Patent ID: 8761534

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for designing a resolution-enhanced plenoptic imaging system, the resolution-enhanced plenoptic imaging system comprising a plenoptic imaging system that captures a plenoptic image of an object and processing power that produces an estimate of the object from the captured plenoptic image, the plenoptic imaging system comprising a primary imaging system, a secondary imaging array and a sensor array, the secondary imaging array located approximately at an image plane of the primary imaging system, and the sensor array located approximately at an image plane of the secondary imaging array, the method comprising: simulating operation of a current design of the resolution-enhanced plenoptic imaging system, the plenoptic imaging system performing a plenoptic imaging process that is modeled by a pupil image function (PIF) that relates an object to a plenoptic image formed by that object; estimating a metric that is a function of the object, based on modeling the plenoptic imaging process using the PIF; and iteratively improving the design of the resolution-enhanced plenoptic imaging system based at least in part on the estimated metric.