Liquid crystal laser phased array detection guidance system

Abstract

The invention provides a liquid crystal laser phased array detection guidance system, which comprises a liquid crystal phased array optical antenna, an optical assembly, a detection receiving assembly, a signal processor, a beam controller and a secondary power supply, the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna controls the phase of near-field light, and beam pointing control is formed in a far-field coherent superposition mode. The optical assembly is matched with the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna, and a dispersion light spot is formed on the detection receiving assembly; the detection receiving assembly performs photoelectric conversion on the laser echo signal; the signal processor processes the signal, generates a beam control code and outputs a measurement target line-of-sight angle; the two-dimensional liquid crystal optical phased array is adopted to achieve laser beam scanning and control, inertia, vibration and abrasion are avoided, the pointing precision is high, and beam agile pointing at random positions and multi-beam generation are achieved; miniaturization and high integration are realized; the liquid crystal optical phased-array antenna is made of liquid crystal materials, and large-scale low-cost production can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of radar detection, and in particular relates to a liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system. Background Art

[0002] The laser detection and guidance system is an important device for realizing target search, aiming, tracking, capture and imaging. It intercepts and stably tracks the designated target based on predetermined information by receiving the laser echo signal reflected by the target, and measures the target motion parameters in real time.

[0003] The existing mechanical scanning laser detection and guidance system relies on a mechanical rotating device to change the direction of the optical axis to achieve beam pointing control. Since mechanical rotating parts are used to achieve macroscopic displacement to achieve beam deflection, it is bound to have a large volume, weight and power consumption, and it is difficult to achieve low cost and miniaturization; at the same time, the pointing accuracy will be affected by mechanical inertia, return gap and other problems and will be reduced; in addition, it is impossible to achieve agile beam pointing and multi-beam generation at random positions.

[0004] Therefore, a technical solution is needed to solve the problems of large size, heavy weight, high power consumption, low pointing accuracy, and inability to achieve agile beam pointing and multi-beam generation at random positions due to the large size, heavy weight, and high power consumption of mechanical rotating parts. Summary of the invention

[0005] To solve the above problems, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0006] A liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system, characterized in that it comprises: a liquid crystal phased array optical antenna, an optical component, a detection and receiving component, a signal processor, a beam controller and a secondary power supply;

[0007] The liquid crystal phased array optical antenna includes: a plurality of liquid crystal phase shift units, each of which delays the phase of the incident light accordingly under the voltage applied to it by the beam controller, and the radiation fields of all liquid crystal phase shift units are coherently superimposed to achieve beamforming and pointing control;

[0008] The optical component uses a transmissive optical system to converge the laser echo signal. The optical component cooperates with the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to form a diffuse light spot on the photosensitive surface of the photodetector of the detection receiving component.

[0009] The detection receiving component includes: a four-quadrant detection circuit, a bias control circuit, a transimpedance amplifier circuit, a gain control circuit and a comparison circuit; wherein the four-quadrant detection circuit includes a photodetector for performing photoelectric conversion on the laser echo signal and outputting an analog electrical pulse signal; the detection receiving component collects the analog electrical pulse signal and transmits it to the signal processor after processing;

[0010] The signal processor includes: a high-speed AD circuit and a signal processing circuit; the signal processing circuit includes a main chip; the signal processor is used to process the analog impulse signal to generate a beam control code to the beam controller and output the measurement target sight angle;

[0011] The beam controller analyzes the data codeword information sent by the signal processor, generates beam control voltage code and sends it to the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna for beam pointing control, and instructs the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to point the receiving field of view to the target;

[0012] The secondary power supply converts the external voltage to supply power to the components of the liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system.

[0013] The detection and receiving component uses a four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector to detect the laser echo signal, and amplifies and broadens the laser echo signal for preprocessing.

[0014] The four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector adopts automatic gain control. When the intensity of the target laser echo signal changes, the detector bias voltage and the detector gain are changed to ensure the detection of the target laser echo signal.

[0015] The high-speed AD circuit of the signal processor is used to convert analog signals into digital signals which are then processed by the signal processing circuit.

[0016] The main chip of the signal processing circuit adopts FPGA chip.

[0017] The beam control code is generated by the main chip of the signal processor according to the angle reservation information and then sent to the beam controller.

[0018] The output measured target sight angle is calculated by the main chip of the signal processor using the sum-difference ratio operation method to generate the target direction and then output the measured target sight angle in real time through the RS422 serial port.

[0019] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] 1) It uses a non-mechanical two-dimensional liquid crystal optical phased array to achieve laser beam scanning and control. It has no inertia, vibration, or wear, has high pointing accuracy, and can achieve beam agility pointing and multi-beam generation at random positions, with strong beam agility capability;

[0021] 2) Liquid crystal optical phased array antennas use liquid crystal materials, with a large industrial scale and a complete ecosystem, which can achieve large-scale and low-cost production;

[0022] 3) The laser detection and guidance system using liquid crystal optical phased array has no mechanical scanning servo mechanism, which reduces the power consumption, weight and volume of the guidance system, and can achieve miniaturization and high integration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A functional block diagram provided for an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The specific implementation modes of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] A liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system, characterized in that it includes: a liquid crystal phased array optical antenna, an optical component, a detection and receiving component, a signal processor, a beam controller and a secondary power supply; the liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system has the following functional components: Figure 1 shown.

[0026] The liquid crystal phased array optical antenna includes: multiple liquid crystal phase shift units, each of which delays the phase of the incident light accordingly under the voltage applied to it by the beam controller, and the radiation fields of all liquid crystal phase shift units are coherently superimposed to achieve beam shaping and pointing control; the beam control of the liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system is achieved using a two-dimensional liquid crystal optical phased array. Its core is to divide the incident laser into several small units, use the electro-optical effect of liquid crystal to control the phase of near-field light, and form beam pointing control by coherent superposition in the far field.

