Patents Examined by Eric L Bolda
  • Patent number: 11977183
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a system and method for coaxial LiDAR scanning. The system includes a first light source configured to provide first light pulses. The system also includes one or more beam steering apparatuses optically coupled to the first light source. Each beam steering apparatus comprises a rotatable concave reflector and a light beam steering device disposed at least partially within the rotatable concave reflector. The combination of the light beam steering device and the rotatable concave reflector, when moving with respect to each other, steers the one or more first light pulses both vertically and horizontally to illuminate an object within a field-of-view; obtain one or more first returning light pulses, the one or more first returning light pulses being generated based on the steered first light pulses illuminating an object within the field-of-view, and redirects the one or more first returning light pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Seyond, Inc.
    Inventors: Junwei Bao, Yimin Li, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 11977187
    Abstract: A LiDAR system includes an optical subsystem with an optical axis. The optical subsystem includes an optical source to emit an optical beam, a first optical lens to transmit the optical beam, an optical window to reflect a first portion of the optical beam to generate a LO signal, an optical scanner to transmit a second portion of the optical beam to a target to scan the target to generate a target return signal, where the LO signal is disposed to be decentered from the optical axis on a second optical lens in front of a photodetector (PD) to increase a percentage of an overlap of the LO signal and the target return signal on the PD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Aeva, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith Gagne, Adrian Cort, Oguzhan Avci, Kevin Pollock, Pierre Hicks, Mina Rezk, Behsan Behzadi, Gautam Prabhakar
  • Patent number: 11975961
    Abstract: An optical micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) system is disclosed. The optical MEMS system includes a printed circuit board (PCB), and a MEMS optical integrated circuit (IC) package mounted to the PCB. The IC package includes a MEMS optical die, and a plurality of leads electrically and mechanically connected to the MEMS optical die and to the PCB. The optical MEMS system also includes one or more elastomeric grommets contacting one or more of the leads, where the grommets are configured to absorb mechanical vibration energy from the contacted leads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Beijing Voyager Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Youmin Wang, Anan Pan, Henghui Jiang
  • Patent number: 11965992
    Abstract: A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system includes a laser and a calibration unit. The laser is configured to generate a laser beam based on a particular laser waveform that is associated with at least one parameter of a plurality of parameters. The calibration unit is configured to determine a particular value for the at least one parameter of the plurality of parameters to compensate for distortion characteristics of the laser. The calibration unit is configured to determine the particular value based on an output frequency of the laser beam. The calibration unit is configured to update the particular laser waveform with the particular value of the at least one parameter of the plurality of parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: AURORA OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Andrew Steil Michaels, Sen Lin
  • Patent number: 11962120
    Abstract: A semiconductor laser module that can increase output of an optical fiber laser is provided. The semiconductor laser module includes: a mounted-base member having a mounted-base face; a plurality of semiconductor laser elements installed on the mounted-base face of the mounted-base member; a lens that collimates laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser element; a condensing lens that condenses the laser light; and an optical fiber to which the condensed laser light is optically coupled, and further includes: between the condensing lens that condenses the laser light and the lens that collimates laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser element, an aperture that restricts light in a slow axis direction of the laser light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuta Ishige, Etsuji Katayama
  • Patent number: 11953628
    Abstract: A phase shifter includes a substrate layer, a cladding layer, and a waveguide. The phase shifter includes a waveguide and a heating element. The phase shifter includes a thermally conductive structure disposed on the cladding layer to disperse heat from the waveguide. The thermally conductive structure may include a metal strip disposed longitudinally along the beam, may include thermally conductive pads, and/or may include thermally conductive vias coupled between the cladding layer and the substrate layer. The phase shifter may be incorporated into light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, telecommunications devices, and/or computing devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: AURORA OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: James Ferrara, Sen Lin
  • Patent number: 11955762
    Abstract: A laser pulse energy amplification device and method, and a femtosecond laser are provided. The laser pulse energy amplification device includes a pulse amplifier and a pulse shaper that are connected in sequence. The pulse amplifier is connected to an output port of a seed laser source and is connected to the pulse shaper that outputs a femtosecond laser pulse. The seed laser source is configured to generate and input a seed laser pulse to the pulse amplifier. The pulse amplifier is configured to introduce a nonlinear phase shift into the seed laser pulse, perform energy amplification and spectral stretching, and output an energy-amplified laser pulse with a nonlinear phase to the pulse shaper. The pulse shaper is configured to measure a shape and/or the nonlinear phase of the energy-amplified laser pulse, and shape the energy-amplified laser pulse according to the shape and/or the nonlinear phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: FEMTOSECOND RESEARCH CENTER CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Bingwei Xu, Xin Zhu
