US Patent 10281581 Lidar with optical communication

A communication system on a platform and a method of performing optical communication using an array lidar system comprising a plurality of illuminators on a platform include transmitting beams from a first set of the plurality of illuminators, receiving reflections resulting from the beams to perform target detection, and transmitting modulated optical signals from a second set of the plurality of illuminators. Receiving the modulated optical signals is done to perform the optical communication.