Patent ID: 8243103

Claim:
A method for distinguishing a laser aiming spot associated with a particular firearm from other laser aiming spots, the method comprising: imaging a field of view with a night vision system, the field of view including the laser aiming spot and the other laser aiming spots, wherein the laser aiming spot is produced by a laser beam associated with the particular firearm, the laser beam having an identification signature; and the identification signature including a digitally encoded pattern of bits representing a unique number, identifying the identification signature of the laser aiming spot associated with the particular firearm within the imaged field of view; modifying the imaged field of view to distinguish the identification signature of the identified laser aiming spot from other identification signatures of the other laser aiming spots; and displaying the modified field of view with the night vision system; wherein the step of identifying the laser aiming spot produced by the laser beam comprises: imaging the field of view with multiple patterns of bits, wherein each pattern of bits represents the same unique number, synchronizing a camera gating within the night vision system to one of the multiple patterns of bits to increase the apparent luminance of the laser aiming spot, wherein the apparent luminance is increased by synchronizing the one pattern of bits to a camera gate in the night vision system, the camera gate being ON during a frame to receive only the one pattern of bits and OFF during the remainder of the frame.