Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 1 of 28 1 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP Charles K. Verhoeven (Bar No. 170151) 2 charlesverhoeven@quinnemanuel.com David A. Perlson (Bar No. 209502) 3 davidperlson@quinnemanuel.com Melissa Baily (Bar No. 237649) 4 melissabaily@quinnemanuel.com John Neukom (Bar No. 275887) 5 johnneukom@quinnemanuel.com Jordan Jaffe (Bar No. 254886) 6 jordanjaffe@quinnemanuel.com 50 California Street, 22nd Floor 7 San Francisco, California 94111-4788 Telephone: (415) 875-6600 8 Facsimile: (415) 875-6700 9 Attorneys for WAYMO LLC 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 12 WAYMO LLC, Plaintiff, 13 vs. UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; 14 OTTOMOTTO LLC; OTTO TRUCKING LLC, 15 Defendants. CASE NO. _________________ COMPLAINT 1. VIOLATION OF DEFENSE OF TRADE SECRETS ACT 16 2. VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA UNIFORM TRADE SECRET ACT 17 3. PATENT INFRINGEMENT 18 4. VIOLATION OF CAL. BUS & PROF. CODE SECTION 17200 19 20 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 2 of 28 1 Plaintiff Waymo LLC (“Waymo”), by and through their attorneys, and for their Complaint 2 against Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”), Ottomotto LLC, and Otto Trucking LLC (together, 3 “Otto”) (collectively, “Defendants”), hereby allege as follows: 4 I. INTRODUCTION 5 1. This is an action for trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement, and unfair 6 competition relating to Waymo’s self-driving car technology. Waymo strongly believes in the 7 benefits of fair competition, particularly in a nascent field such as self-driving vehicles. Self8 driving cars have the potential to transform mobility for millions of people as well as become a 9 trillion dollar industry. Fair competition spurs new technical innovation, but what has happened 10 here is not fair competition. Instead, Otto and Uber have taken Waymo’s intellectual property so 11 that they could avoid incurring the risk, time, and expense of independently developing their own 12 technology. Ultimately, this calculated theft reportedly netted Otto employees over half a billion 13 dollars and allowed Uber to revive a stalled program, all at Waymo’s expense. 14 2. Waymo developed its own combination of unique laser systems to provide critical 15 information for the operation of fully self-driving vehicles. Waymo experimented with, and 16 ultimately developed, a number of different cost-effective and high-performing laser sensors 17 known as LiDAR. LiDAR is a laser-based scanning and mapping technology that uses the 18 reflection of laser beams off objects to create a real-time 3D image of the world. When mounted 19 on a vehicle and connected to appropriate software, Waymo’s LiDAR sensors enable a vehicle to 20 “see” its surroundings and thereby allow a self-driving vehicle to detect traffic, pedestrians, 21 bicyclists, and any other obstacles a vehicle must be able to see to drive safely. With a 360-degree 22 field of vision, and the ability to see in pitch black, Waymo’s LiDAR sensors can actually detect 23 potential hazards that human drivers would miss. With a goal of bringing self-driving cars to the 24 mass market, Waymo has invested tens of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours of 25 engineering time to custom-build the most advanced and cost-effective LiDAR sensors in the 26 industry. Thanks in part to this highly advanced LiDAR technology, Waymo became the first 27 company to complete a fully self-driving trip on public roads in a vehicle without a steering wheel 28 -2- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 3 of 28 1 and foot pedals. Today, Waymo remains the industry’s leader in self-driving hardware and 2 software. 3 3. Waymo was recently – and apparently inadvertently – copied on an email from one 4 of its LiDAR component vendors. The email attached machine drawings of what purports to be an 5 Uber LiDAR circuit board. This circuit board bears a striking resemblance to Waymo’s own 6 highly confidential and proprietary design and reflects Waymo trade secrets. As this email shows, 7 Otto and Uber are currently building and deploying (or intending to deploy) LiDAR systems (or 8 system components) using Waymo’s trade secret designs. This email also shows that Otto and 9 Uber’s LiDAR systems infringe multiple LiDAR technology patents awarded to Waymo. 10 4. Waymo has uncovered evidence that Anthony Levandowski, a former manager in 11 Waymo’s self-driving car project – now leading the same effort for Uber – downloaded more than 12 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary files shortly before his resignation. The 14,000 files 13 included a wide range of highly confidential files, including Waymo’s LiDAR circuit board 14 designs. Mr. Levandowski took extraordinary efforts to raid Waymo’s design server and then 15 conceal his activities. In December 2015, Mr. Levandowski specifically searched for and then 16 installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop in order to access the server that 17 stores these particular files. Once Mr. Levandowski accessed this server, he downloaded the 18 14,000 files, representing approximately 9.7 GB of highly confidential data. Then he attached an 19 external drive to the laptop for a period of eight hours. He installed a new operating system that 20 would have the effect of reformatting his laptop, attempting to erase any forensic fingerprints that 21 would show what he did with Waymo’s valuable LiDAR designs once they had been downloaded 22 to his computer. After Mr. Levandowski wiped this laptop, he only used it for a few minutes, and 23 then inexplicably never used it again. 24 5. In the months leading to the mass download of files, Mr. Levandowski told 25 colleagues that he had plans to set up a new, self-driving vehicle company. In fact, Mr. 26 Levandowski appears to have taken multiple steps to maximize his profit and set up his own new 27 venture – which eventually became Otto – before leaving Waymo in January 2016. In addition to 28 downloading Waymo’s design files and proprietary information, Mr. Levandowski set up a -3- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 4 of 28 1 competing company named “280 Systems” (which later became Otto) before he left, under the 2 pretense that 280 Systems would not compete with Waymo. 