MODULATABLE REFLECTORS AND METHODS FOR USING SAME

摘要

A reflector having a mechanically deformable portion (12) of at least one reflective surface is disclosed. By deforming the portion of the reflective surface, discontinuity is introduced in that portion of the reflective surface. The discontinuity in the reflective surface scatters incident radiation signals (20) so as to cause attenuation in the reflective signal (22). By selectively deforming the portion of the reflective surface, the reflected signal can be modulated to encode data thereon. The mechanically deformable portion of the reflective surface preferably comprises plates integrally formed therein. In one embodiment, the reflector takes the form of a corner-cube reflector (10). The use of a reflector with a three dimensional pattern (122) on the reflective surface on the encoding data on a reflected signal, which functions much like a barcode pattern, is also disclosed. One application of the applicator is in the identification of friend or foes (IFF).