Patent ID: 8050570

Claim:
An optoelectronic sensor having at least one light transmitter for the transmission of light signals into a monitored zone, at least one light receiver for the reception of light signals transmitted by the light transmitter and a control device for the generation and/or influencing of the light signals and for the generation of an object detection signal in the case of the presence of an object in the monitored zone in dependence on the output signals of the light receiver, characterized in that the light signals transmitted into the monitored zone by the light transmitter are each generated by an output signal modulated in accordance with a the spread spectrum method using a random pseudo-noise code, the light signal received by the light receiver can be acted on by the random pseudo-noise code associated with the respective light transmitter for the identification of the output signal associated with a respective light transmitter, the control device includes means to form an autocorrelation function between the received light signal and the respective random pseudo-noise code for the identification of the output signal associated with a respective light transmitter, and the control device includes means to set a variable time offset between the random pseudo-noise code and the received light signal acted on by it such that a maximum value results for the autocorrelation function.