3 6. A number of Waymo employees subsequently also left to join Anthony 4 Levandowski’s new business, downloading additional Waymo trade secrets in the days and hours 5 prior to their departure. These secrets included confidential supplier lists, manufacturing details 6 and statements of work with highly technical information, all of which reflected the results of 7 Waymo’s months-long, resource-intensive research into suppliers for highly specialized LiDAR 8 sensor components. 9 7. Otto launched publicly in May 2016, and was quickly acquired by Uber in August 10 2016 for $680 million. (Notably, Otto announced the acquisition shortly after Mr. Levandowski 11 received his final multi-million dollar compensation payment from Google.) As was widely 12 reported at the time, “one of the keys to this acquisition[] could be the LIDAR system that was 13 developed in-house at Otto.” 14 8. Uber’s own attempts to develop self-driving cars started earlier in February 2015 15 with the announcement of a strategic partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and the 16 creation of the Uber Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh. Reports attribute Uber CEO 17 Travis Kalanick’s interest in this technology to a ride in a Google, now Waymo, self-driving car. 18 Uber’s CEO has described self-driving cars as “existential” to the survival of his company.1 He 19 told reporters: “the entity that’s in first, then rolls out a ride-sharing network that is far cheaper or 20 far higher-quality than Uber’s, then Uber is no longer a thing.” However, by March 2016 reports 21 surfaced that the partnership between CMU and Uber had “stalled.” 22 9. Meanwhile, Waymo had devoted seven years to research and development. It had 23 amassed nearly one and a half million miles of self-driving experience on public roads and billions 24 of miles of test data via simulation. By May 2015, Waymo had also designed and built, from the 25 ground up, the world’s first fully self-driving car without a steering wheel and foot pedals. These 26 1 Biz Carson, “Travis Kalanick on Uber’s bet on self-driving cars: ‘I can’t be wrong,’” Business Insider, Aug. 18, 2016, available at http://www.businessinsider.com/travis-kalanick-interview-on28 self-driving-cars-future-driver-jobs-2016-8. 27 -4- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 5 of 28 1 vehicles were equipped with Waymo’s own in-house hardware and sensors, including its 2 uniquely-designed LiDAR. 3 10. Instead of developing their own technology in this new space, Defendants stole 4 Waymo’s long-term investments and property. While Waymo developed its custom LiDAR 5 systems with sustained effort over many years, Defendants leveraged stolen information to 6 shortcut the process and purportedly build a comparable LiDAR system in only nine months. As 7 of August 2016, Uber had no in-house solution for LiDAR – despite 18 months with their faltering 8 Carnegie Mellon University effort – and they acquired Otto to get it. By September 2016, Uber 9 represented to regulatory authorities in Nevada that it was no longer using an off-the-shelf, or 10 third-party, LiDAR technology, but rather using an “[i]n-house custom built” LiDAR system. The 11 facts outlined above and elaborated further in this complaint show that Uber’s LiDAR technology 12 is actually Waymo’s LiDAR technology. 13 11. In light of Defendants’ misappropriation and infringement of Waymo’s LiDAR 14 technology, Waymo brings this Complaint to prevent any further misuse of its proprietary 15 information, to prevent Defendants from harming Waymo’s reputation by misusing its technology, 16 to protect the public’s confidence in the safety and reliability of self-driving technology that 17 Waymo has long sought to nurture, and to obtain compensation for its damages and for 18 Defendants’ unjust enrichment resulting from their unlawful conduct. 19 II. PARTIES 20 12. Plaintiff Waymo LLC is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. with its principal place of 21 business located in Mountain View, California 94043. Waymo is a self-driving technology 22 company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around. Waymo 23 LLC owns all of the patents, trade secrets, and confidential information infringed or 24 misappropriated by Defendants. 25 13. Defendant Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”) is a Delaware company with its 26 principal place of business at 1455 Market Street, San Francisco, California. 27 28 -5- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 6 of 28 1 14. Waymo is informed and believes that Defendant Ottomotto LLC (f/k/a 280 2 Systems Inc.) is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business located 3 at 737 Harrison Street, San Francisco, California. 4 15. Waymo is informed and believes that Defendant Otto Trucking LLC (f/k/a 280 5 Systems LLC) is a limited liability company with its principal place of business located at 737 6 Harrison Street, San Francisco, California. 7 16. Waymo is informed and believes that Uber acquired Defendants Ottomotto LLC 8 and Otto Trucking LLC in approximately August 2016. 9 17. Waymo is informed and believes that each Defendant acted in all respects pertinent 10 to this action as the agent of the other Defendant, carried out a joint scheme, business plan or 11 policy in all respects pertinent hereto, and that the acts of each Defendant are legally attributable 12 to each of the other Defendants. 13 III. JURISDICTION, VENUE & INTRADISTRICT ASSIGNMENT 14 18. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over Waymo’s claims for patent 15 infringement pursuant to the Federal Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 16 and 1338(a). This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over Waymo’s federal trade secret claim 17 pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 1836-39 et seq. and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343. The Court has 18 supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claim alleged in this Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 19 § 1367. 