  • Patent number: 11940535
    Abstract: A multipulse LIDAR system, including: a transmitting device for generating a transmission laser beam from a temporal sequence of single laser pulses; a receiving device with a detection surface, including a subdetector system made up of multiple subdetectors, for receiving the transmission laser beam that is reflected/scattered on objects in an observation area, the receiving device imaging a sampling point on the detection surface in the form of a pixel; a scanning device generating a scanning movement for successive sampling of the observation area along multiple sampling points situated in succession, the scanning movement to image a pixel on the detection surface, in each case shifted along the subdetector system; and a control device for determining distance information of the sampling points based on propagation times of the particular single laser pulses, the control device grouping subdetectors to form a macropixel individually associated with the particular pixel, for shared evaluation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Reiner Schnitzer, Tobias Hipp
  • Patent number: 11940538
    Abstract: In one arrangement, a system includes a light source to provide outgoing light having at least one time-varying attribute at a selected one of multiple wavelength channels, the at least one time-varying attribute including either/both of (a) a time-varying intensity profile and (b) a time-varying frequency deviation, a beam director to spatially direct the outgoing light into one of multiple directions in two dimensions into an environment having a spatial profile, the one of the multiple directions corresponding to the selected wavelength channel, a light receiver to receive at least part of the outgoing light reflected by the environment, and a processing unit to determine at least one characteristic associated with the at least one time-varying attribute of the reflected light at the selected one of the multiple wavelengths for estimation of the spatial profile of the environment associated with the corresponding one of the multiple directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: BARAJA PTY LTD.
    Inventors: Federico Collarte Bondy, Cibby Pulikkaseril
  • Patent number: 11940572
    Abstract: A polarization splitter-rotator (PSR) is described. The PSR having a silicon nitride based waveguide to split and rotate an optical beam. The silicon nitride based waveguide having a first silicon nitride segment including a first layer and a second layer coupled with the first layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Aeva, Inc.
    Inventors: Bing Shen, Kevin Masuda, Brett E. Huff, Pradeep Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11933603
    Abstract: A measurement apparatus includes a light irradiator, a light receiver, and a processor. The light irradiator is able to apply light from multiple directions to a specific portion of a subject to be measured. The light receiver receives light reflected by the specific portion. The processor is configured to: cause the light irradiator to apply light to the specific portion sequentially from the multiple directions; and acquire information concerning a tilt of a surface of the specific portion, based on information on light received by the light receiver when light is applied to the specific portion from a first direction and information on light received by the light receiver when light is applied to the specific portion from a second direction. The multiple directions include the first and second directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP.
    Inventors: Takashi Hiramatsu, Jungo Harigai, Yoshitaka Kuwada
  • Patent number: 11936156
    Abstract: An optical power transmission apparatus includes: a light emitting unit including a first optical gain generating means and a first light reflecting means; an optical fiber; a second light reflecting means; and a light receiving means. Further, the second light reflecting means is arranged nearer to the light receiving means than the optical fiber is, a first laser resonator is formed, between the first light reflecting means and the second light reflecting means, by optical connection between the first optical gain generating means and the optical fiber, and first laser light generated by the first laser resonator is configured to be incident on the light receiving means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Noriyuki Yokouchi, Kengo Watanabe
  • Patent number: 11933899
    Abstract: Through discrimination of the scattered signal polarization state, a lidar system measures a distance through semi-transparent media by the reception of single or multiple scattered signals from a scattering medium. Combined and overlapped single or multiple scattered light signals from the medium can be separated by exploiting varying polarization characteristics. This removes the traditional laser and detector pulse width limitations that determine the system's operational bandwidth, translating relative depth measurements into the conditions of two surface timing measurements and achieving sub-pulse width resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignees: The Regents of the University of Colorado, LiteWave Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey P. Thayer, Geoffrey Crowley, Andrew W. Gisler, Steven Mitchell, Matthew Hayman
  • Patent number: 11923651
    Abstract: Techniques for improving gain equalization in C- and L-band (“C+L”) erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFAs) are provided. For example, the C- and L-band amplification sections of a C+L EDFA may be separated and configured in a parallel arrangement or a serial arrangement. For both the parallel and serial arrangements, the C- and L-band amplification sections may share a common gain flattening filter (GFF) or each amplification section may include and employ a separate GFF. Moreover, in some examples, an “interstage” L-band GFF may be located before or upstream of the L-band amplification section such that the L-band optical signal is gain-equalized or flattened prior to the L-band amplification section amplifying the L-band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: SubCom, LLC
