Patents by Inventor Patrick Garrec

Patrick Garrec 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).

  • Publication number: 20180284222
    Abstract: Disclosed is a calibration device of an imaging system for a moving carrier, the imaging system including: a support panel; an antenna array comprising radiating elements positioned on the support panel; and optical sensors capable of providing images and positioned on the support panel. The calibration device includes at least one optical pattern generator, each generator being secured to the support panel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Stéphane FORMONT, Richard MONTIGNY
  • Patent number: 10090871
    Abstract: A method managing the energy consumption of at least one electronic component in a radar reception chain, comprises a preliminary step of formulating a table containing values representative of the power level of received signals, each value being contained in a bin addressed by a triplet formed of a quantity corresponding to a measurement of the power level of a signal received from a target, of a quantity corresponding to the distance of the target and of a quantity corresponding to the azimuth of the target, the method performing for each received signal, arising from a radar recurrence of order n, the following steps: a step of reading a measurement of the power level of the received signal; a step of addressing the table as a function of the measurement, distance and azimuth of the target, a first power level value then being addressed; a step of extrapolating the power level of the next received signal arising from the following radar recurrence of order n+1, dependent on the first value and on a given
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Jean-Philippe Plaze, Benoit Mallet Guy
  • Publication number: 20180210078
    Abstract: A method comprises at least the following steps: a step of acquiring data by radar to obtain an SAR image covering a given geographical domain; a step of acquiring at least one secondary image covering the domain, produced by a source external to the radar, the image supplying information on the colors of the constituent elements of the SAR image; a step of superimposing the SAR image and the secondary image; a step of assigning colors to the elements on the basis of their position in the superimposed secondary image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2016
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Applicant: THALES
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Vincent CORRETJA, Julien PETITJEAN, Richard MONTIGNY
  • Publication number: 20180128899
    Abstract: A receiving device comprises an analogue reception filter designed for a given frequency band included in the entire operating band of radar, the device further comprising a digital filter able to separate the received signals depending on their frequency, one portion of the frequency band of the given frequency band allocated to the radar reception function and another portion allocated to an RESM reception function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2017
    Publication date: May 10, 2018
    Inventors: Pascal CORNIC, Patrick GARREC, Richard MONTIGNY
  • Publication number: 20180088210
    Abstract: A wave transmitted by an antenna made up of an array of radiating elements, two pulse waves are transmitted, each modulated by a phase shift law known as modulation phase shift, the phase shifts being in opposition, a first wave being transmitted by a sub-array of radiating elements referred to as odd and the second wave being transmitted by a second sub-array of radiating elements referred to as even, the two sub-arrays being interleaved, the transmitted wave being the combination of the first wave and the second wave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Publication date: March 29, 2018
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Jean-Michel HODE, Richard MONTIGNY
  • Patent number: 9784830
    Abstract: A transponder, able to equip a cooperative target facing a Doppler radar, includes at least one receiving antenna able to receive a signal transmitted by said radar and a transmitting antenna able to retransmit a signal. The signal received by the receiving antenna is amplitude-modulated before being retransmitted by the transmitting antenna to produce a variation of the radar cross-section of the target, the variation triggering a frequency shift between the signal transmitted and the signal received by the radar comparable to a Doppler echo. The transponder applies notably to the field of radars, more particularly for collaborative systems also operating at low velocity or nil velocity. It applies for example to assisted take-off, landing and deck-landing of drones, in particular rotary-wing drones, as well as manned helicopters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Pascal Cornic, Régis Levaufre
  • Patent number: 9667197
    Abstract: An input signal amplification system comprises at least two different means of amplifying input signals in order to obtain amplified signals. It also comprises at least one means of summing amplified signals, and dynamic means of activating or deactivating one or more of the amplifying means based on input signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignees: THALES, INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE BORDEAUX, UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Eric Kerherve, Pascal Cornic, Stéphane Kemkemian, Nejdat Demirel, Yves Mancuso
  • Patent number: 9484898
    Abstract: The system has: a set of at least two electric current generators, at least one capacitor and activation/deactivation devices for the electric current generators; the electric current generator being connected in parallel with one another and the capacitor being connected in series with the electric current generators, the activation/deactivation devices controlling the generators by a digital stream allowing control of the intensity of the electric current entering the capacitor and generating a trapezoidal voltage signal at the terminals of the capacitor, the analog signal being reconstructed through interpolation of the trapezoidal signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignees: THALES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCE SCIENTIFIQUE, INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE BORDEAUX, UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Richard Montigny, Nicolas Regimbal, Yann Deval, François Rivet
