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US 12,474,528 B2Granted
Large scale steerable coherent optical switched arrays
AssigneeAnalog Photonics LLC
InventorsEhsan Shah Hosseini, Michael Robert Watts
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Abstract
Aspects of the present disclosure describe large scale steerable optical switched arrays that may be fabricated on a common substrate including many thousands or more emitters that may be arranged in a curved pattern at the focal plane of a lens thereby allowing the directional control of emitted light and selective reception of reflected light suitable for use in imaging, ranging, and sensing applications including accident avoidance.
Claims22
An optical structure comprising:
- a light source;
- a plurality of optical emitters on a common substrate, each configured to emit a light beam from a different respective portion of the common substrate;
- an optical power distribution network optically connecting the light source to the plurality of optical emitters, said optical power distribution network including one or more switches;
- a receiver comprising at least one photo-detector on the common substrate with the plurality of optical emitters and the optical power distribution network;
- and
- a processing system configured to perform detection;
- wherein said one or more switches are configured such that optical power emitted from the light source that enters the optical power distribution network will be emitted from a plurality of the plurality of optical emitters;
- wherein a portion of the emitted optical power is subsequently reflected by an object;
- and
- wherein the reflected optical power is detected by the receiver that provides one or more signals conveyed to the processing system.
7 more elements
A method comprising:
- distributing optical power in an optical power distribution network from a light source to a plurality of optical emitters on a common substrate, each configured to emit a light beam from a different respective portion of the common substrate, said optical power distribution network including one or more switches;
- receiving light in a receiver comprising at least one photo-detector on the common substrate with the plurality of optical emitters and the optical power distribution network;
- and
- performing detection using a processing system;
- wherein said one or more switches are configured such that optical power emitted from the light source that enters the optical power distribution network will be emitted from a plurality of the plurality of optical emitters;
- wherein a portion of the emitted optical power is subsequently reflected by an object;
- and
- wherein the reflected optical power is detected by the receiver that provides one or more signals conveyed to the processing system.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.