One aspect provides a method for providing a short electrical pulse using a switching circuit, the method including: providing a forward current to at least one semiconductor diode electrically connected with and controlling electrical current to an electrical component within a circuit; and switching the at least one semiconductor diode into a reverse bias by applying a reverse voltage to the at least one semiconductor diode, thereby causing the at least one semiconductor diode to enter a reverse recovery state and controlling a destination of the electrical current and generating the short electrical pulse to the destination for the duration of the reverse recovery state; the duration of the reverse recovery state being based upon a value of the forward current and a value of the reverse voltage.

A computer-implemented method comprises: generating first output using a first sensor of a vehicle comprising an infrared camera or an event-based sensor, the first output indicating a portion of surroundings of the vehicle; providing the first output to a LiDAR of the vehicle having a field of view (FOV); configuring a resolution of the LiDAR based at least in part on the first output; generating a representation of at least part of the surroundings of the vehicle using the LiDAR; providing, to a perception component of the vehicle, second output of a second sensor of the vehicle and third output of the LiDAR, the perception component configured to perform object detection, sensor fusion, and object tracking regarding the second and third outputs, wherein the first output bypasses at least part of the perception component; and performing motion control of the vehicle using a fourth output of the perception component.

A computer-implemented method comprises: generating first output using a first sensor of a vehicle comprising an infrared camera or an event-based sensor, the first output indicating a portion of surroundings of the vehicle; providing the first output to a LiDAR of the vehicle having a field of view (FOV); configuring a resolution of the LiDAR based at least in part on the first output; generating a representation of at least part of the surroundings of the vehicle using the LiDAR; providing, to a perception component of the vehicle, second output of a second sensor of the vehicle and third output of the LiDAR, the perception component configured to perform object detection, sensor fusion, and object tracking regarding the second and third outputs, wherein the first output bypasses at least part of the perception component; and performing motion control of the vehicle using a fourth output of the perception component.

A time-of-flight light detection system includes: a plurality of circuits arranged sequentially along a signal path that comprises a plurality of signal channels, the plurality of circuits including a first circuit and a second circuit arranged downstream from the first circuit; a reference signal source configured to generate a plurality of reference signals, where each of the plurality of signal channels at the first circuit receives at least one of the plurality of reference signals; and an evaluation circuit coupled to the plurality of signal channels to receive a processed reference signal from the signal path, the evaluation circuit further configured to compare the processed reference signal to a first expected result to generate a first comparison result.

A time-of-flight light detection system includes: a plurality of circuits arranged sequentially along a signal path that comprises a plurality of signal channels, the plurality of circuits including a first circuit and a second circuit arranged downstream from the first circuit; a reference signal source configured to generate a plurality of reference signals, where each of the plurality of signal channels at the first circuit receives at least one of the plurality of reference signals; and an evaluation circuit coupled to the plurality of signal channels to receive a processed reference signal from the signal path, the evaluation circuit further configured to compare the processed reference signal to a first expected result to generate a first comparison result.

A lidar for generating long PPM waveforms receives an initial PPM code element including a number of code elements and a desired maximum sidelobe height; b) generates a two-column lookup table; c) selects a candidate modulation level; d) compares the values of the number of times a code element difference has been observed in the initial PPM code element from the lookup table against the desired maximum sidelobe height; e when a value of the number of times exceeds the desired maximum sidelobe height, discards the selected candidate modulation level, decrements corresponding values in the lookup table and repeats steps c to d; f otherwise, appends the selected candidate modulation level to the end of the initial PPM code element to update the initial PPM code element, and repeats steps c to f N times to generate a PPM waveform of length N.

A lidar for generating long PPM waveforms receives an initial PPM code element including a number of code elements and a desired maximum sidelobe height; b) generates a two-column lookup table; c) selects a candidate modulation level; d) compares the values of the number of times a code element difference has been observed in the initial PPM code element from the lookup table against the desired maximum sidelobe height; e when a value of the number of times exceeds the desired maximum sidelobe height, discards the selected candidate modulation level, decrements corresponding values in the lookup table and repeats steps c to d; f otherwise, appends the selected candidate modulation level to the end of the initial PPM code element to update the initial PPM code element, and repeats steps c to f N times to generate a PPM waveform of length N.

A rangefinder includes a light emitting part, a light receiving part, a calculating part that calculates the distance from a reflective object, and a control part. The calculating part has a received light intensity determining part, a peak detecting part, and a distance calculating part, and a distance determining part. The control part controls at least one of the intensity of the pulsed light, the sensitivity of the light receiving part to received light, and a position of the region of interest so that a first received light intensity is obtained as the received light intensity of each of the plurality of times of flight at least once, and a second received light intensity having a higher S/N ratio is obtained as the received light intensity of each of the plurality of times of flight at least once. The distance determining part determines the measurement target distance by using the first distance based on the first received light intensity and the second distance based on the second received light intensity.

A rangefinder includes a light emitting part, a light receiving part, a calculating part that calculates the distance from a reflective object, and a control part. The calculating part has a received light intensity determining part, a peak detecting part, and a distance calculating part, and a distance determining part. The control part controls at least one of the intensity of the pulsed light, the sensitivity of the light receiving part to received light, and a position of the region of interest so that a first received light intensity is obtained as the received light intensity of each of the plurality of times of flight at least once, and a second received light intensity having a higher S/N ratio is obtained as the received light intensity of each of the plurality of times of flight at least once. The distance determining part determines the measurement target distance by using the first distance based on the first received light intensity and the second distance based on the second received light intensity.

Methods and systems for performing multiple pulse LIDAR measurements are presented herein. In one aspect, each LIDAR measurement beam illuminates a location in a three dimensional environment with a sequence of multiple pulses of illumination light. Light reflected from the location is detected by a photosensitive detector of the LIDAR system during a measurement window having a duration that is greater than or equal to the time of flight of light from the LIDAR system out to the programmed range of the LIDAR system, and back. The pulses in a measurement pulse sequence can vary in magnitude and duration. Furthermore, the delay between pulses and the number of pulses in each measurement pulse sequence can also be varied. In some embodiments, the multi-pulse illumination beam is encoded and the return measurement pulse sequence is decoded to distinguish the measurement pulse sequence from exogenous signals.