[0027] The optical component uses a transmissive optical system to converge the laser echo signal. The optical component cooperates with the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to form a diffuse light spot on the photosensitive surface of the photodetector of the detection and receiving component.

[0028] The detection and receiving component includes: a four-quadrant detection circuit, a bias control circuit, a transimpedance amplifier circuit, a gain control circuit and a comparison circuit; wherein the four-quadrant detection circuit includes a photodetector for performing photoelectric conversion on the laser echo signal and outputting an analog electrical pulse signal; the detection and receiving component collects the analog electrical pulse signal and transmits it to the signal processor after processing.

[0029] The detection and receiving component uses a four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector to detect the laser echo signal, and amplifies and broadens the laser echo signal for preprocessing.

[0030] The four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector adopts automatic gain control. When the intensity of the target laser echo signal changes, the detector bias voltage and the detector gain are changed to ensure the detection of the target laser echo signal.

[0031] The signal processor includes: a high-speed AD circuit and a signal processing circuit; the signal processing circuit includes a main chip; the signal processor is used to process the analog impulse signal to generate a beam control code for the beam controller and output the measurement target sight angle.

[0032] The high-speed AD circuit of the signal processor is used to convert analog signals into digital signals which are then processed by the signal processing circuit.

[0033] The main chip of the signal processing circuit adopts FPGA chip.

[0034] The main chip of the signal processor generates a beam control code according to the angle preset information and sends it to the beam controller.

[0035] The main chip of the signal processor calculates the target direction using the sum-difference ratio operation method and outputs the measured target sight angle in real time through the RS422 serial port.

[0036] The beam controller parses the data codeword information sent by the signal processor, generates a beam control voltage code and sends it to the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna for beam pointing control, and instructs the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to point the receiving field of view to the target.

[0037] The secondary power supply converts the external voltage to supply power to the components of the liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system.

[0038] Through the present invention, the laser code and target azimuth information bound by the control assembly can be received by the signal processor, and the beam control coding signal can be solved according to the target azimuth information to control the beam controller to generate a voltage code, so that the liquid crystal optical phased array antenna detection field of view points to the target; the optical component receives the laser echo signal diffusely reflected from the target and focuses it on the detector photosensitive surface of the laser detection receiving component, the laser detector performs photoelectric conversion on the laser echo signal and outputs an analog electric pulse signal, the signal processor performs conditioning, analog-to-digital conversion and calculation on the analog electric pulse signal output by the laser detector, and completes the recognition and capture of the target according to the set laser coding information, and measures the target sight angle, and finally outputs the measured sight angle to the control assembly in real time through the RS422 serial port.

[0039] The present invention uses a non-mechanical two-dimensional liquid crystal optical phased array to achieve laser beam scanning and control. It has no inertia, vibration, or wear, has high pointing accuracy, and can achieve agile beam pointing and multi-beam generation at random positions, with strong beam agility capability. The liquid crystal optical phased array antenna uses cheap liquid crystal materials, has a large industrial scale, a complete ecosystem, and can achieve large-scale low-cost production. The laser detection and guidance system using the liquid crystal optical phased array has no mechanical scanning servo mechanism, which reduces the power consumption, weight, and volume of the guidance system, and can achieve miniaturization and high integration.

[0040] The above disclosures are only several specific embodiments of the present invention; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes that can be conceived by those skilled in the art should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system, characterized in that: include: Liquid crystal phased array optical antenna, optical components, detection and receiving components, signal processors, beam controllers and secondary power supplies; The liquid crystal phased array optical antenna includes: a plurality of liquid crystal phase shift units, each of which delays the phase of the incident light under the voltage applied to it by the beam controller, and the radiation fields of all liquid crystal phase shift units are coherently superimposed to achieve beam shaping and pointing control; The optical component uses a transmissive optical system to converge the laser echo signal. The optical component cooperates with the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to form a diffuse light spot on the photosensitive surface of the photodetector of the detection receiving component. The detection receiving component includes: a four-quadrant detection circuit, a bias control circuit, a transimpedance amplifier circuit, a gain control circuit and a comparison circuit; wherein the four-quadrant detection circuit includes a photodetector for performing photoelectric conversion on the laser echo signal and outputting an analog electrical pulse signal; the detection receiving component collects the analog electrical pulse signal and transmits it to the signal processor after processing; The signal processor includes: a high-speed AD circuit and a signal processing circuit; the signal processing circuit includes a main chip; the signal processor is used to process the analog impulse signal to generate a beam control code to the beam controller and output the measurement target sight angle; The beam controller analyzes the data codeword information sent by the signal processor, generates beam control voltage code and sends it to the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna for beam pointing control, and instructs the liquid crystal phased array optical antenna to point the receiving field of view to the target; The secondary power supply converts the external voltage to supply power to the components of the liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system.

2. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection and receiving component adopts a four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector to detect the laser echo signal, and amplifies and broadens the laser echo signal for preprocessing.

3. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The four-quadrant APD photoelectric detector adopts automatic gain control. When the intensity of the target laser echo signal changes, the bias voltage of the detector and the gain of the detector are changed to ensure the detection of the target laser echo signal.

4. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-speed AD circuit of the signal processor is used to convert analog signals into digital signals which are then processed by the signal processing circuit.

5. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main chip of the signal processing circuit adopts an FPGA chip.

6. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The generated beam control code is generated by the main chip of the signal processor according to the angle preset information and then sent to the beam controller.

7. The liquid crystal laser phased array detection and guidance system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The output measurement target sight angle is generated by calculating the target azimuth by the main chip of the signal processor using the sum-difference ratio operation method, and then outputting the measured target sight angle in real time through the RS422 serial port.

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