Fiber optically coupled, multiplexed, and chopped laser rangefinder
US7586586B2 · kind B2 · utility
61Cited by
9References
20Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 22, 2008 |
| Grant date | Sep 8, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 3, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S17/36
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A CW phase-delay distance measuring device is described. The device fiber-optically couples an amplitude modulated laser and a detector though MEMS fiber optic switches to provide chopping and multiplexing capability, and to allow measurement of transmit and receive coupling. Phase continuous direct digital synthesizers are used to generate transmit and local oscillator frequencies in an agile frequency diverse way to disambiguate range. Fiber-optic coupling mitigates systematic errors such as variable detector group delay and provides for multiplexing multiple transmit and receive optics onto a single electro-optical system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.