An integrated receiver channel for a laser scanner

An integrated receiver channel for a compact scanning automotive LIDAR sensor is presented. It is designed to meet the requirements of the traffic application, such as a very wide dynamic range of the input signal, accurate timing detection and the possibility for detecting several successive pulses that may be caused by rain or mirror reflections, for example. The receiver operates on the leading edge timing discrimination principle. The input amplitude-dependent timing error is compensated for by measuring the pulse length with a multi-channel TDC and knowing the relation between the error and the pulse length. A timing accuracy of ± 10ps (±1.5mm in distance) within a dynamic range of 1:2 000 was achieved.