Systems and methods for mitigating avalanche photodiode (apd) blinding

A method comprising:

• receiving a multi-return light signal comprising a plurality of light pulses at a primary avalanche photodiode (APD) and at a secondary APD;
• in response to receiving the multi-return light signal, generating, by the primary and secondary APDs, respective first and second electrical signals;
• combining the first and second electrical signals, thereby generating a combined signal;
• and
• detecting the plurality of light pulses by decoding the combined signal.

A system comprising:

• a primary avalanche photodiode (APD) activatable by a first bias signal and operable to receive a multi-return light signal comprising a plurality of light pulses;
• a secondary APD activatable by a second bias signal and operable to receive the multi-return light signal;
• and
• a delay component adapted to add a delay to the first bias signal to generate the second bias signal.

A method comprising:

• activating, by a first bias signal, a primary avalanche photodiode (APD) selected from two or more primary APDs;
• activating, by a second bias signal, a secondary APD;
• and
• receiving, by the selected and activated primary APD and by the activated secondary APD, a multi-return light signal comprising a plurality of light pulses.

A system comprising:

• two or more primary avalanche photodiodes (APDs), each operable to detect a multi-return light signal when activated by a first bias signal, wherein the multi-return light signal comprises a plurality of light pulses;
• a secondary APD structured and arranged to detect the multi-return light signal when activated by a second bias signal, wherein the secondary APD is structured and arranged to operate redundantly with any of the two or more primary APDs to detect the multi-return light signal;
• and
• a controller operable to select one of the two or more primary APDs and to activate the selected primary APD and the secondary APD.

A method comprising:

• disposing a primary avalanche photodiode (APD) on an optical path of a receiver of a light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) system;
• disposing a secondary APD on a different optical path than the primary APD;
• and
• receiving a multi-return light signal comprising a plurality of light pulses at the primary APD and at the secondary APD,
• wherein a first amount of optical power of the multi-return light signal received at the secondary APD is attenuated relative to a second amount of optical power of the multi-return light signal received at the primary APD.