Mission-driven design methodology for optical systems

1. An apparatus for improving a design of an optical system associated with a mission, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory memory with instructions stored thereon, the instructions upon execution by the at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to:

receive a figure of merit indicative of a performance of the optical system;

receive a first plurality of parameters indicative of mission-driven requirements of the optical system, wherein the mission-driven requirements comprise an outcome of the mission;

receive a second plurality of parameters representative of characteristics of one or more components in the optical system, wherein the second plurality of parameters comprises a plurality of optical transfer functions (OTFs) that includes a first OTF corresponding to a first component of the optical system, a second OTF corresponding to a second component of the optical system, and a third OTF corresponding to at least a linear combination of at least the first OTF and the second OTF;

generate a mathematical representation for the figure of merit that combines the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters;

perform a sensitivity analysis to obtain a ranking of parameters from the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters, wherein a change in a parameter with a higher rank produces a larger change in the mathematical representation than a parameter with a lower rank, wherein the sensitivity analysis is based on a singular value decomposition of a frequency-domain representation of the mathematical representation, and wherein the singular value decomposition produces a plurality of eigenvalues whose magnitudes correspond to the ranking of the parameters;

select, based on comparing the magnitudes of the plurality of eigenvalues to a threshold, at least one parameter that produces a largest change in the mathematical representation, wherein the threshold is based on at least a precision of the at least one processor; and

produce a constraint file comprising the at least one parameter for ingestion by a design tool to enable the design of the optical system.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the frequency-domain representation is based on one of a Fourier transform, a discrete cosine transform (DCT), a Laplace transform or a Z-transform.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein combining the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters comprises combining linear or non-linear functions of the first plurality of parameters and linear or non-linear functions of the second plurality of parameters.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mathematical representation is a National Image Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) based on a General Image Quality Equation (GIQE).

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the second plurality of parameters comprises a Ground Sampled Distance (GSD) and a Relative Edge Response (RER).

6. A method for improving a design of an optical system associated with a mission, the method being implemented on a processor, the method comprising:

receiving a figure of merit indicative of a performance of the optical system;

receiving a first plurality of parameters indicative of mission-driven requirements of the optical system, wherein the mission-driven requirements comprise an outcome of the mission;

receiving a second plurality of parameters representative of characteristics of one or more components in the optical system, wherein the second plurality of parameters comprises a plurality of optical transfer functions (OTFs) that includes a first OTF corresponding to a first component of the optical system, a second OTF corresponding to a second component of the optical system, and a third OTF corresponding to at least a linear combination of at least the first OTF and the second OTF;

generating a mathematical representation for the figure of merit that combines the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters;

performing a sensitivity analysis to obtain a ranking of parameters from the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters, wherein a change in a parameter with a higher rank produces a larger change in the mathematical representation than a parameter with a lower rank, wherein the sensitivity analysis is based on a singular value decomposition of a frequency-domain representation of the mathematical representation, and wherein the singular value decomposition produces a plurality of eigenvalues whose magnitudes correspond to the ranking of the parameters;

selecting, based on comparing the magnitudes of the plurality of eigenvalues to a threshold, at least one parameter that produces a largest change in the mathematical representation, wherein the threshold is based on at least a precision of the processor; and

producing a constraint file comprising the at least one parameter for ingestion by a design tool to enable the design of the optical system.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein frequency-domain representation is based on one of a Fourier transform, a discrete cosine transform (DCT), a Laplace transform or a Z-transform.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein combining the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters comprises combining linear or non-linear functions of the first plurality of parameters and linear or non-linear functions of the second plurality of parameters.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the mathematical representation is a National Image Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) based on a General Image Quality Equation (GIQE).

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second plurality of parameters comprises a Ground Sampled Distance (GSD) and a Relative Edge Response (RER).

11. A non-transitory computer readable program storage medium having code stored thereon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method for improving a design of an optical system associated with a mission, the method comprising:

receiving a figure of merit indicative of a performance of the optical system;

receiving a first plurality of parameters indicative of mission-driven requirements of the optical system, wherein the mission-driven requirements comprise an outcome of the mission;

receiving a second plurality of parameters representative of characteristics of one or more components in the optical system, wherein the second plurality of parameters comprises a plurality of optical transfer functions (OTFs) that includes a first OTF corresponding to a first component of the optical system, a second OTF corresponding to a second component of the optical system, and a third OTF corresponding to a linear combination of at least the first OTF and the second OTF;

generating a mathematical representation for the figure of merit that combines the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters;

performing a sensitivity analysis to obtain a ranking of parameters from the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters, wherein a change in a parameter with a higher rank produces a larger change in the mathematical representation than a parameter with a lower rank, wherein the sensitivity analysis is based on a singular value decomposition of a frequency-domain representation of the mathematical representation, and wherein the singular value decomposition produces a plurality of eigenvalues whose magnitudes correspond to the ranking of the parameters;

selecting, based on comparing the magnitudes of the plurality of eigenvalues to a threshold, at least one parameter that produces a largest change in the mathematical representation, wherein the threshold is based on at least a precision of the processor; and

producing a constraint file comprising the at least one parameter for ingestion by a design tool to enable the design of the optical system.

12. The non-transitory computer readable program storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the frequency-domain representation is based on one of a Fourier transform, a discrete cosine transform (DCT), a Laplace transform or a Z-transform.

13. The non-transitory computer readable program storage medium of claim 11 , wherein combining the first plurality of parameters and the second plurality of parameters comprises combining linear or non-linear functions of the first plurality of parameters and linear or non-linear functions of the second plurality of parameters.

14. The non-transitory computer readable program storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the mathematical representation is a National Image Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) based on a General Image Quality Equation (GIQE).