US 12,332,384 B2
Shot reordering in LIDAR systems
Mark Alexander Shand, Palo Alto, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/063,993.
Application 18/063,993 is a continuation of application No. 16/227,341, filed on Dec. 20, 2018, granted, now 11,543,495.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/753,957, filed on Nov. 1, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0108351 A1, Apr. 6, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G01S 7/484 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G01S 7/4865 (2020.01); G01S 17/10 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 7/484 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4815 (2013.01); G01S 7/4865 (2013.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G01S 17/10 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a plurality of light-emitter devices partitioned into a plurality of groups, wherein each light-emitter device is associated with a given group of the plurality of groups, wherein each group comprises light-emitter devices disposed within a respective contiguous region;
a receiver unit; and
a controller, wherein the controller carries out operations, the operations comprising:
causing each light emitter-device of the plurality of light-emitter devices to emit a respective impulse and thereafter enabling the receiver unit to detect reflected light during a corresponding listening period,
wherein each impulse comprises at least one light pulse, wherein the plurality of the impulses is emitted from the plurality of light-emitter devices based on a firing order, wherein between temporally-adjacent impulses emitted from light-emitter devices in a given group, an impulse from a light-emitter device in at least one other group is timed to occur, wherein between temporally-adjacent impulses emitted from a given light-emitter device, an impulse from every other light-emitter device in the same group is timed to occur, wherein temporally-adjacent impulses are emitted according to a shot dither schedule, wherein the shot dither schedule comprises a plurality of shot dither times, and wherein each shot dither time of the plurality of shot dither times corresponds to a waiting time after a prior listening period.