Hyperfine interpolated range finding for cw lidar, radar, and sonar using repeating waveforms and fourier transform reordering

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices may enhance the apparent sample rate of data collected using Nyquist sampling from a system, such as Continuous Wave (CW) Light detection and ranging ('Lidar'), Radio detection and ranging ('Radar'), or Sound Navigation and Ranging (“Sonar”), that has been modulated with a repeating waveform, such as linear swept frequency, by reordering of the data in the frequency domain. The enhancement of the apparent sample rate may result in a highly interpolated range profile where the data resolution may be enhanced by a factor equal to the number of repeats in the signal being processed, and may result in a highly detained range measurement with a high precision. The various embodiments may combine data from multiple modulation repeats into a single highly interpolated pulse, which may result in a real-time finer range measurement from CW Lidar, Radar, or Sonar systems.