20 19. As set forth above, at least one Defendant resides in this judicial district, and all 21 Defendants are residents of the State of California. In addition, a substantial part of the events or 22 omissions giving rise to the claims alleged in this Complaint occurred in this Judicial District. 23 Venue therefore lies in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 24 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)(1) and (2). 25 20. A substantial part of the events giving rise to the claims alleged in this Complaint 26 occurred in the City and County of San Francisco. For purposes of intradistrict assignment under 27 Civil Local Rules 3-2(c) and 3-5(b), this Intellectual Property Action will be assigned on a district28 wide basis. -6- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 7 of 28 1 IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 2 A. Google Pioneers The Self-Driving Car Space 3 21. Google was the first major U.S. technology firm to recognize the transformative 4 potential and commercial value of vehicle automation, which promises to make transportation 5 safer, cleaner, more efficient, and more widely available. 6 22. Google initiated its self-driving car project in 2009. Before long, Google’s self- 7 driving cars had navigated from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, 8 drove the Pacific Coast Highway, and circled Lake Tahoe, logging over 140,000 miles – a first in 9 robotics research at the time. 10 23. Google made its self-driving car project public in 2010, with the following 11 announcement: “Larry and Sergey founded Google because they wanted to help solve really big 12 problems using technology. And one of the big problems we’re working on today is car safety 13 and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce 14 carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use. So we have developed technology for cars 15 that can drive themselves.” 16 24. In 2014, Google unveiled its own reference vehicle, a two-door fully autonomous 17 car without pedals or a steering wheel. A year later, this prototype made the first ever fully self18 driving trip in normal traffic on public roads. 19 25. In 2016, Google’s self-driving car program became Waymo, a stand-alone 20 company operating alongside Google and other technology companies under the umbrella of 21 Alphabet Inc.2 22 26. To date, Waymo’s fleet of self-driving vehicles has logged over 2.5 million miles 23 in autonomous mode on public roads. Measured in time, that equates to over 300 years of human 24 driving experience. And in 2016 alone, Waymo’s systems logged over a billion miles of 25 simulated driving, a feat made possible by Waymo’s in-house simulator and the power of 26 Google’s massive data centers. 27 2 Further references to “Waymo” refer to the self-driving car project from its inception in 28 2009 to the present. -7- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 8 of 28 1 27. Waymo uses the data collected from these real-world and simulated miles to 2 (among other things) constantly improve the safety of its system, including its hardware and 3 sensors. This focus on testing and safety has allowed Waymo’s self-driving cars to become 4 increasingly capable and robust, with less need for human intervention. As just one illustration of 5 this, the rate of Waymo’s safety-related disengagements has fallen from 0.8 disengagements per 6 thousand miles in 2015 to 0.2 disengagements per thousand miles in 2016, representing a four-fold 7 improvement in Waymo’s self-driving technology in just 12 months. Today, Waymo believes its 8 self-driving cars are the safest on the road. 9 B. Waymo Develops Its Own Proprietary LiDAR System Tailored For MassMarketed Self-Driving Cars 28. Self-driving cars must be able to detect and understand the surrounding 10 11 environment. With respect to this aspect of vehicle automation, LiDAR – or “Light Detection 12 And Ranging” – uses high-frequency, high-power pulsing lasers to measure distances between one 13 or more sensors and external objects. 14 29. LiDAR hardware built for autonomous vehicles is typically mounted on the 15 exterior of a vehicle and scans the surrounding environment (sometimes in 360 degrees) with an 16 array of lasers. The laser beams reflect off surrounding objects, and data regarding the light that 17 bounces back to designated receivers is recorded. Software analyzes the data in order to create a 18 three-dimensional view of the environment, which is used to identify objects, assess their motion 19 and orientation, predict their behavior, and make driving decisions. 20 30. LiDAR systems are made up of thousands of individual hardware and software 21 components that can be configured in virtually limitless combinations and designs. LiDAR 22 systems adapted for use in self-driving cars became commercially available in approximately 23 2007. Today, most firms in the self-driving space purchase LiDAR systems from third-party 24 providers. 25 31. Waymo, on the other hand, uses its own LiDAR systems that are carefully tailored 26 – based on Waymo’s extensive research and testing – for use in fully autonomous vehicles in 27 which there is no driver intervention required. Waymo’s proprietary LiDAR systems improve the 28 -8- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 9 of 28 1 ability of self-driving cars to navigate safely in all environments, including city environments and 2 highly unusual driving scenarios. 3 32. Moreover, by designing its own LiDAR systems, Waymo has driven down costs, a 4 well-known barrier to commercializing self-driving technology. Waymo’s improved LiDAR 5 designs are now less than 10% of the cost that benchmark LiDAR systems were just a few years 6 ago, and Waymo expects that mass production of their technology will make it even more 7 affordable. 