producing means operating in response to said source of digital timing clock pulses and said count producing means having a plurality of outputs; and means for selecting one of said outputs of said count producing means or said source of digital timing clock pulses, said selecting means being coupled to said radar range switch and operating in response to the range setting of said radar range switch.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
39 words
The combination in accordance with claim 12 wherein said reading means comprises second means for producing digital timing clock pulses, the frequency of said digital timing clock pulse producing means being constant among at least some of said ranges.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
76 words
The combination in accordance with claim 13 wherein said storing means comprises: a plurality of input storage registers, each of said registers storing one digital sample of said radar return signal and each of said registers having a plurality of bit positions; and a plurality of banks of shift registers, one of said banks being coupled to each one of said input storage registers and one shift register within each of said banks of shift registers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The combination in accordance with claim 12 further comprising means for producing digital representations of a radar return signal.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
34 words
The combination in accordance with claim 15 wherein said digital representation producing means comprises: means for sampling said radar return signal at a predetermined rate; and means for converting said samples to digital representations.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
29 words
The combination in accordance with claim 16 wherein said displaying means comprises a cathode-ray tube display, said cathode-ray tube display producing visual indications in response to said digital representations.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The combination in accordance with claim 16 further comprising a plurality of means for varying the brightness of said visual indications.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
20 words
The combination in accordance with claim 17 wherein one of said brightness varying means is provided for each digital level.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
17 words
The combination in accordance with claim 11 further comprising means for continuously varying said radar range setting.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
162 words
The method of radar processing multiple range digital signals for display comprising the steps of: transmitting radar signals; receiving radar return signals; converting received radar return signals to digital representations thereof; storing at least a portion of said digital representations of radar signals at a first rate having a first time period corresponding to preselected ranges; reading out said stored digital representations of radar return signals at a second rate having a second time period greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said preselected ranges, and providing said second time period is constant among at least some of the shorter ranges of said preselected ranges; and producing a visual display in response to read-out digital representations of said radar return signals, the display time for some of said read-out signals at shorter ranges being longer than the time period during which said signals were stored to provide a substantially constant brightness of display for said ranges.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
162 words
The method of radar processing multiple range digital signals for display comprising the steps of: transmitting radar signals; receiving radar return signals; converting received radar return signals to digital representations thereof; storing at least a portion of said digital representations of radar signals at a first rate having a first time period corresponding to preselected ranges; reading out said stored digital representations of radar return signals at a second rate having a second time period greater than said first time period for at least some shorter ranges of said preselected ranges, and providing said second time period is constant among at least some of the shorter ranges of said preselected ranges; and producing a visual display in response to read-out digital representations of said radar return signals, the display time for some of said read-out signals at shorter ranges being longer than the time period during which said signals were stored to provide a substantially constant brightness of display for said ranges.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method in accordance with claim 21 further comprising the step of converting said read-out radar return signals to an analog representation thereof.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method in accordance with claim 22 wherein said digital representations of radar return signals are stored in one or more shift registers.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method in accordance with claim 22 wherein said digital representations of radar return signals are stored in a random access memory.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
104 words
A multiple range radar digital cathode-ray display having means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing digital representations into a storing means in a first time period; means for reading stored digital representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for the shorter ranges of a radar range setting, said second time period being constant for at least some of said ranges of said radar range setting to provide increased display time periods on short ranges having substantially constant brightness over the multiple ranges.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
104 words
A multiple range radar digital cathode-ray display having means for storing digital representations corresponding to a plurality of ranges of a radar return signal; means for writing digital representations into a storing means in a first time period; means for reading stored digital representations in a second time period, said second time period being greater than said first time period for the shorter ranges of a radar range setting, said second time period being constant for at least some of said ranges of said radar range setting to provide increased display time periods on short ranges having substantially constant brightness over the multiple ranges.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1981-08-14 | 1982-02-13 | 1982-08-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1985-08-14 | 1986-02-13 | 1986-08-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1989-08-14 | 1990-02-13 | 1990-08-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |