Waveform reconstruction in a time-of-flight sensor

A method, comprising:

• emitting, by a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor device comprising a processor, a light pulse into a viewing space;
• generating, by the TOF sensor device, an electrical output in proportion to an intensity of light incident on a surface of a photo-receiver of the TOF sensor device;
• generating, by the TOF sensor device, waveform data representing a reflected light pulse received by the photo-receiver based on the electrical output;
• comparing, by the TOF sensor device, the waveform data with stored waveform profiles that define characteristic waveform signatures for respective object classifications;
• generating, by the TOF sensor device based on a result of the comparing, classification data that indicates an object classification, of the respective object classifications, assigned to an object corresponding to the reflected light pulse;
• and
• in response to determining that the object classification satisfies a criterion, generating, by the TOF sensor device, an output signal based on the object classification.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor device comprising a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• emitting a light pulse into a viewing area;
• generating an electrical output proportional to an intensity of light incident on a surface of a photo-receiver of the TOF sensor device;
• generating, based on the electrical output, waveform data corresponding to a reflected light pulse received by the photo-receiver;
• comparing the waveform data with waveform profile data that defines characteristic waveform signatures corresponding to respective object classifications;
• generating based on a result of the comparing, classification data that identifies an object classification, of the respective object classifications, assigned to an object corresponding to the reflected light pulse;
• and
• in response to determining that the object classification satisfies a criterion, generating an output signal based on the object classification.