Hardware and software framework for infrared detector evaluation

Description (excerpt)

RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for all governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty. Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.78(a)(4), this application claims the benefit of and priority to prior filed co-pending Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/735,423, filed Dec. 18, 2024, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to hardware and software frameworks for evaluation of detectors and, more particularly, to hardware and software frameworks for evaluation of infrared detectors. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) turnkey imaging system will generally include three subsystems: an optical front end including one or more lenses configured to focus incoming radiation onto a focal plane array (FPA) and a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) bonded to the FPA; pulse capture electronics (PCE) that capture and perform signal processing of incoming intensity data (or pixel intensity data) from the optical front end; and a data acquisition and control (DAQ-C) subsystem. Additionally, the COTS imaging system can include vendor-developed software that enables the hardware components to send one or more control parameters to, and receive data from, a specific ROIC via the PCE. This vendor-developed software can be difficult or impossible to generally interface with, making the COTS system unusable or adaptable for many applications. Hence, new systems that make COTS imaging systems usable and adaptable for a wider range of applications may be required. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the foregoing problems and other shortcomings, drawbacks, and challenges of interfacing with imaging systems, especially infrared detectors. While the invention will be described in connection with certain embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. To the contrary, this invention includes all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. According to one embodiment of the present invention a system for evaluating and operating an infrared imaging detector includes a host computational device; a pulse capture electronics (PCE) subsystem communicatively coupled to the host computational device, the PCE subsystem including one or more programmable logic devices; and a read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) coupled to the PCE subsystem, the ROIC operatively connected to a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, wherein the host computational device is configured to execute a framework for infrared detector evaluation (FIRDE) including: transmitting timing, control, and configuration signals to the ROIC via the PCE subsystem; receiving pixel intensity data from the ROIC via the PCE subsystem; applying one or more user-defined or preconfigured signal processing algorithms to the received pixel intensity data; and rendering, analyzing, or storing image frames together with associated ROIC configuration parameters. Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary passive electro-optical and infrared imaging system. FIG. 2 shows a hardware and software framework for infrared detector evaluation (FIRDE) system, according to one or more embodiments shown and described herein. FIG. 3 shows additional aspects of the FIRDE system of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS"