Patent ID: 8294879

Claim:
A multi-directional sensor system, comprising: a light source configured to generate a beam of electromagnetic radiation; a transmitter configured to transmit the beam of electromagnetic radiation to a target, said transmitter comprising: (i) a plurality of optical fibers, wherein one or more of the optical fibers are configured to receive the beam of electromagnetic radiation, and (ii) a surface on which one end of each of the plurality of optical fibers terminate in a different direction and/or orientation thereof to emit electromagnetic radiation; a detector configured to detect electromagnetic radiation responsive to electromagnetic radiation transmitted to the target; and a processor configured to: (i) control the light source, or (ii) process the output from the detector, or both, (iii) cause the light source to emit the electromagnetic radiation beam with an encoded pulse, wherein each beam or fiber optic of the transmitter has a different encoded pulse sequence, wherein the encoding comprises a plurality of unique bit sequences; and (iv) determine, from received encoded pulses detected in a received beam, a corresponding transmitted beam or fiber optic of the transmitter, wherein each transmitter fiber is associated with a unique bit sequence.