8 33. One way that Waymo pioneered LiDAR systems with improved performance at 9 lower cost was by innovating a design that, in part, uses a single lens – rather than multiple sets of 10 lenses – to both transmit and receive the collection of laser beams used to scan the surrounding 11 environment. This design greatly simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the need to 12 painstakingly align pairs of transmit and receive lenses, with even a slight mis-calibration of a lens 13 pair affecting the accuracy of the system. Waymo was awarded a patent on its design in 2014: 14 United States Patent No. 8,836,922 (“the ’922 patent”) entitled “Devices and Methods for a 15 Rotating LiDAR Platform with a Shared Transmit/Receive Path.” 16 34. Another way that Waymo improved the performance and lowered the cost of 17 LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles was by simplifying the design of the laser diode firing 18 circuit that is at the heart of any LiDAR system. Waymo invented a design that elegantly 19 simplified the circuit to control the charging and discharging paths of the lasers compared to the 20 more complicated circuit designs otherwise used by the industry. Waymo obtained a patent on 21 this aspect of its LiDAR design in 2016: United States Patent No. 9,368,936 (“the ’936 patent”) 22 entitled “Laser Diode Firing System.” 23 35. As one more example of how Waymo fundamentally advanced LiDAR systems for 24 use in autonomous vehicles, Waymo developed a simplified design for “pre-collimating” (or 25 making parallel) the light output of each laser diode separately before the beams are combined. 26 The increased compactness of this design increases the resolution of the overall LiDAR system. 27 Waymo was awarded a patent on this aspect of its design in 2015: United States Patent No. 28 -9- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 10 of 28 1 9,086,273 (“the ’273 patent”) entitled “Microrod Compressions of Laser Beam in Combination 2 with Transmit Lens.” 3 36. While patenting these fundamental advances in LiDAR technology, Waymo also 4 accumulated confidential and proprietary intellectual property that it uses in the implementation 5 and manufacture of its LiDAR designs to optimize performance, maximize safety, and minimize 6 cost. Waymo also created a vast amount of confidential and proprietary intellectual property via 7 its exploration of design concepts that ultimately proved too complex or too expensive for the 8 mass market; Waymo’s extensive experience with “dead-end” designs continues to inform the 9 ongoing development of Waymo’s LiDAR systems today. The details actually used in Waymo’s 10 LiDAR designs as well as the lessons learned from Waymo’s years of research and development 11 constitute trade secrets that are highly valuable to Waymo and would be highly valuable to any 12 competitor in the autonomous vehicle space. 13 37. Waymo’s substantial and sustained investment in LiDAR technology over nearly 14 seven years – and the intellectual property that resulted – have made Waymo’s current LiDAR 15 technology the most advanced in the industry. It is unparalleled in performance and safety in all 16 driving environments, including in the most challenging city environments. Yet it is more than 17 90% cheaper than prior benchmark systems, a key driver toward mass market adoption. For these 18 reasons and others, Waymo’s LiDAR technology and the intellectual property associated with it 19 are some of Waymo’s most valuable assets. 20 C. Uber Is Late To Enter The Self-Driving Car Market 21 38. Whereas Waymo began developing its self-driving cars in 2009, on information 22 and belief, Uber’s first serious foray into automation was not until six years later when – in 23 February 2015 – Uber announced a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. According to 24 public reports of the partnership, Uber hired at least 40 CMU faculty members, researchers, and 25 technicians – including the former head of CMU’s National Robotics Engineering Center – to help 26 jump-start an Uber vehicle automation program. 27 39. By early 2016, Uber had hired hundreds of engineers and robotics experts to 28 support the original team from Carnegie Mellon. But the research and development process was -10- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 11 of 28 1 slow.3 And with respect to LiDAR technology, Uber’s program appeared to rely solely on a third2 party, off-the-shelf LiDAR system manufactured by Velodyne Inc. (the HDL-64E). On 3 information and belief, Uber’s program did not make any significant advances toward designing or 4 manufacturing its own LiDAR technology for improved performance or lower cost. 5 40. Thus, although Uber came to view its entry into the self-driving car space as an 6 “existential” imperative,4 as of mid-2016, Uber remained more than five years behind in the race 7 to develop vehicle automation technology suitable for the mass market. 8 D. Unbeknownst To Waymo, Anthony Levandowski Lays The Foundation For Defendants To Steal Waymo’s Intellectual Property Rather Than Compete Fairly In The Autonomous Vehicle Space 41. While Uber’s partnership with CMU was floundering, Waymo was continuing to 9 10 11 develop its next-generation proprietary LiDAR technology. But, unbeknownst to Waymo at the 12 time, Waymo manager Anthony Levandowski was also secretly preparing to launch a competing 13 vehicle automation venture – a company named “280 Systems,” which later would become Otto. 14 42. By November 2015, an internet domain name for the new venture had been 15 registered. And by January 2016, Mr. Levandowski had confided in some Waymo colleagues that 16 he planned to “replicate” Waymo’s technology at a Waymo competitor. As Waymo would later 17 learn, Mr. Levandowski went to great lengths to take what he needed to “replicate” Waymo’s 18 technology and then to meet with Uber executives, all while still a Waymo employee. 19 43. On December 3, 2015, Mr. Levandowski searched for instructions on how to access 20 Waymo’s highly confidential design server. This server holds detailed technical information 21 related to Waymo’s LiDAR systems, including the blueprints for its key hardware components, 22 and is accessible only on a need-to-know basis. 23 44. On December 11, 2015, Mr. Levandowski installed special software on his Waymo 24 laptop to access the design server. Mr. Levandowski then download over 14,000 proprietary files 25 3 Heather Somerville, “After a year, Carnegie Mellon and Uber research initiative is stalled,” 26 Reuters, Mar. 21, 2016, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-researchidUSKCN0WN0WR. Max Chafkin, “Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month,” 27 4 Bloomsberg, Aug. 18, 2016, available at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-0828 18/uber-s-first-self-driving-fleet-arrives-in-pittsburgh-this-month-is06r7on. -11- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 12 of 28 1 from that server. Mr. Levandowski’s download included 9.7 GBs of sensitive, secret, and 2 valuable internal Waymo information. 