Patent ID: 7531780

Claim:
A spectrum analysis device for determining the power spectral density of illumination reflected from a target, the device comprising: a sensor array comprised of a plurality of optical sensors being arranged in a focal plane, each optical sensor for outputting a photon output signal when the optical sensor receives illumination reflected from a target; a plurality of transform analysis units, each transform analysis unit being disposed adjacent to a corresponding optical sensor, each transform analysis unit for receiving the photon output signal from the corresponding optical sensor, and for outputting a power spectral density signal corresponding to the received photon output signal, wherein the power spectral density signal is an absolute value of a square of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the photon output signal; a plurality of sampling circuits, each sampling circuit for obtaining the power spectral density signal from a corresponding transform analysis unit, and for outputting the power spectral density signal to a selected output pathway on a periodic schedule in accordance with a sampling control input signal; and an array storage device for receiving the power spectral density signal from each of the plurality of sampling circuits and for converting each received power spectral density signal to a corresponding illumination intensity signal.