{
  "patent_number": "US 12736637",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Lidar System for Spotting Retro-Reflective Objects",
  "original_title": "Hyper temporal lidar using multiple matched filters to determine target retro-reflectivity",
  "summary": "This patent describes a lidar system that uses a special signal processing technique to identify objects that reflect light directly back to its source, like road signs or safety vests.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent details a lidar system comprising a photodetector circuit and a signal processing circuit. The photodetector senses incident light, and the signal processing circuit then analyzes the reflection of a laser pulse from a target. Crucially, the signal processing circuit includes a 'matched filter' specifically designed for 'retro-reflective targets'. This filter is tuned to recognize a reflected pulse shape that shows 'vertical clipping' compared to the original transmitted pulse. This 'vertical clipping' is a unique characteristic of retro-reflective materials. By detecting this specific clipped pulse shape, the system determines if the target is retro-reflective. For example, an autonomous car's lidar could use this to reliably identify a distant road sign.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Lidar systems that only measure distance to objects without specifically identifying their retro-reflective properties.",
    "Methods for detecting retro-reflective targets that do not rely on analyzing the 'vertical clipping' of the reflected laser pulse.",
    "Systems that identify retro-reflectors using techniques other than a 'matched filter' tuned to a clipped pulse shape.",
    "Lidar systems primarily designed for identifying non-retro-reflective objects, such as plain walls or vehicles without special reflectors.",
    "General object detection or classification in lidar data that does not involve the specific retro-reflectivity analysis."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-11-12",
  "granted": "2026-09-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": null,
  "holder_url": null,
  "inventors": [],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "telecommunications",
    "software",
    "ai_ml",
    "robotics"
  ],
  "abstract": "A lidar system comprises a photodetector circuit and a signal processing circuit. The photodetector circuit comprises an array of pixels for sensing incident light. The signal processing circuit processes a signal representative of the sensed incident light to detect a reflection of a laser pulse from a target within a field of view. The signal processing circuit can comprise a matched filter corresponding to a retro-reflective target that is tuned to a reflected pulse shape that exhibits a vertical clipping relative to a transmitted pulse shape for the laser pulse that is indicative of the retro-reflective target, and wherein the signal processing circuit determines a retro-reflector status for the target based how the matched filter responds to the applied signal.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12736637/hyper-temporal-lidar-using-multiple-matched-filters-to-determine-target",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12736637/hyper-temporal-lidar-using-multiple-matched-filters-to-determine-target/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12736637",
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}