To suppress the deterioration of signal quality in an optical signal, a LiDAR device comprises: a signal output means 20 for outputting a first electric signal in a first period, reducing the amplitude of the first electric signal outside the first period, and then outputting a second electric signal; a modulator 30 which outputs an optical signal modulated on the basis of the first electric signal or the second electric signal; and a control means 40 for applying, to the modulator 30, a bias voltage based on the optical signal modulated on the basis of the first electric signal.

In one aspect the invention provides a method of operating a time of flight camera which includes the steps of capturing a sequence of time of flight camera data frames using a set of step frequency modulation signals to provide a time of flight camera data set, then completing a spectral analysis of the dataset which identifies frequency and phase value pairs indicative of the range of the camera to an object represented in the data frames. Next an estimated camera range value to an object represented in the data frames is determined using the frequency value, then a corrected camera range value is determined using the estimated camera range value and the phase value. A camera output is then provided which identifies the corrected range values of at least one object represented in the data frames of the dataset.

The invention relates to a FMCW lidar imager system with improved distance resolution. The imager system 1 comprises a reflector 42 configured to reflect, in the direction of the scene 2, a portion S.sub.or,nc of the backscattered object signal S.sub.or, which portion has not been collected by the collecting optical element 41. Thus, the collected portion S.sub.or,c of the backscattered object signal S.sub.or is formed from first light beams S.sub.or,c(1) that have not been reflected by the reflector 42 and from light beams S.sub.or,c(2) that have been reflected by the reflector 42. The heterodyne signal S.sub.h therefore has a principal component S.sub.h(1) associated with the light beams S.sub.or,c(1), and a secondary component S.sub.h(2) associated with the light beams S.sub.or,c(2). The processing unit 60 is configured to determine the distance z.sub.sc of the scene 2 on the basis of a beat frequency f.sub.b(2) of the secondary component S.sub.h(2) of the heterodyne signal S.sub.h.

Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provide accurate and reliable target information when there is relative motion between a remote sensing system and the target. A remote sensing system includes a multichannel ranging sensor assembly and a controller. The ranging sensor assembly includes multiple sensor channels configured to emit modulated sensor beams towards a target and to detect corresponding reflected beams reflected from the target, where the modulated sensor beams are selected to be correlated to each other and mutually incoherent with respect to each other. The controller is configured to receive reflected beam sensor signals corresponding to the detected reflected beams, to determine Doppler components associated with the reflected beams based, at least in part, on the first and second reflected beam sensor signals, and to generate target information based, at least in part, on the determined Doppler components.

Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provide accurate and reliable target information when there is relative motion between a remote sensing system and the target. A remote sensing system includes a multichannel ranging sensor assembly and a controller. The ranging sensor assembly includes multiple sensor channels configured to emit modulated sensor beams towards a target and to detect corresponding reflected beams reflected from the target, where the modulated sensor beams are selected to be correlated to each other and mutually incoherent with respect to each other. The controller is configured to receive reflected beam sensor signals corresponding to the detected reflected beams, to determine Doppler components associated with the reflected beams based, at least in part, on the first and second reflected beam sensor signals, and to generate target information based, at least in part, on the determined Doppler components.

A switched optical phased array based beam steering LiDAR (light detection and ranging) system includes an integrated photonics optical phased array (OPA) that includes an optical switching network for selectively connecting a large number of 1D scanning (in a first direction or field-of-view) antenna arrays to a light source. Each array is configured to emit light in a predefined angle of a second direction or field-of-view and can be switched individually to connect to the light source. At any given time, the phase shifters of only one such array, i.e. the one that is switched to connect the light source, are actively adjusted by the control circuits, so that the active power consumption is greatly reduced. The LiDAR system also includes a photo sensor receiver, other control and signal processing circuits, and other necessary optical and mechanical components.

A switched optical phased array based beam steering LiDAR (light detection and ranging) system includes an integrated photonics optical phased array (OPA) that includes an optical switching network for selectively connecting a large number of 1D scanning (in a first direction or field-of-view) antenna arrays to a light source. Each array is configured to emit light in a predefined angle of a second direction or field-of-view and can be switched individually to connect to the light source. At any given time, the phase shifters of only one such array, i.e. the one that is switched to connect the light source, are actively adjusted by the control circuits, so that the active power consumption is greatly reduced. The LiDAR system also includes a photo sensor receiver, other control and signal processing circuits, and other necessary optical and mechanical components.

An illumination device for an optical sensor is provided. The illumination device includes a plurality of light sources and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to control the plurality of light sources to entirely illuminate a field of illumination in a first operation mode. The control circuit is further configured to control the plurality of light sources to illuminate at least one subfield of the field of illumination in a second operation mode.

Various technologies described herein pertain to injection locking on-chip laser(s) and external on-chip resonator(s). A system includes a first integrated circuit chip and a second integrated circuit chip. The first integrated circuit chip and the second integrated circuit chip are separate integrated circuit chips and can be optically coupled to each other. The first integrated circuit chip includes a laser configured to emit light via a first path and a second path. The second integrated circuit chip includes a resonator formed of an electrooptic material. The resonator can receive the light emitted by the laser of the first integrated circuit chip via the first path and return feedback light to the laser of the first integrated circuit chip via the first path. The feedback light can cause injection locking of the laser to the resonator to control the light emitted by the laser (e.g., via the first and second paths).

According to various embodiments, a tunable optical device comprises a tunable optical metasurface on a substrate with an integrated driver circuit. In some embodiments, the tunable optical device includes a photon shield layer to prevent optical radiation from disrupting operation of the driver circuit. In some embodiments, the tunable optical device includes a diagnostic circuit to detect and disable defective optical structures of the metasurface. In some embodiments, the tunable optical device includes an integrated heater circuit that maintains a liquid crystal of the metasurface above a minimum operating temperature. In some embodiments, the tunable optical device includes an integrated lidar sequencing controller, a steering pattern subcircuit, and a photodetector circuit.