Patent attributes
Optical time-of-flight detector arrays are costly and therefore enhancing their utilization (e.g. angular coverage range) is desirable. In one embodiment, a vehicle-based distributed LIDAR is disclosed, comprising a plurality of coherent fiber optic image bundles that transfer laser reflections from fields of view (FOVs) around the vehicle to a shared remotely located detector array. An optical multiplexor timeshares the FOVs from the coherent fiber bundles onto the remote detector array. Individual fibers in the coherent bundles gather laser reflections from distinct portions of a FOV, thereby enabling correlation of the original reflection directions with fiber locations within a bundle. Unlike an externally mounted LIDAR with direct access to a single FOV, or a LIDAR using a single optic fiber that loses direction data associated with laser reflections, the coherent fiber optic image bundles transfer both the timing and direction of laser reflections from multiple FOVs to a shared remote detector array.
