Patent ID: 7755533

Claim:
An apparatus to provide information regarding an operating environment to a user, the apparatus comprising: a signal generation module configured to generate a substantially continuous frequency modulated transmit signal; an array of beam forming antennas corresponding to a plurality of distinct first viewing angles within an operating environment; an antenna selection module configured to receive the substantially continuous frequency modulated transmit signal and provide the substantially continuous frequency modulated transmit signal to a selected antenna of the array of beam forming antennas, the selected antenna corresponding to a selected first viewing angle; a phase extraction module configured to receive return signals from at least two return antennas having a known offset distance relative to each other and extract range and phase information therefrom; a mapping module configured to determine a first and a second distance to a plurality of terrain points within the operating environment from the range and phase information, the first and second distance corresponding to the at least two return antennas, each first and second distance defining a second viewing angle to each of the plurality of terrain points that is substantially orthogonal to the selected first viewing angle; the mapping module further configured to convert the selected first viewing angle and the first and second distance to each of the plurality of terrain points to position and elevation information for each of the plurality of terrain points; and a presentation module configured to provide information regarding the operating environment corresponding to the position and elevation information for each of the plurality of terrain points to a user.