Patent ID: 7250595

Claim:
A system comprising: a first photo-detector array configured to obstruct a first predefined portion of at least one defined wavelength of light impinging upon said first photo-detector array; a second photo-detector array sensitive to the at least one defined wavelength of light, said second photo-detector array positioned proximate to said first photo-detector array; and at least one cascade of N gain elements operably couplable with at least one of said first photo-detector array and said second photo-detector array, the at least one cascade having at least N greater than or equal to a positive integer sufficient to provide said at least one cascade with a gain such that a predetermined operable signal at an input of said at least one cascade generates a signal at an output of said at least one cascade that is larger than a predetermined operable threshold value, an input of a gain element of said at least one cascade operably couplable with the at least one of said first photo-detector array and said second photo-detector array, and a gain element of the at least one cascade having a gain larger than one by an amount such that a noise factor of said at least one cascade operating on the predetermined operable signal at the input of said at least one cascade is substantially minimized.