Patents by Inventor Kimio Asaka

Kimio Asaka 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: 9007600
    Abstract: A laser radar system includes: a scanner for transmitting a pulse toward a target while two-dimensionally scanning a transmitting beam, and outputting scan angle information; a lens of the receiver for receiving received light; a high aspect photo detector array for converting the received light into a received signal; a transimpedance amplifier array for amplifying the received signal; an adder circuit for adding the received signal from each element of the transimpedance amplifier array; a distance detecting circuit for measuring a light round-trip time to the target of an output signal from the adder circuit; and a signal processing unit for causing the scanner to perform a two-dimensional scanning operation in association with the scan angle information, to determine distances to multiple points on the target based on the light round-trip time and a speed of light and measure a three-dimensional shape of the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masaharu Imaki, Shumpei Kameyama, Akihito Hirai, Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano
  • Publication number: 20130027715
    Abstract: A laser radar system includes: a scanner for transmitting a pulse toward a target while two-dimensionally scanning a transmitting beam, and outputting scan angle information; a lens of the receiver for receiving received light; a high aspect photo detector array for converting the received light into a received signal; a transimpedance amplifier array for amplifying the received signal; an adder circuit for adding the received signal from each element of the transimpedance amplifier array; a distance detecting circuit for measuring a light round-trip time to the target of an output signal from the adder circuit; and a signal processing unit for causing the scanner to perform a two-dimensional scanning operation in association with the scan angle information, to determine distances to multiple points on the target based on the light round-trip time and a speed of light and measure a three-dimensional shape of the target.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2011
    Publication date: January 31, 2013
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaharu Imaki, Shumpei Kameyama, Akihito Hirai, Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano
  • Patent number: 7561067
    Abstract: A measurement system for an aircraft having the three-axis components of the airspeed of the aircraft, the three-axis components of the wind speed currently encountered by the aircraft, and the wind speed distribution ahead of the aircraft simultaneously in real time. It comprises a Doppler anemometer measuring the airflow speeds at a plurality of points separated by a prescribed distance in the beam irradiation direction that changes in a time series, and an inertial data measurement device measuring the movement information and positional information of the aircraft. Moreover, the display system of the aircraft includes the horizontal two-axis airspeed of the aircraft, the three-axis components of the wind speed currently encountered by the aircraft, and information on the wind speed distribution ahead of the aircraft are displayed simultaneously in real time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2009
    Assignees: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naoki Matayoshi, Kimio Asaka, Yoshinori Okuno, Masahiro Hagio, Yoshihito Hirano, Shumpei Kameyama, Toshiyuki Ando, Hidetaka Kiyosue, Masashi Furuta, Tomoya Matsuda
  • Publication number: 20070236367
    Abstract: In the measurement system for an aircraft according to the present invention, the three-axis components of the airspeed of the aircraft, the three-axis components of the wind speed currently encountered by the aircraft, and the wind speed distribution ahead of the aircraft, are measured simultaneously, by providing a Doppler anemometer which measures the airflow speeds at a plurality of points separated by a prescribed distance in the beam irradiation direction, and an inertial data measurement device which measures the movement information and positional information of the aircraft. Furthermore, in the measurement system for an aircraft according to the present invention, the measurement accuracy of the device is improved by providing means for obtaining information the movement and positional information of the aircraft during measurement, from the inertial data measurement device, and for correcting the measurement values from the Doppler anemometer by means of the information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Publication date: October 11, 2007
    Applicants: JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY, MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoki Matayoshi, Kimio Asaka, Yoshinori Okuno, Masahiro Hagio, Yoshihito Hirano, Shumpei Kameyama, Toshiyuki Ando, Hidetaka Kiyosue, Masashi Furuta, Tomoya Matsuda
  • Patent number: 7209222
    Abstract: A laser radar apparatus includes a mixer 12 for converting the frequency of an electric signal outputted from a photodetector 11 into a baseband frequency by using a modulating signal generated by an oscillator 2. The laser radar apparatus carries out a coherent integral of the electric signal whose frequency has been converted by the mixer 12, and measures the quality of scatterers which exist in the atmosphere from a result of the integral. As a result, even when the S/N ratio of the light signal received by a receiving optical unit 8 is low, the laser radar apparatus can detect the quality of the scatterers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shumpei Kameyama, Yoshihito Hirano, Kimio Asaka, Toshiyuki Ando, Atsushi Okamura, Toshio Wakayama, Hiroshi Sakamaki
  • Patent number: 6765654