    Inventors: Dmitri G. Foursa, Alexei N. Pilipetskii, Maxim A. Bolshtyansky, Gregory M. Wolter
  • Patent number: 11921207
    Abstract: A light detection and ranging system arranged to scan a scene is provided. A light source outputs light having a first characteristic. A spatial light modulator receives output light from the light source and outputs spatially-modulated light in accordance with computer-generated holograms represented thereon. A light detector receives light having the first characteristic from the scene and outputs a light response signal. A holographic controller is arranged to output a plurality of computer-generated holograms to the spatial light modulator. Each computer-generated hologram is arranged to form structured light having a corresponding pattern within the scene. The holographic controller is further arranged to change the pattern of the structured light formed by at least one of the plurality of computer-generated holograms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Envisics Ltd
    Inventors: Jamieson Christmas, Paul Whiting
  • Patent number: 11916348
    Abstract: An optical fiber comprises a core having an elliptical cross section and a cladding having a circular cross section. The core has an aspect ratio between 2 and 40. The core and the cladding have a common central axis with the core being enclosed by the cladding. The difference of a refractive index of the cladding to a refractive index of the core is between 1×10?2 and 1.5×10?1. A trench is located between the core and the cladding. The trench has a uniform width and encircles the core. The refractive index of the trench is lower than the refractive index of the cladding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignees: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CANADA CO., LTD., Université Laval
    Inventors: Alessandro Corsi, Sophie La Rochelle, Junho Chang
  • Patent number: 11914041
    Abstract: A detection device, which detects a behavior of a vehicle in a preset detection area using a laser radar that generates point cloud information by irradiating the detection area with laser light and receiving reflected light resulting from the irradiation with the laser light, includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire the point cloud information, a vehicle detection unit configured to detect a vehicle on the basis of the point cloud information, and a behavior detection unit configured to detect a target behavior that is a vehicle behavior subjected to detection in response to the vehicle detected by the vehicle detection unit having moved from a first area to a second area, in which the first area and the second area are included in the detection area and are set according to the target behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: IHI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenichi Hamaguchi, Yosuke Seto, Yoshihisa Yamanouchi
  • Patent number: 11906626
    Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods that that mitigate avalanche photodiode (APD) blinding and allow for improved accuracy in the detection of a multi-return light signal. A blinding spot may occur due to saturation of a primary APD. The systems and methods include the incorporation of a redundant APD and the utilization of time diversity and space diversity. Detection by the APDs is activated by a bias signal. The redundant APD receives a time delayed bias signal compared to the primary APD. Additionally, the redundant APD is positioned off the main focal plane in order to attenuate an output of the redundant APD. With attenuation, the redundant APD may not saturate and may have a successful detection during the blinding spot of the primary APD. Embodiments may include multiple primary APDs and multiple secondary APDs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Velodyne Lidar USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiran Kumar Gunnam, Nitinkumar Sagarbhai Barot, Rajesh Ramalingam Varadharajan, Roger Jullian Pinto, Kanke Gao
  • Patent number: 11909168
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the technical field of optical communications, and relates to an optical amplification method and an amplifier, and in particular, to a self-adaptive wave band amplification method and an amplifier. The present invention consists of a master amplifying unit and a slave amplifying unit, and can autonomously detect the service signal wave band range of an optical transmission line, and according to the detection result, the two amplifying units do not need to perform scheduling or configuration from the level of network management, and perform direct interaction and action from the bottom layer to implement self-adaptive on, off and adjustment in real time. On one hand, power consumption is reduced, and energy is saved; and on the other hand, the performance is optimized, and an optimal optical amplification index is obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Accelink Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhenyu Yu, Qinlian Bu, Chengpeng Fu, Xiao Cai, Fuxing Deng, Rui Lei
  • Patent number: 11899109
    Abstract: A laser scanning sensor includes a distance data acquisition unit which acquires distance information in each measurement direction, and a memory which stores, as background distance information, a distance of an outer periphery of the detection area in each measurement direction. The sensor also includes a mirror surface determination unit which determines the presence of a reflecting surface when the distance information in continuous measurement directions is greater by at least a predetermined distance than the corresponding background distance information, and when this state changes thereafter by at least a predetermined rate in a predetermined time, a human body determination unit which extracts a portion of the distance information that may correspond to a human body and determines whether it corresponds to a human body, and an alarm output control unit which outputs an alarm signal when the presence of the reflecting surface or the human body is confirmed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: OPTEX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masashi Iwasawa, Masashiro Morita