US 12,253,632 B2
Systems and methods for pulsed-wave LIDAR
Zeb Barber, Mountain View, CA (US); Randy Reibel, Mountain View, CA (US); Devlin Baker, Mountain View, CA (US); and Emil Kadlec, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to AURORA OPERATIONS, INC., Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Filed by Aurora Operations, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/870,566.
Application 17/870,566 is a continuation of application No. 17/329,413, filed on May 25, 2021, granted, now 11,428,789.
Application 17/329,413 is a continuation of application No. 16/917,297, filed on Jun. 30, 2020, granted, now 11,029,395, issued on Jun. 8, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0390561 A1, Dec. 8, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 7/484 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G01S 17/26 (2020.01); G01S 17/34 (2020.01); G01S 17/58 (2006.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G05D 1/00 (2024.01)
CPC G01S 7/484 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4814 (2013.01); G01S 17/26 (2020.01); G01S 17/34 (2020.01); G01S 17/58 (2013.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G05D 1/0231 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system for a vehicle, the LIDAR system comprising:
a laser source configured to provide an optical signal at a first signal power;
a modulator configured to modulate the optical signal from the laser source to generate a modulated optical signal;
an amplifier having a plurality of gain levels, at which the amplifier is configured to amplify the modulated optical signal; and
one or more processors configured to:
based on the first signal power and a duty cycle of the optical signal, vary a gain level of the amplifier from the plurality of gain levels to generate an amplified pulse signal,
transmit the amplified pulse signal from the amplifier to an environment,
receive a reflected signal that is reflected from an object, responsive to transmitting the amplified pulse signal,
determine a range to the object based on an electrical signal associated with the reflected signal; and
an optical switch coupled between the modulator and the amplifier,
wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the optical switch between an enabled state and a disabled state to cause the optical switch to generate a pulse signal based on the modulated optical signal.