  • Patent number: 9476971
    Abstract: A radar includes an antennal structure, with means for transmitting an impulse signal in a band centered on F1 according to a repetition period centered on a recurrence period Tr1 and pulse width T1, with means for receiving signals by the antenna in frequency band ?F, with a unit for processing the signals received on a set of N distance bins. The signals received are transmitted by another radar in a frequency band centered on F2 where F2?F1??F, according to a repetition period centered on a period Tr2 and pulse width T2. The signals transmitted by the two radars are asynchronous. The method comprises: slaving frequency F1 to frequency F2, by measuring the power received integrated over the N distance bins and over several recurrences, determination of period Tr2 and T2 and slaving the period centered on Tr1 to a period centered on Tr2 with Tr1=k*Tr2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Pascal Cornic, Daniel Jahan, Patrick Garrec
  • Publication number: 20160233900
    Abstract: A method managing the energy consumption of at least one electronic component in a radar reception chain, comprises a preliminary step of formulating a table containing values representative of the power level of received signals, each value being contained in a bin addressed by a triplet formed of a quantity corresponding to a measurement of the power level of a signal received from a target, of a quantity corresponding to the distance of the target and of a quantity corresponding to the azimuth of the target, the method performing for each received signal, arising from a radar recurrence of order n, the following steps: a step of reading a measurement of the power level of the received signal; a step of addressing the table as a function of the measurement, distance and azimuth of the target, a first power level value then being addressed; a step of extrapolating the power level of the next received signal arising from the following radar recurrence of order n+1, dependent on the first value and on a given
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2014
    Publication date: August 11, 2016
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Jean-Philippe PLAZE, Benoît MALLET GUY
  • Patent number: 9348011
    Abstract: A location and guidance system including a flying craft and a reception device. The flying craft includes a plurality of antennas distributed around its fuselage and emitting rearwards with rectilinear polarization, the emitted signals being specific to each antenna, the positions and the dimensions of the antennas being configured such that the body of the flying craft avoids by masking for at least one antenna the reflections of the signal emitted by this antenna off the ground or off lateral obstacles whatever the position of the flying craft. The reception device is placed substantially on a trajectory axis of the flying craft and configured to be oriented to sight the rear thereof and includes at least two single-pulse antennas operating in orthogonal planes determines a position of the flying craft by analyzing the emitted signals received by the antennas of the reception device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Pascal Cornic, Patrick Garrec, Jean-Paul Artis
  • Publication number: 20160087614
    Abstract: The system has: a set of at least two electric current generators, at least one capacitor and activation/deactivation devices for the electric current generators; the electric current generator being connected in parallel with one another and the capacitor being connected in series with the electric current generators, the activation/deactivation devices controlling the generators by a digital stream allowing control of the intensity of the electric current entering the capacitor and generating a trapezoidal voltage signal at the terminals of the capacitor, the analog signal being reconstructed through interpolation of the trapezoidal signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2014
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Richard MONTIGNY, Nicolas REGIMBAL, Yann DEVAL, François RIVET
  • Publication number: 20150372649
    Abstract: An input signal amplification system comprises at least two different means of amplifying input signals in order to obtain amplified signals. It also comprises at least one means of summing amplified signals, and dynamic means of activating or deactivating one or more of the amplifying means based on input signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2014
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Eric KERHERVE, Pascal CORNIC, Stéphane KEMKEMIAN, Nejdat DEMIREL, Yves MANCUSO
  • Patent number: 8902106
    Abstract: A system for measuring the radial speed of a moving body in a line of sight determined for a referential position is disclosed. The system includes an emitter assembly for emitting a signal and a referential receiver assembly dedicated to reception of the signal. The emitter assembly is disposed on a first of the elements of a group formed by the moving body and the referential position. The receiver assembly is disposed on a second of the elements of the group. The emitter assembly is able to emit a signal on at least two emission frequencies, where the emission frequencies are separated by a chosen emission frequency gap. The system also includes an analyzer configured to analyze the signal received by the receiver assembly, and to measure the reception frequency gap separating the signal reception frequencies to calculate the radial speed of the moving body according to a function of the reception frequency gap and emission frequency gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Pascal Cornic, Stéphane Kemkemian
