On the use of a multi-raster input of one-dimensional signals in two-dimensional optical correlators

A mathematical description of a coherent optical correlator for the multi-raster input of long signals is given. It is shown that such an input makes it possible to reduce the value of false correlation maxima that are generally found at the output of a correlator with a single-raster input. It is shown that false maxima do not appear when processing signals with a thumbtack ambiguity function, allowing one to do without a multi-raster input. The results of the theoretical analysis are confirmed by experiments with chirp signals and M-sequence type signals.