System, apparatus, and method for improving performance of imaging lidar systems

A system for three-dimensional range mapping of an object or objects, the system comprising:

• computing device including a microprocessor, a timer, the timer configured to determine a time of flight, and a memory, the memory configured to instruct the microprocessor;
• an array of light sources under control of the microprocessor and configured to emit a plurality of emitted beams;
• a ranging information embedder under control of the microprocessor, the ranging information embedder configured to embed the plurality of emitted beams;
• a plurality of orthogonal waveform generators under control of the microprocessor, and configured to embed the plurality of emitted beams, a specific orthogonal waveform generator associated with a specific light source, such that a specific emitted beam is embedded with a specific orthogonal waveform;
• a plurality detector elements configured to receive a plurality of focused beams;
• and a plurality of correlators under control of the microprocessor and configured to correlate a specific received beam with a specific emitted beam, each correlator corresponding to each light source and in communication with the timer.

A computational unit for use with a LIDAR system, the LIDAR system including an array of light beam emitters and at least one detector element, the computational unit configured to:

• instruct each light beam emitter in the array of light beam emitters to simultaneously emit an emitted light beam;
• embed each emitted light beam with a ranging information;
• identify each emitted light beam with a unique orthogonal waveform;
• match the unique orthogonal waveform in each reflected beam with the unique orthogonal waveform in the emitted light beam;
• and determine a range from a time of flight for each emitted and reflected light beam pair.

A method of three-dimensional range mapping of an object or objects, the method comprising:

• selecting a LIDAR system, the LIDAR system including an array of light beam emitters, each which emit a transmission signal, at least one detector element for receiving reception signals, and a computational unit, the computational unit including a specific computational system for each light beam emitter, the computational unit:
• instructing the light beam emitters to simultaneously emit a transmission signal;
• embedding the transmission signals with ranging information;
• identifying each transmission signal with a unique orthogonal waveform;
• matching the unique orthogonal waveform in each reception signal to the unique orthogonal waveform in the transmission signal;
• and determining a range from a time of flight for each transmission and reception signal pair.