Data-compressed FMCW LiDAR with long range and high resolution using TFOC-based receiving.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Sensing Technologies
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Frequency Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) offers high range resolution but struggles with large data volumes in long-range applications.
• The de-chirping receiving principle in traditional FMCW LiDAR contributes to high data rates, limiting its efficiency for extended detections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a data-compressed FMCW LiDAR system capable of long-range and high-resolution detection.
• To overcome the limitations of large data volumes and high bandwidth requirements in conventional FMCW LiDAR systems.

Main Methods:

• Proposed a novel receiving method utilizing a time-frequency optical comb (TFOC) instead of a traditional single linear frequency modulating (LFM) reference signal.
• The TFOC enables echoes to beat with the nearest LFM comb tooth, decoupling target range from beating frequency.

Main Results:

• Achieved a resolution of less than 1.87 cm for targets across multiple ranges (0.11-0.50 m, 0.38-179 m, and 1.5-5.2 km).
• Demonstrated the system's capability with a reduced receiver bandwidth of 125 MHz for an 8 GHz sweeping bandwidth, yielding a data compression ratio of 64.
• Significantly decreased beating frequency, receiver bandwidth, and data volume compared to conventional methods.

Conclusions:

• The proposed TFOC-based FMCW LiDAR significantly reduces data volume and bandwidth demands.
• This advancement lowers the requirements for high-bandwidth photodetectors, memory, and processors in FMCW LiDAR systems.
• Enables more efficient and practical long-range, high-resolution LiDAR applications.