2 GBs of the download related to Waymo’s LiDAR 3 technology. Among the downloaded documents were confidential specifications for each version 4 of every generation of Waymo’s LiDAR circuit boards. 5 45. On December 14, 2015, Mr. Levandowski attached a removable media device (an 6 SD Card) to the laptop containing the downloaded files for approximately eight hours. 7 46. On December 18, 2015, seven days after Mr. Levandowski completed his 8 download of confidential Waymo information and four days after he removed the SD Card, he 9 reformatted the laptop, attempting to erase any evidence of what happened to the downloaded 10 files. After wiping the laptop clean, Mr. Levandowski used the reformatted laptop for a few 11 minutes and then never used it again. 12 47. Around the same time, Mr. Levandowski used his Waymo credentials and security 13 clearances to download additional confidential Waymo documents to a personal device. These 14 materials included at least five highly sensitive internal presentations containing proprietary 15 technical details regarding the manufacture, assembly, calibration, and testing of Waymo’s LiDAR 16 sensors. 17 48. After downloading all of this confidential information regarding Waymo’s LiDAR 18 systems and other technology and while still a Waymo employee, Waymo is informed and 19 believes that Mr. Levandowski attended meetings with high-level executives at Uber’s 20 headquarters in San Francisco on January 14, 2016. 21 49. The next day, January 15, 2016, Mr. Levandowski’s venture 280 Systems - which 22 became OttoMotto LLC - was officially formed (though it remained in stealth mode for several 23 months). On January 27, 2016, Mr. Levandowski resigned from Waymo without notice. And on 24 February 1, 2016, Mr. Levandowski’s venture Otto Trucking was officially formed (also 25 remaining in stealth mode for several months). 26 27 28 -12- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 13 of 28 1 E. Otto Continues To Misappropriate Waymo’s Intellectual Property After Its Public Launch With Mr. Levandowski At The Helm 50. Otto publicly launched in May 2016 with the stated goal of developing hardware 2 3 and software for autonomous vehicles. 4 51. In July 2016, a Waymo supply chain manager resigned from Waymo and joined 5 Otto. This supply chain manager was one of several Waymo employees who had spent many 6 months vetting a particular vendor that Waymo ultimately engaged to provide manufacturing 7 services for its self-driving car technology. The vendor’s identity and its work for Waymo was 8 and is confidential: Waymo and the vendor entered into a confidentiality agreement that precludes 9 either party from disclosing the existence of their business relationship. 10 52. Approximately a month before the supply chain manager resigned and despite his 11 confidentiality obligations to Waymo, he downloaded from Waymo’s secure network Waymo’s 12 confidential supply chain information and other confidential manufacturing information, including 13 Statements of Work (or SOWs) for particular components – all of which reflected the results of 14 Waymo’s months-long, resource-intensive research into suppliers for highly specialized LiDAR 15 sensor components. 16 53. Also in July 2016, a certain Waymo hardware engineer resigned. On the same day 17 that he resigned from Waymo, and despite his confidentiality obligations to Waymo, this engineer 18 downloaded from Waymo’s secure network three files containing confidential research into 19 various potential hardware vendors for highly specialized LiDAR components and manufacturing 20 services. On information and belief, this hardware engineer left Waymo to join Otto. 21 54. In the same time period that these former Waymo employees were downloading 22 Waymo’s confidential information regarding its manufacturing and hardware vendors and 23 resigned, Otto contacted the most-extensively vetted (and confidential) Waymo vendor and 24 attempted to order manufacturing services for LiDAR components similar to those the vendor 25 provides to Waymo. 26 27 28 -13- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 14 of 28 1 F. After Only Six Months Of Official Existence, Otto Is Acquired By Uber For More Than Half A Billion Dollars 55. In August 2016, shortly after Mr. Levandowski received his final multi-million 2 3 dollar payment from Google, Uber announced a deal to acquire Otto. Otto’s purchase price was 4 reported as $680 million, a remarkable sum for a company with few assets and no marketable 5 product. As Forbes reported at the time, “one of the keys to this acquisition[] could be the LIDAR 6 system that was developed in-house at Otto.”5 7 56. In recognition of the central role of Otto’s technology within Uber, Uber named 8 Otto co-founder Mr. Levandowski as its vice president in charge of Uber’s self-driving car project. 9 Uber rechristened Otto’s existing San Francisco office as Uber’s new self-driving research and 10 development center. 11 G. Waymo Verifies Its Growing Suspicion That Otto And Uber Stole Its Intellectual Property 57. The sudden resignations from Waymo, Otto’s quick public launch with Mr. 12 13 14 Levandowski at the helm, and Uber’s near-immediate acquisition of Otto for more than half a 15 billion dollars all caused Waymo grave concern regarding the possible misuse of its intellectual 16 property. Accordingly, in the summer of 2016, Waymo investigated the events surrounding the 17 departure of Waymo employees for Otto and ultimately discovered Mr. Levandowski’s 14,00018 document download, his efforts to hide the disposition of those documents, and the downloading 19 of other Waymo confidential materials by Mr. Levandowski and other former Waymo employees. 