Patent ID: 7755050

Claim:
A detection system comprising: a forward looking infrared receiver that is operable to produce a first electrical signal indicative of thermal energy radiated by an improvised explosive device, the forward looking infrared receiver having a field of view with a first axis; a plurality of radio frequency receivers that are coupled to a corresponding plurality of directional antennas and operable to produce a plurality of second electrical signals indicative of electro-magnetic energy emitted by the improvised explosive device, each of the plurality of directional antennas having a field pattern with a second axis that is aligned at a specified angular orientation relative to each other and to the first axis; and a signal processing circuit coupled to the thermal imaging camera and the plurality of radio frequency receivers, the signal processing circuit being operable to: measure a phase of one of the second electrical signals relative to a phase of each of the other plurality of second electrical signals in order to form an electronically scanned second electrical signal; combine the first electrical signal and the electronically scanned second electrical signal on a display such that the improvised explosive device is aligned on the display; and compare the electronically scanned second electrical signal against a threshold value such that the electronically scanned second electrical signal may be squelched on the display if not greater than the threshold value and display the electronically scanned second electrical signal as an icon on the display if the electronically scanned second electrical signal is greater than the threshold value.