Noise synchronization of radiation in short-range optical detection-and-ranging systems

In short-range optical detection-and-ranging systems in which the maximum distances to the objects are 10-15 m, it becomes possible to reduce the required radiation energy or the size of the optical receiver system while maintaining the specified detection-probability characteristics by noise synchronization of the emission time. The signal in this case is received on the interval between noise bursts-i.e., on a time interval in which a false alarm is less probable. This article presents a statistical analysis of the probability distributions of the noise intervals, used as the basis for defining the principle by which the detection-probability characteristics are calculated. It is shown that, when the threshold/noise ratio equals unity, the radiation energy required to ensure a skip probability equal to 0.01 is almost a factor of 3 less than in classical detection, and, when the threshold/noise ratio equals 2, it will be a factor of 23 less. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America.