20 58. Then, in December 2016, Waymo received evidence suggesting that Otto and Uber 21 were actually using Waymo’s trade secrets and patented LiDAR designs. On December 13, 22 Waymo received an email from one of its LiDAR-component vendors. The email, which a 23 Waymo employee was copied on, was titled OTTO FILES and its recipients included an email 24 alias indicating that the thread was a discussion among members of the vendor’s “Uber” team. 25 Attached to the email was a machine drawing of what purported to be an Otto circuit board (the 26 5 Sarwant Singh, “Uber Acquiring Otto Could Be the Lead Domino: Autonomous Vehicles to 27 Spur M&A Activity,” Forbes, Aug. 24, 2016, available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/sarwantsingh/2016/08/24/uber-acquiring-otto-could-be-the-lead28 domino-autonomous-vehicles-to-spur-ma-activity/#337f0c0f65ae. -14- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 15 of 28 1 “Replicated Board”) that bore a striking resemblance to – and shared several unique characteristics 2 with – Waymo’s highly confidential current-generation LiDAR circuit board, the design of which 3 had been downloaded by Mr. Levandowski before his resignation. 4 59. The Replicated Board reflects Waymo’s highly confidential proprietary LiDAR 5 technology and Waymo trade secrets. Moreover, the Replicated Board is specifically designed to 6 be used in conjunction with many other Waymo trade secrets and in the context of overall LiDAR 7 systems covered by Waymo patents. 8 60. With greatly heightened suspicion that Otto and Uber were actually using Waymo’s 9 intellectual property for their own purposes (and to Waymo’s detriment), Waymo endeavored to 10 find a way to confirm whether Defendants were using Waymo’s patented and trade secret LiDAR 11 designs. Ultimately, Waymo received such confirmation in response to a public records request it 12 made to the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Department of Motor 13 Vehicles on February 3, 2016. 14 61. Among the documents Waymo received on February 9, 2016 in response to that 15 request were submissions made by Otto to Nevada regulatory authorities. In one such submission, 16 dated less than one month after the Otto acquisition and while Uber was refusing to publicly 17 identify the supplier of its LiDAR system,6 Otto privately represented that it had “developed in 18 house and/or currently deployed” an “[i]n-house custom built 64-laser” LiDAR system. This was 19 the final piece of the puzzle: confirmation that Uber and Otto are in fact using a custom LiDAR 20 system with the same characteristics as Waymo’s proprietary system. 21 H. Waymo Has Been, And Will Be, Severely Harmed By Defendants’ Infringement Of Waymo’s Patents And Misappropriation Of Waymo’s Confidential And Proprietary Trade Secret Information 62. Waymo developed its patented inventions and trade secrets at great expense, and 22 23 24 through years of painstaking research, experimentation, and trial and error. If Defendants are not 25 enjoined from their infringement and misappropriation, they will cause severe and irreparable 26 harm to Waymo. 27 6 Mike Murphy, “This is the week self-driving cars became real,” Quartz, Sept. 17, 2016, 28 available at https://qz.com/780606/this-is-the-week-self-driving-cars-became-real/. -15- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 16 of 28 1 63. The markets for self-driving vehicles are nascent and on the cusp of rapid 2 development. The impending period of drastic market growth, as autonomous car technology 3 matures and is increasingly commercialized, will set the competitive landscape for the industry 4 going forward. The growth, profitability, and even survival of individual firms will likely be 5 determined by what happens in the next few years. Defendants’ exploitation of stolen intellectual 6 property greatly harms Waymo during this embryonic market formation process and deforms the 7 creation of a fair and competitive industry. Allowing the conduct to continue, and awarding 8 monetary compensation after the fact, will not sufficiently unravel the harm caused to Waymo 9 directly and indirectly by Defendants’ conduct. 10 64. With respect to Waymo’s trade secrets, there is also the threat that Waymo’s 11 confidential and proprietary information will be disclosed by Defendants, which will destroy the 12 trade secret value of the technology. This may occur either voluntarily by Defendants for its own 13 publicity purposes or because a regulatory agency requires disclosure for permitting purposes. 14 65. With this action, Waymo seeks to vindicate its rights, prevent any further 15 infringement of its patents, preclude any further misuse of its confidential, proprietary, and trade 16 secret information, and obtain compensation for its damages and for Defendants’ unjust 17 enrichment resulting from their unlawful conduct. 18 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 19 Violation of Defense of Trade Secret Act (Against All Defendants) 20 66. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 67. Waymo owns and possesses certain confidential, proprietary, and trade secret 21 22 information, as alleged above. One example of the trade secret information is reflected in printed 23 circuit board designs contained in certain design files that Anthony Levandowski downloaded 24 from Waymo’s system. Various aspects of the printed circuit board designs for the current 25 generation of Waymo’s LiDAR system are Waymo’s trade secrets, including the position and 26 orientation of the laser diodes and photodetectors mounted on the printed circuit boards. 27 Waymo’s trade secret information also includes the selection, materials, size, position, and 28 -16- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 17 of 28 1 orientation of optical elements that are used to manipulate and modify laser beams that are 2 transmitted and detected by Waymo’s current generation LiDAR system. Waymo’s trade secret 3 information further includes the resolution profile that is achieved through its proprietary 4 positioning and orientation of laser diodes and optical elements in its current generation LiDAR 5 system, and the know-how associated with using the resolution profile to accurately detect objects 6 in the environment. Another example of Waymo’s trade secrets is the rate at which the current 7 generation LiDAR system pulses and fires the laser diodes into the environment, and the know8 how associated with using the pulse rate and fire rate to accurately detect objects in the 9 environment. None of these trade secrets is disclosed in any published Waymo patents or patent 10 applications. 