Patents Examined by Eric L Bolda
  • Patent number: 11899134
    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: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Innovusion, Inc.
    Inventors: Junwei Bao, Yimin Li, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 11892573
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide a system for analyzing noise data for light detection and ranging (LiDAR). The system includes a communication interface configured to sequentially receive noise data of the LiDAR in time windows, at least one storage device configured to store instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations. Exemplary operations include determining an estimated noise value of a first time window using the noise data received in the first time window and determining an instant noise value of a second time window using the noise data received in the second time window. The second time window is immediately subsequent to the first time window. The operations also include determining an estimated noise value of the second time window by aggregating the estimated noise value of the first time window and the instant noise value of the second time window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: GUANGZHOU WOYA LAIDELING TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Zhenghan Zhu, Yue Lu, Lingkai Kong, John Wu
  • Patent number: 11880000
    Abstract: A LIDAR transceiver includes a source input, coherent cells, and an optical switch. The optical switch is configured to switchably couple the source input to the coherent cells. At least one of the coherent cells includes an input port, an optical antenna, and a splitter. The input port is coupled to the optical switch and the splitter is coupled between the input port and the optical antenna. The splitter is configured to split a received portion of a laser signal into a local oscillator signal and a transmit signal, where the transmit signal is emitted through the optical antenna. A reflection of the transmit signal is received through the optical antenna as a reflected signal, where the splitter is further configured to output a return signal that is a portion of the reflected signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Aurora Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Amir Hosseini, Sen Lin, Andrew Steil Michaels
  • Patent number: 11879994
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a data processing apparatus includes a data processing unit and an acquisition unit. The data processing unit is configured to perform data processing on measurement data according to a distance to a marker, the measurement data being obtained by a ranging sensor attached to a moving object and measuring the marker of which surface includes a pattern with different reflection characteristics. The acquisition unit is configured to acquire operation information of the moving object based on data obtained by the data processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yusuke Ito, Kenichi Shimoyama
  • Patent number: 11876339
    Abstract: A pumping light source outputs pumping lights. A pumping light source outputs a pumping light. Optical multiplexers couple the pumping lights to a plurality of cores. The optical multiplexer couples the pumping light to the clad. A pumping light source drive unit drives a pumping light source. A pumping light source drive unit drives a pumping light source. A monitoring unit outputs a monitoring signal indicating a monitoring result of the number of wavelengths used in each of optical signals amplified by the plurality of the cores. The control unit controls the power of the pumping lights based on the monitoring signal. The control unit controls the power of each of the pumping lights in accordance with the number of wavelengths used in each of the optical signals and controls the power of the pumping light so that signal qualities of the optical signals fall within a prescribed range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keiichi Matsumoto, Emmanuel Le Taillandier De Gabory
  • Patent number: 11867840
    Abstract: The inventive Device is comprising a laser rangefinder for determining the distance along a laser axis between the device and a target object. The laser rangefinder is comprising a pumping laser and a thulium and/or holmium doped fiber laser with a thulium and/or holmium doped fiber section and two Bragg gratings arranged on both sides of the thulium and/or holmium doped fiber section of the thulium and/or holmium doped fiber laser wherein the thulium and/or holmium doped fiber laser is pumped by the pumping laser and configured to emit laser light with a wavelength in the range of 1900 nm to 2150 nm. The inventive device has an improved applicability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: SAFRAN VECTRONIX AG
    Inventor: Christian Ban
  • Patent number: 11870205
    Abstract: A fiber-based optical amplifier for operation at an eye-safe input signal wavelength ?S within the 2 ?m region is formed to include a section of Holmium (Ho)-doped optical gain fiber. The pump source for the fiber amplifier is particularly configured to provide pump light at a wavelength where the absorption coefficient of the Ho-doped optical gain fiber exceeds its gain coefficient (referred to as an “absorption-dominant pump wavelength”), and is typically within the range of 1800-1900 nm. The selection of an absorption-dominant pump wavelength limits the spontaneous emission of the pump from affecting the amount of gain achieved at the higher wavelength end of the operating region. The amount of crosstalk between the signal wavelength and pump wavelength is also reduced (in comparison to using the conventional 1940 nm pump wavelength).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Cybel, LLC.
    Inventors: Robert E. Tench, Jean-Marc Delavaux
  • Patent number: 11870208
    Abstract: Provided are a low-cost and low power-consumption optical fiber amplifier, an optical fiber amplifier control method, and a transmission system. The optical fiber amplifier comprises: an optical fiber to which pumping light is supplied and which amplifies an optical signal, the optical fiber including a plurality of cores in a cladding; a light source which outputs the pumping light; a combining means which supplies the pumping light from the light source to the cladding of the optical fiber and causes the pumping light to be combined with the optical signal; a collect means which collects, without collecting the signal light, pumping light among the supplied pumping light that has not been absorbed by the optical fiber; a monitor means which monitors residual pumping light that has passed through the optical fiber and collected by the collect means; and a control means which controls the state of the pumping light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keiichi Matsumoto, Emmanuel Le Taillandier De Gabory, Shigeyuki Yanagimachi
  • Patent number: 11860282
    Abstract: A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, includes an optical source to generate a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) optical beam, a memory, and a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, to identify energy peaks in a frequency domain of a range-dependent baseband signal that corresponds to a return signal from a reflection of the FMCW optical beam and identify an obstruction of the LIDAR system based on a comparison of a frequency of the energy peaks to a threshold frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Aeva, Inc.
