Minimum bias design for a distributed aperture millimeter wave imager

Recently, new techniques for passive imaging based on distributed aperture imagers have been developed. One promising approach utilizes photonic sampling, routing, and processing of the millimeter-wave energy for image generation. Many signal processing aspects of this approach that have been explored to date, from engineering phase profiles across the array to achieve dynamically adjustable point spread functions, to noise reduction techniques in the optical image regeneration. Herein, we focus on a method to reduce image bias in a distributed aperture millimeter wave imager by switching the phase in individual channels by π-phase. Our simulations indicate this approach has better bias performance than random phase switching.