Techniques for improving probability of detection in light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems

A frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, comprising:

• an optical scanner to transmit, into a field of view, an optical beam comprising at least one up-chirp and at least one down-chirp, and receive from one or more objects in the field of view a returned optical beam responsive to the transmission of the optical beam;
• an optical processing system coupled to the optical scanner to generate a baseband signal from the returned optical beam, wherein the baseband signal comprises a plurality of peaks corresponding with the at least one up-chirp and the at least one down-chirp;
• and
• a signal processing system coupled to the optical processing system and configured to:
• divide the field of view into a grid comprising a plurality of cells;
• compute a plurality of points based on the plurality of peaks, wherein each point comprises information that describes a range and a velocity and corresponds to a respective cell of the plurality of cells;
• for each point of the plurality of points, generate a point confidence score for the point;
• for each cell of the plurality of cells, compute a cell confidence score for the cell based on the point confidence scores of the points within the cell;
• and
• for each point, accept or reject the point for inclusion in a point cloud based on comparing the point confidence score for the point with a first threshold and comparing the cell confidence scores for the plurality of cells with a second threshold.

A frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, comprising:

• a processing device;
• and
• a memory to store instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the LIDAR system to:
• receive a baseband signal wherein the baseband signal comprises a plurality of peaks corresponding with at least one up-chirp and at least one down-chirp of a returned optical beam;
• divide a field of view of the LIDAR system into a grid comprising a plurality of cells;
• compute a plurality of points based on the plurality of peaks, wherein each point comprises information that describes a range and a velocity and corresponds to a respective cell of the plurality of cells;
• for each point of the plurality of points, compute a point confidence score for the point;
• for each cell of the plurality of cells, compute a cell confidence score for the cell based on the point confidence scores of the points within the cell;
• and
• for each point, accept or reject the point for inclusion in a point cloud based on comparing the point confidence score for the point with a first threshold and comparing the cell confidence scores for the plurality of cells with a second threshold.