    Inventors: Jose Krause Perin, Kumar Bhargav Viswanatha, Rajendra Tushar Moorti, Mina Rezk
  • Patent number: 11855405
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a device and a method for adjusting a pulse width of a laser beam by using the plasma generated by being induced from laser as a shutter, and more particularly, to a device and a method for adjusting a laser pulse width, which can precisely and quickly adjust the laser pulse width by dividing the laser generated from a laser light source into a target pulse and a shutter pulse; converting the optical path of the divided laser; and chopping the target pulse by using the plasma induced from the shutter pulse as an optical shutter in a cell having adjustable internal pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Seoul National University R&DBFoundation
    Inventors: Hyung Rok Do, Sang Eun Bae, Sung Kyun Oh
  • Patent number: 11841466
    Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods that detect an electromagnetic signal in a constant interference environment. In one embodiment, the electromagnetic signal is a light signal. A constant interference detector may detect false signal “hits” generated by constant interference, such as bright light saturation, from valid signals. The constant interference detector determines if there is constant interference for a time period that is greater than a time period of the valid signal. In one embodiment, if a received signal exceeds a programmable threshold value for a programmable period of time, when compared to previously stored ambient light, a control signal is generated to inform the next higher network layer of a sudden change in ambient light. This control signal can be used to either discard the present return or process the signal in a different way. A constant interference detector may be a component of a LIDAR system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Velodyne Lidar USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Pravin Kumar Venkatesan, Roger Jullian Pinto, Jianghui Su, Abhilash Goyal
  • Patent number: 11843217
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a fiber encapsulation mechanism for energy dissipation in a fiber amplifying system. One example embodiment includes an optical fiber amplifier. The optical fiber amplifier includes an optical fiber that includes a gain medium, as well as a polymer layer that at least partially surrounds the optical fiber. The polymer layer is optically transparent. In addition, the optical fiber amplifier includes a pump source. Optical pumping by the pump source amplifies optical signals in the optical fiber and generates excess heat and excess photons. The optical fiber amplifier additionally includes a heatsink layer disposed adjacent to the polymer layer. The heatsink layer conducts the excess heat away from the optical fiber. Further, the optical fiber amplifier includes an optically transparent layer disposed adjacent to the polymer layer. The optically transparent layer transmits the excess photons away from the optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Bernard Fidric, Daniel Rosenfeld, Rahim Pardhan
  • Patent number: 11822008
    Abstract: A motor vehicle is disclosed. The motor vehicle includes a light detection and ranging (lidar) sensor and an outer surface of the motor vehicle. The outer surface includes at least one retroreflector element for the lidar sensor arranged on the outer surface of the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventor: Rachid Khlifi
  • Patent number: 11822018
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for multi-detector LIDAR and methods. An example method may include emitting, by a light emitter of a LIDAR system, a first light pulse. The example method may also include activating a first light detector of the LIDAR system at a first time, the first time corresponding a time when return light corresponding to the first light pulse would be within a first field of view of the first light detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: LG INNOTEK CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Dane P. Bennington, Ryan T. Davis, Michel H. J. Laverne
  • Patent number: 11811186
    Abstract: An apparatus includes an optical gain fiber having a core, a cladding surrounding the core, the core and cladding defining an optical gain fiber numerical aperture, and a multimode fiber having a core with a larger radius than a radius of the optical gain fiber core, a cladding surrounding the core, the core and cladding of the multimode fiber defining a multimode fiber stable numerical aperture that is larger than the optical gain fiber numerical aperture, the multimode fiber being optically coupled to the optical gain fiber so as to receive an optical beam propagating in the optical gain fiber and to stably propagate the received optical beam in the multimode fiber core with low optical loss associated with the optical coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: NLIGHT, INC.
    Inventors: Roger L. Farrow, Dahv A. V. Kliner
  • Patent number: 11808852
    Abstract: An optical distance measurement method includes: acquiring a plurality of sensed values based on detecting light; performing a filtering operation to select a plurality of selected sensed values from the plurality of sensed values; determining a location of a centroid according to the plurality of selected sensed values; and calculating a plurality of depth values with respect to a plurality of detecting points according to the location of the centroid and a plurality of depth information transformation functions respectively corresponding to the detecting points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: PixArt Imaging Inc.
    Inventor: Guo-Zhen Wang
  • Patent number: 11802946
    Abstract: To dynamically control power in a lidar system, a controller identifies a triggering event and provides a control signal to a light source in the lidar system adjusting the power of light pulses provided by the light source. Triggering events may include exceeding a threshold speed, being within a threshold distance of a person or other object, an atmospheric condition, identifying residue on a surface of a window of the lidar system, etc. In some scenarios, the power is adjusted to address eye-safety concerns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Luminar Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Austin K. Russell, Jason M. Eichenholz, Laurance S. Lingvay
  • Patent number: 11782132
    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: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Innovusion, Inc.
    Inventors: Junwei Bao, Yimin Li, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 11782131
    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: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Innovusion, Inc.
    Inventors: Junwei Bao, Yimin Li, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 11774558
    Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a light source configured to emit first light in a first wavelength range and second light in a second wavelength range, a beam divider configured to allow the first light to travel in a first direction, and receive the second light, and allow the second light to travel in a second direction different from the first direction, a first optical modulator configured to receive the first light, and modulate a phase of the first light received by the first optical modulator to change a travelling direction of the first light received by the first optical modulator, and a second optical modulator configured to receive the second light, and modulate a phase of the second light received by the second optical modulator to change a travelling direction of the second light received by the second optical modulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Byunggil Jeong, Jaeduck Jang, Duhyun Lee