Lidar Time-of-Flight Signal Processing with Amplitude Encoding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC)-based systems in LIDAR technology lack detailed information about light signal properties such as amplitude and pulse shape, limiting their ability to provide comprehensive data for object detection and signal processing.
Innovation Solution
A detection system and method that adapt the TDC approach to include amplitude and shape information by processing received signals through quantization, encoding, and time-to-digital conversion, enabling the extraction of additional signal characteristics like amplitude and pulse shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a conventional TDC-based system is used, then the system complexity and power consumption are reduced, but detailed information about signal properties (amplitude and pulse shape) cannot be obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the analog signal processing into multiple discrete time bins, where each bin captures signal properties at specific time intervals. This segmentation allows the system to extract amplitude and pulse shape information without requiring complex continuous analog processing, thus resolving the contradiction between information completeness and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a time dimension by dividing the signal into multiple time bins, transforming a single-dimensional amplitude measurement into a multi-dimensional representation that includes time-resolved amplitude and shape information. This dimensional expansion enables comprehensive signal characterization while maintaining TDC-based simplicity.
2Loss of information
If a high-speed ADC is used, then amplitude information and signal-to-noise ratio can be obtained, but power consumption, cost, and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the high-speed ADC (analog-to-digital converter) with a TDC-based time binning approach. Instead of using complex high-speed analog processing to capture amplitude information, the system uses time-resolved detection with simpler digital processing, thereby reducing power consumption while maintaining amplitude measurement capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary time binning of the signal before detailed analysis, organizing the signal into discrete time intervals in advance. This preliminary organization enables subsequent amplitude and shape extraction from pre-sorted data, avoiding the need for high-speed real-time ADC processing and reducing overall power consumption.
3Loss of information
If continuous full waveform sampling at high sampling rates is used, then detailed signal information is captured, but large amounts of data are generated requiring extensive processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous waveform into discrete time bins with finite resolution, capturing essential signal characteristics in each bin. This segmentation reduces the total data volume compared to continuous sampling while preserving amplitude and shape information, thereby improving data processing efficiency without significant information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses partial sampling by selecting specific time bins for detailed analysis rather than processing every sample point. This partial action approach captures sufficient signal information for most applications while dramatically reducing the data processing burden, resolving the contradiction between information completeness and processing efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the determination of reflectance and surface properties of objects, improves signal averaging, and enhances interference rejection, making it suitable for advanced processing steps like object detection and sensor fusion.
Implementation Method 1
a detector configured to provide a received signal
Implementation Method 2
A LIDAR system typically uses the time-of-flight (ToF) of the emitted light to measure the distance to an object
Data Source
AI summary
In embodiments a detection system includes a detector configured to provide a received signal and a processing circuit configured to provide a plurality of quantized signals, each quantized signal being associated with a respective threshold level, and each quantized signal being representative of portions of the received signal in which a signal level of the received signal is greater than the respective threshold level and to provide an encoded signal based on the plurality of quantized signals, the encoded signal including a first plurality of first encoded signal values being representative of the portions of the received signal in which the signal level of the received signal becomes greater than one of the threshold levels, and a second plurality of second encoded signal values being representative of the portions of the received signal in which the signal level of the received signal becomes less than one of the threshold levels.