A system includes a high energy laser (HEL) configured to transmit a HEL beam aimed at a first location on an airborne target. The system also includes a beacon illuminator laser (BIL) configured to transmit a BIL beam aimed at a second location on the target, wherein the second location is offset from the first location. The system also includes at least one fast steering mirror (FSM) configured to steer the BIL beam to be spatially and angularly offset from the HEL beam. The system also includes at least one Coudé path FSM configured to simultaneously receive both the HEL beam and the BIL beam and steer the HEL beam and the BIL beam to correct for atmospheric jitter of the HEL beam and the BIL beam while maintaining the offset of the BIL beam from the HEL beam.

A system includes a high energy laser (HEL) configured to transmit a HEL beam aimed at a first location on an airborne target. The system also includes a beacon illuminator laser (BIL) configured to transmit a BIL beam aimed at a second location on the target, wherein the second location is offset from the first location. The system also includes at least one fast steering mirror (FSM) configured to steer the BIL beam to be spatially and angularly offset from the HEL beam. The system also includes at least one Coudé path FSM configured to simultaneously receive both the HEL beam and the BIL beam and steer the HEL beam and the BIL beam to correct for atmospheric jitter of the HEL beam and the BIL beam while maintaining the offset of the BIL beam from the HEL beam.

Examples are disclosed herein relating to signal processing in a time-of-flight (ToF) system. One example provides, a method comprising emitting, via a light source, amplitude-modulated light toward an object, acquiring, via an image sensor comprising a plurality of pixels, a plurality of image frames capturing light emitted from the light source that is reflected by the object, wherein the plurality of image frames are acquired at two or more different frequencies of the amplitude-modulated light and collectively form a multifrequency frame, and for each pixel of the multifrequency frame, determining a brightness level, applying an adaptive denoising process by setting a kernel size based on the brightness level, and performing a phase unwrapping process to determine a depth value for the pixel.

Examples are disclosed herein relating to signal processing in a time-of-flight (ToF) system. One example provides, a method comprising emitting, via a light source, amplitude-modulated light toward an object, acquiring, via an image sensor comprising a plurality of pixels, a plurality of image frames capturing light emitted from the light source that is reflected by the object, wherein the plurality of image frames are acquired at two or more different frequencies of the amplitude-modulated light and collectively form a multifrequency frame, and for each pixel of the multifrequency frame, determining a brightness level, applying an adaptive denoising process by setting a kernel size based on the brightness level, and performing a phase unwrapping process to determine a depth value for the pixel.

A method includes actuating a laser diode to emit a first series of laser pulses in a first frequency, enabling ap single-photon-avalanche diode (SPAD) in a pixel of a focal-plane array to detect a photon during a first series of enable times defined by a first series of enable pulses in a second frequency greater than the first frequency, and updating a histogram memory based on a photon detected during the first series of enable times.

A method includes actuating a laser diode to emit a first series of laser pulses in a first frequency, enabling ap single-photon-avalanche diode (SPAD) in a pixel of a focal-plane array to detect a photon during a first series of enable times defined by a first series of enable pulses in a second frequency greater than the first frequency, and updating a histogram memory based on a photon detected during the first series of enable times.

Embodiments relate to methods for efficiently encoding sensor data captured by an autonomous vehicle and building a high definition map using the encoded sensor data. The sensor data can be LiDAR data which is expressed as multiple image representations. Image representations that include important LiDAR data undergo a lossless compression while image representations that include LiDAR data that is more error-tolerant undergo a lossy compression. Therefore, the compressed sensor data can be transmitted to an online system for building a high definition map. When building a high definition map, entities, such as road signs and road lines, are constructed such that when encoded and compressed, the high definition map consumes less storage space. The positions of entities are expressed in relation to a reference centerline in the high definition map. Therefore, each position of an entity can be expressed in fewer numerical digits in comparison to conventional methods.

Embodiments relate to methods for efficiently encoding sensor data captured by an autonomous vehicle and building a high definition map using the encoded sensor data. The sensor data can be LiDAR data which is expressed as multiple image representations. Image representations that include important LiDAR data undergo a lossless compression while image representations that include LiDAR data that is more error-tolerant undergo a lossy compression. Therefore, the compressed sensor data can be transmitted to an online system for building a high definition map. When building a high definition map, entities, such as road signs and road lines, are constructed such that when encoded and compressed, the high definition map consumes less storage space. The positions of entities are expressed in relation to a reference centerline in the high definition map. Therefore, each position of an entity can be expressed in fewer numerical digits in comparison to conventional methods.

An optical aperture system is provided that includes a photonic integrated circuit. The photonic integrated circuit includes a plurality of apertures, a plurality of optical phase shifters coupled to respective apertures of the plurality of apertures, an optical splitter-combiner coupled to the plurality of optical phase shifters, an optical switch coupled to the optical splitter-combiner, a light source coupled to the optical switch, and a photodetector coupled to the optical switch. The optical aperture system further includes a controller configured to execute a first set of instructions to control the plurality of optical phase shifters and the light source in accordance with a first operating mode of a plurality of operating modes of the optical aperture system, and a processor configured to execute a second set of instructions to process an output of the photodetector in accordance with the first operating mode of the optical aperture system.

A system includes a high energy laser (HEL) configured to transmit a HEL beam and a beacon illumination laser (BIL) configured to transmit a BIL beam. The system also includes at least one fast steering mirror (FSM) configured to steer the BIL beam to be offset from the HEL beam. The system further includes at least one Coudé path FSM configured to correct for atmospheric jitter of the HEL beam and the BIL beam while maintaining the offset of the BIL beam from the HEL beam.