Patent ID: 11880000
Assignee: AURORA OPERATIONS, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 13:
14. An automotive LIDAR system, comprising:
at least one LIDAR transceiver that includes:
a source input configured to receive a laser signal;
a plurality of coherent cells; and
an optical switch configured to switchably couple the source input to the plurality of coherent cells, wherein at least one coherent cell of the plurality of coherent cells includes:
an input port coupled to the optical switch;
an optical antenna; and
a splitter coupled between the input port and the optical antenna, wherein the splitter is configured to:
split a received portion of the laser signal into a local oscillator signal and a transmit signal, wherein the transmit signal is emitted through the optical antenna and a reflection of the transmit signal is received through the optical antenna as a reflected signal; and
output a return signal that is a portion of the reflected signal; and

a lens coupled to the LIDAR transceiver and configured to:
collimate the transmit signal emitted by the optical antenna; and
receive and couple the reflected signal to the optical antenna.