OPTICAL PHASED ARRAY LIDAR SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING SAME

• US 20160161600A1
• Filed: 05/16/2014
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quanergy Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Quanergy Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Eldada, Louay, Yu, Tianyue, PACALA, ANGUS
• Granted Patent: US 10,126,412 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/865 Combination of radar systems with lidar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4813 Housing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4814 of transmitters alone
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4818 using optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4863 Detector arrays, e.g. charge-transfer gates

Abstract

A lidar-based system and method are used for the solid state beamforming and steering of laser beams using optical phased array (OPA) photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and the detection of laser beams using photodetectors. Transmitter and receiver electronics, power management electronics, control electronics, data conversion electronics and processing electronics are also included in the system and used in the method.

Laser pulses beamformed by the OPA PIC reflect from objects in the field of view (FOV) of said OPA, and are detected by a detector or a set of detectors.

A lidar system includes at least one lidar, and any subset and any number of complementary sensors, data processing/communication/storage modules, and a balance of system for supplying power, protecting, connecting, and mounting the components of said system.

Direct correlation between the 3D point cloud generated by the lidar and the color images captured by an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) video camera can be achieved by using an optical beam splitter that sends optical signals simultaneously to both sensors.

A lidar system may contain a plurality of lidar sensors, a lidar sensor may contain a plurality of optical transmitters, and an optical transmitter may contain a plurality of OPA PICs.

Claims

1. A time-of-flight lidar ranging apparatus comprising

an optical transmitter comprising an optical phased array photonic integrated circuit,

an optical receiver assembly,

power regulation electronics,

control electronics,

data conversion electronics, and

processing electronics

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical receiver assembly utilizes avalanche photodiode detection

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical receiver assembly utilizes positive-intrinsic-negative diode detection

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical receiver assembly contains one photodetector

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical receiver assembly contains a plurality of photodetectors

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are single-photon avalanche diodes

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are electrically coupled to a read-out integrated circuit

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are part of a focal-plane array

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit is compatible with a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit is preferably based on a silicon on insulator structure

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit contains optical waveguiding elements composed of at least a subset of a set of materials comprising

crystalline silicon

amorphous silicon

silicon nitride

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit is integrated monolithically or hybridly with at least a subset of a set of components comprising a single or a plurality of

lasers,

laser drivers,

laser controllers,

optical amplifiers,

optical detectors,

receiver electronics,

power regulation electronics,

control electronics,

data conversion electronics, and

data processing electronics

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said integration comprises a multi-chip module

14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said integration comprises monolithic integration and hybrid integration

15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said integration comprises hybrid integration for said one or plurality of lasers, and monolithic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integration for the remaining elements in said subset of components

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said integration consists of monolithic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integration for the components in said subset

17. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said integration consists of monolithic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integration for all components in said set

18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical transmitter comprises a plurality of said optical phased array photonic integrated circuits

19. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a plurality of said optical transmitters

20. A three-dimensional lidar sensing system comprising the time-of-flight lidar ranging apparatus of claim 1 and at least a subset of a set of modules comprising a single or a plurality of

global positioning system receiver,

global navigation satellite system receiver,

inertial measurement unit,

wheel encoder,

visible video camera,

infrared video camera,

radar,

ultrasonic sensor,

embedded processor,

Ethernet controller,

cell modem,

Wi-Fi controller,

data storage drive,

human machine interface,

power supply,

enclosure,

cabling, and

mounting hardware

21. The system of claim 20 wherein an optical intensity beam splitter is used to split and send optical signals simultaneously to the optical receiver assembly of said lidar and to said visible video camera

22. The system of claim 21 wherein said optical beam splitter is a visible and near-infrared beam splitter based on at least one of the beam splitters in a set comprising

plate beam splitter

cube beam splitter

prism beam splitter

pellicle beam splitter

partially-metallized mirror

23. The system of claim 21 wherein said optical receiver assembly of said lidar and said visible video camera are integrated on a single printed circuit board

24. The system of claim 23 wherein said printed circuit board has additionally integrated on it an optical phased array photonic integrated circuit of said lidar

25. The system of claim 20 comprising a plurality of said lidar ranging apparatuses

26. A method for time-of-flight lidar ranging utilizing an apparatus comprising

an optical transmitter comprising an optical phased array photonic integrated circuit,

an optical receiver assembly,

power regulation electronics,

control electronics,

data conversion electronics, and

processing electronics

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said optical receiver assembly contains one photodetector

28. The method of claim 26 wherein said optical receiver assembly contains a plurality of photodetectors

29. The method of claim 28 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are single-photon avalanche diodes

30. The method of claim 28 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are electrically coupled to a read-out integrated circuit

31. The method of claim 28 wherein said plurality of photodetectors are part of a focal-plane array

32. The method of claim 28 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit is compatible with a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said optical phased array photonic integrated circuit is integrated monolithically or hybridly with at least a subset of a set of components comprising a single or a plurality of

lasers,

laser drivers,

laser controllers,

optical amplifiers,

optical detectors,

receiver electronics,

power regulation electronics,

control electronics,

data conversion electronics, and

data processing electronics

34. The method of claim 26 wherein said optical transmitter comprises a plurality of said optical phased array photonic integrated circuits

35. The method of claim 26 wherein said apparatus comprises a plurality of said optical transmitters

36. A method for three-dimensional lidar sensing utilizing a system comprising said apparatus of claim 26 and at least a subset of a set of modules comprising a single or a plurality of

global positioning system receiver,

global navigation satellite system receiver,

inertial measurement unit,

wheel encoder,

visible video camera,

infrared video camera,

radar,

ultrasonic sensor,

embedded processor,

Ethernet controller,

cell modem,

Wi-Fi controller,

data storage drive,

human machine interface,

power supply,

enclosure,

cabling, and

mounting hardware

37. The method of claim 36 wherein said system comprises an optical intensity beam splitter used to split and send optical signals simultaneously to the optical receiver assembly of said lidar and to said visible video camera

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said optical receiver assembly of said lidar and said visible video camera are integrated on a single printed circuit board

39. The method of claim 37 wherein said printed circuit board has additionally integrated on it an optical phased array photonic integrated circuit of said lidar

40. The method of claim 36 wherein said system comprises a plurality of said lidar ranging apparatuses