Patents Assigned to Federal Aviation Administration/Department of Transportation
  • Publication number: 20160161596
    Abstract: A device and method to suppress clutter generated by stationary targets that also have moving components that give significant Doppler returns when scanned by radar, such as wind turbines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Applicant: Federal Aviation Administration/Department of Transportation/Government of the United States
    Inventor: Daniel Parrott
  • Patent number: 8604965
    Abstract: An apparatus and method to generate and detect virtual targets. Position information for one or more virtual targets is calculated onboard a vehicle from real position information obtained from GPS satellites or other external or internal sources. This virtual position information is coded, mixed with a carrier frequency, amplified, and radiated to a nearby test vehicle, such as an aircraft. The amplitude of the radiated signal is adjusted such that the signal containing the virtual position information is received by the test aircraft only. The radiated signal thus adjusted is below the detection threshold of any aircraft further away. The test aircraft decodes the signal and interprets the decoded virtual position information as real aircraft in its vicinity. The coded signals may be structured to comply with the requirements of the FAA's ADS-B system. The apparatus may be mounted on the test aircraft itself, or on a nearby aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Federal Aviation Administration/Department of Transportation
    Inventors: Richard Earl Jennings, Thomas Lee Pagano