Reading device and lidar measuring device

A lidar measuring device in focal plane array arrangement for the detecting of objects in an environment of a vehicle, comprising:

• a lidar transmission unit with a plurality of transmission elements for the transmitting of light pulses and a lidar receiving unit with a plurality of sensor elements for receiving the light pulses, wherein
• the transmission elements and the sensor elements are arranged in lines which run parallel to a horizontal plane of the vehicle;
• a reading device for determining a signal propagation time of the light pulses between the lidar transmission unit and the lidar receiving unit of the lidar measuring device, wherein the reading device includes:
• an input interface for receiving detections from multiple sensor elements of the lidar receiving unit, said sensor elements being arranged in a macrocell paired with a transmission element of the lidar transmission unit;
• a weighting unit for determining respectively an individual weighting parameter for each of the plurality of sensor elements, wherein the individual weighting parameter is generated during a factory calibration procedure that includes, for each sensor element:
• sequentially activating the sensor element while a constant signal propagation time is imposed, counting a number of detections registered by the sensor element, and assigning to the sensor element a whole-number weighting factor that is a power of two, proportional to a counted number of detections, and set to zero if the count is below a predetermined threshold, such that the weighting parameter depends on an individually measured signal-to-noise ratio of each sensor element;
• a summation unit for generating a histogram with an allocation of the detections to detection times of the detections, wherein the summation unit is configured to weight the detections on a basis of the individual weighting parameters;
• a propagation time unit for determining the signal propagation time on a basis of the generated histogram;
• and
• an output unit for outputting the signal propagation time.

A method for determining a signal propagation time of a light pulse between a lidar transmission unit and a lidar receiving unit of a lidar measuring device in focal plane array arrangement, comprising:

• determining a signal-to-noise ratio for each sensor element in a plurality of sensor elements in the lidar receiving unit, the plurality of sensor elements arranged in a macrocell allocated to a transmission element of the lidar transmission unit, wherein the determining comprises:
• sequentially activating each sensor element in the plurality of sensor elements while a constant signal propagation time is imposed;
• counting a number of detections registered by the sensor element;
• and
• assigning to the sensor element a whole-number weighting factor that is a power of two, proportional to a counted number of detections, and set to zero if the count is below a predetermined threshold, such that the weighting factor depends on an individually measured signal-to-noise ratio of each sensor element;
• receiving (S10) detections of several sensor elements in the macrocell of the lidar receiving unit;
• generating (S14) a histogram with an allocation of the detections to detection times of the detections;
• weighing the detections on a basis of the individual weighting factors;
• and
• determining (S16) the signal propagation time on a basis of the generated histogram and outputting (S18) the signal propagation time.