Patents by Inventor Fred W. Erickson

Fred W. Erickson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6043775
    Abstract: The Radar Scan Converter receives range and azimuth data that is generated by a conventional radar and presented in a polar coordinate system, and processes and displays this data, in real time, on a conventional generally rectangular display screen which has a display formed by a relatively large number of pixels organized in the X- and Y-axes of a Cartesian coordinate system. The Radar Scan Converter sequentially updates each pixel in the display by (1) selecting a pixel address in the Cartesian coordinate system, (2) determining the corresponding cell address in a direct display memory interface, (3) reading the video level in this corresponding cell, (4) then responsive to this respective video level, either initially loading or subsequently updating the associated pixel in a screen image memory, and (5) refreshing the display from the screen image memory through respective cycles over repeated radar scans.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2000
    Assignee: Litton Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Fred W. Erickson, Ray C. Pizzuti, John B. Rodwig
  • Patent number: 5867121
    Abstract: The Radar Scan Converter System (1) receives range and azimuth data generated by a conventional radar as presented in a polar coordinate system, (2) stores this data in associated cell locations in a range/azimuth polar video map, and (3) displays this polar coordinate range/azimuth data in a Cartesian coordinate system, in real time, on a conventional computer monitor having a rectangular display formed by a relatively large number of pixels organized in the Cartesian coordinate system. Each pixel in the display is sequentially update by (1) selecting a respective pixel address, (2) determining the corresponding range/azimuth cell address in the polar video map, (3) reading the video level in this corresponding range/azimuth cell, and (4) in response to this associated video level, either initially loading or subsequently updating the selected pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1999
    Assignee: Litton Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Fred W. Erickson, William F. Smith