11 68. Waymo’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information relates to products 12 and services used, sold, shipped and/or ordered in, or intended to be used, sold, shipped and/or 13 ordered in, interstate or foreign commerce. 14 69. Waymo has taken reasonable measures to keep such information secret and 15 confidential. 16 70. Waymo has at all times maintained stringent security measures to preserve the 17 secrecy of its LiDAR trade secrets. For example, Waymo restricts access to confidential and 18 proprietary trade secret information to only those who “need to know.” That is, employees 19 working on projects unrelated to self-driving cars have not had and do not have access to 20 Waymo’s schematics, supply chain information, or other categories of confidential and proprietary 21 information. All networks hosting Waymo’s confidential and proprietary information have been 22 and continue to be encrypted and have at all times required passwords and dual-authentication for 23 access. Computers, tablets, and cell phones provided to Waymo employees are encrypted, 24 password protected, and subject to other security measures. And Waymo secures its physical 25 facilities by restricting access and then monitoring actual access with security cameras and guards. 26 71. Waymo also requires all employees, contractors, consultants, vendors, and 27 manufacturers to sign confidentiality agreements before any confidential or proprietary trade 28 secret information is disclosed to them. Every outside vendor and manufacturer that has received -17- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 18 of 28 1 confidential and proprietary trade secret information related to Waymo’s LiDAR technology has 2 executed at least one written non-disclosure agreement. As a further precaution, Waymo 3 purchases the components for its LiDAR systems from numerous, different vendors and conducts 4 the final assembly in-house at Waymo. As a result, no single Waymo vendor has full knowledge 5 of Waymo’s proprietary LiDAR systems. 6 72. Due to these security measures, Waymo’s confidential and proprietary trade secret 7 information is not available for others in the automated vehicle industry – or any other industry – 8 to use through any legitimate means. 9 73. Waymo’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information derives 10 independent economic value from not being generally known to, and not being readily 11 ascertainable through proper means by, another person who could obtain economic value from the 12 disclosure or use of the information. 13 74. In violation of Waymo’s rights, Defendants misappropriated Waymo’s 14 confidential, proprietary and trade secret information in the improper and unlawful manner as 15 alleged herein. Defendants’ misappropriation of Waymo’s confidential, proprietary, and trade 16 secret information was intentional, knowing, willful, malicious, fraudulent, and oppressive. 17 Defendants have attempted and continue to attempt to conceal their misappropriation. 18 75. On information and belief, if Defendants are not enjoined, Defendants will continue 19 to misappropriate and use Waymo’s trade secret information for their own benefit and to Waymo’s 20 detriment. 21 76. As the direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Waymo has suffered 22 and, if Defendants’ conduct is not stopped, will continue to suffer, severe competitive harm, 23 irreparable injury, and significant damages, in an amount to be proven at trial. Because Waymo’s 24 remedy at law is inadequate, Waymo seeks, in addition to damages, temporary, preliminary, and 25 permanent injunctive relief to recover and protect its confidential, proprietary, and trade secret 26 information and to protect other legitimate business interests. Waymo’s business operates in a 27 competitive market and will continue suffering irreparable harm absent injunctive relief. 28 -18- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 19 of 28 1 77. Waymo has been damaged by all of the foregoing and is entitled to an award of 2 exemplary damages and attorney’s fees. 3 SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION 4 Violation of California Uniform Trade Secret Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 3426 et seq. (Against All Defendants) 5 78. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 79. Waymo’s technical information, designs, and other “know how” related to its 6 7 LiDAR constitute trade secrets as defined by California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Waymo 8 owns and possesses certain confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information, as alleged 9 above. One example of the trade secret information is reflected in printed circuit board designs 10 contained in certain design files that Anthony Levandowski downloaded from Waymo’s system. 11 Various aspects of the printed circuit board designs for the current generation of Waymo’s LiDAR 12 system are Waymo’s trade secrets, including the position and orientation of the laser diodes and 13 photodetectors mounted on the printed circuit boards. Waymo’s trade secret information also 14 includes the selection, materials, size, position, and orientation of optical elements that are used to 15 manipulate and modify laser beams that are transmitted and detected by Waymo’s current 16 generation LiDAR system. Waymo’s trade secret information further includes the resolution 17 profile that is achieved through its proprietary positioning and orientation of laser diodes and 18 optical elements in its current generation LiDAR system, and the know-how associated with using 19 the resolution profile to accurately detect objects in the environment. Another example of 20 Waymo’s trade secrets is the rate at which the current generation LiDAR system pulses and fires 21 the laser diodes into the environment, and the know-how associated with using the pulse rate and 22 fire rate to accurately detect objects in the environment. None of this information is disclosed in 23 any published Waymo patents or patent applications, and the information has actual or potential 24 independent economic value from not being generally known to the public or other persons who 25 could obtain economic value from their disclosure or use. 26 80. Waymo’s asserted trade secrets are different than Waymo’s asserted patent rights. 