Simultaneous Realization of Laser Ranging and Communication Based on Dual-Pulse Interval Modulation

We propose a method that realizes laser ranging and communication at the same time based on dual-pulse interval modulation (DPIM). The transmission of binary data bits in the communication process is realized by sending two laser pulses continuously, and the time interval between the dual pulse is used to characterize the value of this bit (0 or 1). Meanwhile, the echo signal received by the communication transmitter is also a dual pulse signal, which enables laser ranging by the time-of-flight (TOF) principle. This method can effectively improve the reliability of system communication. Furthermore, the system structure is rather simple, including one piece of field programable logic gate array (FPGA) chip, one piece of time-to-digital converter (TDC) chip, and a transmitting and receiving circuits. The experimental results show that this method and system can achieve effective and reliable transmission of 2-D images and characters at the ranging accuracy of a single laser ranging system.