Optical Multi-Format Transmitter (OMFT) for Coherent LiDAR

Why Next-Generation Coherent LiDAR Needs New Waveforms

The first wave of coherent LiDAR was built on one simple idea: a linear FMCW chirp. That era is ending.

Teams in automotive perception, industrial metrology and defence ranging are now testing non-linear chirps, stepped-frequency patterns, phase-coded sequences and hybrid schemes. The goals are finer range resolution, better rejection of clutter, and even sending data over the same beam that measures distance.

None of that can be tried on a source hard-wired to a single waveform shape.

A Programmable Optical Multi-Format Transmitter for Waveform Research

The Optical Multi-Format Transmitter converts electrical drive signals into IQ-modulated light, which makes it a programmable waveform platform rather than a fixed chirp generator. A research team can change chirp shape, bandwidth and modulation scheme from one experiment to the next without redesigning its optical front end.

How Waveform Freedom Improves Range and Doppler Research

A coherent LiDAR’s results depend heavily on how cleanly its chirp is generated, and how linear, or deliberately non-linear, it is across the sweep.

• Shorter design loops: waveform changes happen in software, so the gap between an idea and a measured range-Doppler result shrinks.
• Honest comparisons: every chirp design runs through the same transmitter, so differences come from the waveform itself.
• Ranging and data together: communication-over-ranging concepts can be tried on one optical link.

What to Check When Specifying an OMFT for LiDAR

Waveform research is a loop of design, generate, measure and refine. These features decide how fast that loop turns.

Software pre-distortion for chirp fidelity

Device-specific calibration files allow software-based pre-distortion, so modulator non-idealities can be corrected in the drive signal. The generated chirp then tracks the one you designed more closely.

Quick switching between formats

Changing modulation format is fast and simple, so a linear chirp and a phase-coded sequence can be compared in the same session. Confirm the sweep bandwidth you need against the variant you specify.

Fits your lab control

USB and Ethernet interfaces, an SCPI-style command set and supplied LabVIEW drivers let the transmitter join your existing scripts. Drive waveforms come from the arbitrary waveform generators or FPGA boards already in your lab.

Stable bias through long runs

Automatic bias control holds the Mach-Zehnder modulators at their operating points over temperature and time, so extinction ratio and chirp quality do not drift during long measurement campaigns.

Pairing the OMFT for a Full LiDAR Test Setup

The OMFT performs best inside a matched chain. A Narrow Linewidth Tunable Laser Source gives it a clean optical carrier, so measured resolution reflects your waveform rather than laser phase noise. Bias control is built into the OMFT, and the standalone Automatic Bias Control System brings the same locking to a team’s own prototype LiDAR modulators. The CORX Coherent Optical IQ Receiver adds calibrated coherent detection, and the ID OSA Optical Spectrum Analyser shows the optical spectrum each chirp occupies.

With carrier, transmitter and detection matched, a change in measured performance can be trusted to come from the waveform under study.

Who Uses It

• Automotive LiDAR and perception research groups
• Industrial metrology developers
• Defence ranging and sensing laboratories
• University and research laboratories working on coherent LiDAR

Supply and Support in India

United Spectrum Instruments (USI), Chennai, is the authorised distributor for ID Photonics GmbH in India, supplying this optical multi-format transmitter with the Narrow Linewidth Tunable Laser Source, Automatic Bias Control System, CORX receiver and ID OSA.

USI’s pre-sales team can help match the transmitter’s formats and bandwidth to your waveform plan, and the full chain comes with one point of contact for compatibility, calibration and support.

Request a Configuration

Download the brochure from this page, use the Enquire Now button, write to sales@unitedspectrum.in, or call +91 93631 83748 / +91 97899 04948. Please mention:

• Waveform families to explore: FMCW, stepped-frequency, phase-coded or hybrid
• Sweep bandwidth required
• Waveform generator or FPGA hardware in use
• Any plans for communication-over-ranging