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to obtain a coherent laser radar device that provides one system of a photo detector and eliminates a blind zone, including a pulsed laser that oscillates at a frequency which is identical with or close to an output light of a local light source as a single frequency; a transmission/reception optical system that irradiates a pulsed laser beam from the pulsed laser toward a target as a transmission light and receives a scattered light from the target as a reception light; a light coupling means that couples the output light from the local light source and the reception light; a photo detecting portion that conducts light coherent detection on a coupled light; and a signal processing device that calculates a speed and a distance of a target in accordance with an output of the detection, in which the photo detecting portion comprises: a photo detecting element that conducts the light coherent detection; a microwave switch that changes over a propagation path of an output from the ph
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2004
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Takayuki Yanagisawa
  • Publication number: 20030133093
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to obtain a coherent laser radar device that provides one system of a photo detector and eliminates a blind zone, including a pulsed laser that oscillates at a frequency which is identical with or close to an output light of a local light source as a single frequency; a transmission/reception optical system that irradiates a pulsed laser beam from the pulsed laser toward a target as a transmission light and receives a scattered light from the target as a reception light; a light coupling means that couples the output light from the local light source and the reception light; a photo detecting portion that conducts light coherent detection on a coupled light; and a signal processing device that calculates a speed and a distance of a target in accordance with an output of the detection, in which the photo detecting portion comprises: a photo detecting element that conducts the light coherent detection; a microwave switch that changes over a propagation path of an output from the ph
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Inventors: Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Takayuki Yanagisawa
  • Patent number: 6580497
    Abstract: In a coherent CW laser radar apparatus, a soft target such as rain, fog, and air turbulence can be detected by using a CW laser. The coherent CW laser radar apparatus is arbandd by comprising: as an optical component, a CW laser oscillating a laser radiation having a single wavelength; a dividing means for dividing laser radiation derived from the CW laser; an optical modulator for modulating one of the laser radiation divided by the dividing means; an optical antenna for projecting the modulated laser radiation as transmitted radiation toward a target, and also for receiving scattered radiation from the target as received radiation; combining means for combining the other of the laser radiation divided by the dividing means as local radiation with the received radiation received from the optical antenna; and a photodetector for optical-heterodyne-detecting the combined radiation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Shusou Wadaka
  • Patent number: 6469778
    Abstract: A coherent laser radar system includes a pulsed laser oscillating a pulsed laser beam which is split into two parts by an optical divider. A first part of the two is transmitted as a transmitted beam via a beam splitter. A second part is supplied to a delay line via a coupling optics and others to be delayed by a predetermined time as a local beam, and is incident onto an optical coupler. The received beam from the target is incident onto the optical coupler via a scanning optics and so on. A photodetector carries out the coherent detection of the light beam coupled by the optical coupler. A signal processor computes a target velocity and the like from a signal generated by the detection and converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter. This makes it possible to solve a problem of a conventional system in that the system configuration is complicated and expensive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2002
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Takayuki Yanagisawa, Shusou Wadaka, Yasuisa Ooga, Etsuo Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 6335701
    Abstract: Disclosed is a radar system capable of obviating a problem that a sufficient improvement of an S/N ratio could not be obtained in the prior art, and comprising a transmitter/receiver for detecting a phase of a receiving signal reflected from an observation target, an A/D converter for converting the receiving signal into a digital signal, a range gate for extracting the receiving signal having a time corresponding to the predetermined pulse width, a data dividing unit for dividing the receiving signals in to two groups of data, an FFT unit for fast-Fourier-transforming one group of data of the two groups of data, an FFT unit for fast-Fourier-transforming the other group of data, a complex conjugating unit for taking a complex conjugate of an output of the FFT unit, a complex multiplying unit for performing a complex multiplication for the every same Doppler frequency component with respect to an output of the former FFT unit and an output of the complex conjugating unit, and a complex adder for executing a co
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2002
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahiko Fujisaka, Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Shusou Wadaka
  • Publication number: 20010009458
    Abstract: A coherent laser radar system includes a pulsed laser oscillating a pulsed laser beam which is split into two parts by an optical divider. A first part of the two is transmitted as a transmitted beam via a beam splitter. A second part is supplied to a delay line via a coupling optics and others to be delayed by a predetermined time as a local beam, and is incident onto an optical coupler. The received beam from the target is incident onto the optical coupler via a scanning optics and so on. A photodetector carries out the coherent detection of the light beam coupled by the optical coupler. A signal processor computes a target velocity and the like from a signal generated by the detection and converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter. This makes it possible to solve a problem of a conventional system in that the system configuration is complicated and expensive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2001
    Publication date: July 26, 2001
    Inventors: Kimio Asaka, Yoshihito Hirano, Takayuki Yanagisawa, Shusou Wadaka, Yasuisa Ooga, Etsuo Sugimoto, Kyoko Sugimoto