  • Patent number: 8886373
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and a method for assisting in the decking of an aircraft on a platform, more particularly on a mobile platform comprising a decking surface, said aircraft comprising a signal transmitter, the system comprising means for determining flight commands to be executed by the aircraft, said means being at least fed by locating means of the aircraft and by means of predicting movements of the platform, the locating means comprising at least two passive sensors, spaced apart, fixed in proximity to the decking surface and able to receive the signals transmitted by the aircraft. The invention applies notably to the decking of rotary wing craft and autonomous aircraft on ships.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Pascal Cornic, Eric Barraux
  • Patent number: 8885782
    Abstract: A device is provided for use of an antennal base formed of two antennas which pick up the emissions present and produce two radioelectric signals S1 and S2. These two signals are used to produce at least one intermediate-frequency signal Fl by demodulation of one of the two signals by the other (autotransposition). The demodulation is carried out by firstly transposing one of the signals, S1 for example, around a given frequency F1, the signal S2 being preserved around its initial central frequency F0. Thus, whatever the central frequency F0 of the emission picked up by the antennas, the demodulation produces a signal of central frequency F1, thereafter demodulated into a given intermediate frequency Fl by a local oscillator of constant frequency F2=F1+Fl. The device is applied to the production of a device for detecting emissions and for characterizing the emissions picked up.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Pascal Cornic, Daniel Jahan, Patrick Garrec
  • Publication number: 20140225761
    Abstract: A transponder, able to equip a cooperative target facing a Doppler radar, includes at least one receiving antenna able to receive a signal transmitted by said radar and a transmitting antenna able to retransmit a signal. The signal received by the receiving antenna is amplitude-modulated before being retransmitted by the transmitting antenna to produce a variation of the radar cross-section of the target, the variation triggering a frequency shift between the signal transmitted and the signal received by the radar comparable to a Doppler echo. The transponder applies notably to the field of radars, more particularly for collaborative systems also operating at low velocity or nil velocity. It applies for example to assisted take-off, landing and deck-landing of drones, in particular rotary-wing drones, as well as manned helicopters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Inventors: Patrick GARREC, Pascal CORNIC, Régis LEVAUFRE
  • Patent number: 8786487
    Abstract: A radar includes a transmitting antenna and receiving antenna formed by an array of radiant elements. Antenna beams are calculated in P directions by a BFC function. Detections of a target by secondary lobes of the beams are processed by an algorithm comparing levels received in a distance-speed resolution cell, a single detection at most not being possible for each distance-speed resolution cell. Processing means use the assumption that there may probably be more than one echo with a signal-to-noise ratio that is sufficient to be detectable, for a given resolution cell of the radar, either in speed mode or in distance mode, or, alternatively, a distance-speed depending on the processing implemented; and, if there is more than one echo detectable for each resolution cell out of the plurality of beams formed by BFC, only the echo and BFC that obtain maximum power or maximum signal-to-noise ratio are/is considered valid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Stephane Kemkemian, Pascal Cornic, Patrick Garrec, Patrick Le Bihan, Myriam Nouvel-Fiani
  • Patent number: 8768542
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and a system for assisting in the landing or the decking of a light aircraft, the method being implemented by a system comprising a device on the ground for locating the aircraft, the aircraft having an onboard signal sender, the method comprising at least the following steps: the locating device on the ground uses signals sent by the sender to determine the position and/or movement of the aircraft; said device transmits the previously determined aircraft position and/or movement data to the aircraft; display means show at least some of said data made accessible to the pilot of the aircraft. The invention applies in particular to the field of civil light aeronautics, notably for facilitating the landing of pleasure aeroplanes, small transport aeroplanes and helicopters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Patrick Garrec, Pascal Cornic
  • Publication number: 20140091964
    Abstract: A radar includes an antennal structure, with means for transmitting an impulse signal in a band centered on F1 according to a repetition period centered on a recurrence period Tr1 and pulse width T1, with means for receiving signals by the antenna in frequency band ?F, with a unit for processing the signals received on a set of N distance bins. The signals received are transmitted by another radar in a frequency band centered on F2 where F2?F1??F, according to a repetition period centered on a period Tr2 and pulse width T2. The signals transmitted by the two radars are asynchronous. The method comprises: slaving frequency F1 to frequency F2, by measuring the power received integrated over the N distance bins and over several recurrences, determination of period Tr2 and T2 and slaving the period centered on Tr1 to a period centered on Tr2 with Tr1=k*Tr2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2012
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: THALES
    Inventors: Pascal Cornic, Daniel Jahan, Patrick Garrec