Today’s reality
Q: Can you buy FMCW components or a complete system today?
A: Absolutely. There are many companies offering one or both paths to a complete system. For example, the Aeva CoreVision Lidar-on-Chip Technology of Figure 1 with a 500-meter range has an integrated silicon photonics module. The module incorporates all key FMCW LiDAR elements, including transmitter, detector, and a new optical processing interface chip. Proprietary integrated laser and receiver electronics enable better integration and lower costs, and it is designed to strict automotive standards.
Q: What does the future hold for FMCW versus ToF LiDAR systems in cars and other applications?
A: In short, no one knows. Some say one system will win out within the next few years, others feel it’s too soon to say, and others believe the ultimate solution will be to use both to overcome their individual weaknesses. Adding one or both will affect car affordability, of course, but should ease the path to fully autonomous vehicles.
Q: What is the presumed path forward?
A: Not surprisingly, it’s largely about integration to reduce cost and size while enhancing reliability. Keys to cost reduction, miniaturization, and overall optimization are the integration of the FMCW engine. This engine is the heart of the system and must emit a narrow laser linewidth (resulting in long coherence length) with highly linear modulation of the laser wavelength to generate the chirp signal. There’s great progress in this area, but more to be done.
Much of the development work is focused on a hybrid integration of Group III/V materials on silicon, along with on-chip semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). This would also allow the photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to use standard CMOS foundries, with all the advantages that brings.
Conclusion
The competition between ToF and FMCW approaches to LiDAR is busy and ongoing. The many advances in merging optical and electronic components will help define which has lower cost and more practicality, while component specifications and associated signal processing will determine which provides the necessary level of performance.
In either case, these LiDAR systems are complicated and must accommodate many uncontrollable aspects, variables, and corner cases. The rewards of being the winner in the automotive and robotic market for LiDAR are significant. The considerable research and development, much from innovative small-to-medium companies acting on their own or in partnership with larger companies, will be a great story for a technology historian to cover—but not yet.
There is much more that can be said about FMCW technology, components, electro-optical R&D, and the market situation. The References below cover these topics and more.
References
Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR, Bridger Photonics
The battle of LiDAR sensor technologies: FMCW vs. ToF, Laser Focus World
FMCW LiDAR is the future of high-performance sensing, Laser Focus World
Time of Flight vs. FMCW LiDAR: A Side-by-Side Comparison, AEye, Inc.
SCANTINEL FMCW LiDAR, Scantinel Photonics
Scantinel Technology Overview, Scantinel Photonics
Understanding the magnificent FMCW LiDAR, Think Autonomous
How the Solid-State LiDAR works (and why everyone bets on it), Think Autonomous
LiDAR vs RADAR: How 4D Imaging RADARs and FMCW LiDARs disrupt the Autonomous Tech Industry, Think Autonomous
Performance analysis of the coherent FMCW photonic radar system under the influence of solar noise, Frontier Media
FMCW Radar Part 1 – Ranging, Wireless Pi
Secure FMCW LiDAR Systems with Frequency Encryption, University of Washington
An Overview of FMCW Systems in MATLAB, Texas Instruments
An Extended Simulink Model of Single-Chip Automotive FMCW Radar, Semantic Scholar
Aeva Atlas Long-Range Automotive-Grade 4D LiDAR, Aeva Inc
Aeva Introduces AevaScenes, the First Open-Access FMCW 4D LiDAR and Camera Dataset for Autonomous Vehicle Research, Aeva Inc
Related EEWorld content
LiDAR and Time of Flight, Part 1: introduction
LiDAR and Time of Flight, Part 2: Operation
LiDAR and Time of Flight, Part 3: Emitters, sensors, and scanners
LiDAR and Time of Flight, Part 4: Circuitry and advances
Tiny, all-in-one direct Time-of-Flight module targeted at advanced imaging applications
Laser driver IC targets lidar time-of-flight apps
Reference platform simplifies development of direct Time-of-Flight, LiDAR-based systems
The Doppler effect: From highly ridiculed to absolutely indispensable, Part 1
The Doppler effect: From highly ridiculed to absolutely indispensable, Part 2
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