Low power, high resolution solid state LIDAR circuit having a modulator to modulate a bit sequence onto a carrier frequency of a received optical signal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10281322-B2
Application number	US-201715786575-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2017
Priority date	Dec 26, 2015
Publication date	May 7, 2019
Grant date	May 7, 2019

Abstract

An optical circuit includes solid state photonics. The optical circuit includes a phased array of solid state waveguides that perform beamsteering on an optical signal. The optical circuit includes a modulator to modulate a bit sequence onto the carrier frequency of the optical signal, and the beamsteered signal includes the modulated bit sequence. The optical circuit includes a photodetector to detect a reflection of the beamsteered optical signal. The optical circuit autocorrelates the reflection signal with the bit sequence to generate a processed signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical circuit comprising:
a modulator to receive an optical signal and modulate a bit sequence onto a carrier frequency of the optical signal;
a group of solid state waveguides coupled to the modulator to convey the optical signal for emission from a group of optical emitters, the emission including beamsteering the modulated signal with the bit sequence; and
a photodetector to detect an echo, the echo being a reflection signal of the emitted signal, and transmit the echo for autocorrelation with the bit sequence to determine a time of flight of the emitted signal.

2. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the bit sequence comprises a non-periodic pattern of bits.

3. The optical circuit of claim 2 , wherein the bit sequence comprises a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS).

4. The optical circuit of claim 3 , wherein the PRBS comprises a series of PRBS pulses separated by white noise.

5. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the bit sequence comprises hundreds of bits.

6. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the photodetector comprises a photodetector circuit integrated on a common substrate with the group of solid state waveguides, wherein the photodetector and the group of solid state waveguides share a common optical lens.

7. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the photodetector comprises a photodetector circuit integrated on a substrate separate from a substrate of the group of solid state waveguides.

8. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises digital autocorrelation.

9. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises analog autocorrelation.

10. The optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises non-coherent autocorrelation on the reflection signal.

11. A sensor device comprising:
an integrated photonic circuit including
a modulator to receive an optical signal and modulate a bit sequence onto a carrier frequency of the optical signal; and
a group of solid state waveguides coupled to the modulator to convey the optical signal for emission from a group of optical emitters, the emission including beamsteering the modulated signal with the bit sequence; and

a photodetector to detect an echo, the echo being a reflection signal of the emitted signal, and transmit the echo for autocorrelation with the bit sequence to determine a time of flight of the emitted signal; and
an adjustable lens coupled to focus the emitted optical signal from the group of solid state waveguides.

12. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the bit sequence comprises a non-periodic pattern of bits.

13. The sensor device of claim 12 , wherein the bit sequence comprises a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS).

14. The sensor device of claim 13 , wherein the PRBS comprises a series of PRBS pulses separated by white noise.

15. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the bit sequence comprises hundreds of bits.

16. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the photodetector comprises a photodetector circuit integrated on a common substrate with the group of solid state waveguides, wherein the photodetector and the group of solid state waveguides share a common optical lens.

17. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the photodetector comprises a photodetector circuit integrated on a substrate separate from a substrate of the group of solid state waveguides.

18. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises digital autocorrelation.

19. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises analog autocorrelation.

20. The sensor device of claim 11 , wherein the autocorrelation comprises non-coherent autocorrelation on the reflection signal.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Doylend Jonathan K
• Hutchison David N
• Heck John
• Rong Haisheng
• Grodensky Daniel
• Arbel David
• Petronius Israel

Classifications

• G01S7/4813

  Housing arrangements · CPC title

• G02F1/292

  by controlled diffraction or phased-array beam steering (controlled diffraction for optical switching G02F1/31) · CPC title

• G01S7/4817

  relating to scanning · CPC title

• G01B11/22

  for measuring depth · CPC title

• G01S17/10 Primary

  using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves (determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32) · CPC title