27 By way of example, only: (i) Waymo’s asserted patents relate to a prior generation of Waymo’s 28 -19- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 20 of 28 1 proprietary LiDAR designs, whereas Waymo’s trade secrets include elements for subsequent and 2 as of today un-patented and confidential LiDAR designs; and (ii) Waymo’s trade secrets include 3 specific parameters and measurements for Waymo’s LiDAR designs that are not disclosed in any 4 asserted Waymo patents. Examples of trade secret information that is not covered or disclosed by 5 any asserted Waymo patents include the specific parameters or measurements for vertical beam 6 spacing, distribution of beam elevations and orientations, the beams’ field of view measurements, 7 the pitch or orientations between diodes, pitch measurements for optical cavities, pulse rates, and 8 fire rates for beam returns. 9 81. Waymo has undertaken efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to 10 maintain the secrecy of the trade secrets at issue. These efforts include, but are not limited to, the 11 use of passwords and encryption to protect data on its computers, servers, and source code 12 repositories, the maintenance of a Code of Conduct that emphasizes all employees’ duties to 13 maintain the secrecy of Waymo’s confidential information, and the use of confidentiality 14 agreements and non-disclosure agreements to require vendors, partners, contractors, and 15 employees to maintain the secrecy of Waymo’s confidential information. 16 82. Defendants knew or should have known under the circumstances that the 17 information misappropriated by Defendants were trade secrets. 18 83. Defendants misappropriated and threaten to further misappropriate trade secrets at 19 least by acquiring trade secrets with knowledge of or reason to know that the trade secrets were 20 acquired by improper means, and Defendants are using and threatening to use the trade secrets 21 acquired by improper means without Waymo’s knowledge or consent. 22 84. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Waymo is threatened with 23 injury and has been injured in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional minimum of this Court and 24 that will be proven at trial. Waymo has also incurred, and will continue to incur, additional 25 damages, costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees, as a result of Defendants’ 26 misappropriation. As a further proximate result of the misappropriation and use of Waymo’s trade 27 secrets, Defendants were unjustly enriched. 28 -20- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 21 of 28 1 85. The aforementioned acts of Defendants were willful, malicious and fraudulent. 2 Waymo is therefore entitled to exemplary damages under California Civil Code § 3426.3(c). 3 86. Defendants’ conduct constitutes transgressions of a continuing nature for which 4 Waymo has no adequate remedy at law. Unless and until enjoined and restrained by order of this 5 Court, Defendants will continue to retain and use Waymo’s trade secret information to enrich 6 themselves and divert business from Waymo. Pursuant to California Civil Code § 3426.2, Waymo 7 is entitled to an injunction against the misappropriation and continued threatened misappropriation 8 of trade secrets as alleged herein and further asks the Court to restrain Defendants from using all 9 trade secret information misappropriated from Waymo and to return all trade secret information to 10 Waymo. 11 87. Pursuant to California Civil Code § 3426.4 and related law, Waymo is entitled to 12 an award of attorneys’ fees for Defendants’ misappropriation of trade secrets. 13 THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION 14 Infringement of Patent No. 8,836,922 (Against All Defendants) 15 88. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 89. The ’922 patent, entitled “Devices and Methods for a Rotating LIDAR platform 16 17 with a Shared Transmit/Receive Path,” was duly and lawfully issued on September 16, 2014. A 18 true and correct copy of the ’922 patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit A. 19 90. Waymo is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in the ’922 patent, including the 20 right to bring this suit for injunctive relief and damages. 21 91. The ’922 patent is valid and enforceable. 92. Defendants have infringed, and continue to infringe, literally and/or through the 22 23 doctrine of equivalents, one or more claims of the ’922 patent, including but not limited to claim 24 1, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), by making, using, selling, offering to sell, and/or importing 25 within the United States, without authority, certain LiDAR devices (“Accused LiDAR Devices”). 26 93. On information and belief, the Accused LiDAR Devices, such as those using the 27 Replicated Board, comprise a LiDAR device with a single lens that transmits light pulses 28 -21- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 22 of 28 1 originating from one or more light sources and receiving light pulses that are then detected by one 2 or more detectors. Defendants infringe at least claim 1 of the ’922 patent for at least the following 3 reasons: 4 94. Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices are LiDAR devices. 5 95. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a lens 6 mounted to a housing, wherein the housing is configured to rotate about an axis and has an interior 7 space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, a transmit path, and a receive path, wherein 8 the transmit block has an exit aperture in a wall that comprises a reflective surface, wherein the 9 receive block has an entrance aperture, wherein the transmit path extends from the exit aperture to 10 the lens, and wherein the receive path extends from the lens to the entrance aperture via the 11 reflective surface. 12 96. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a plurality 13 of light sources in the transmit block, wherein the plurality of light sources are configured to emit 14 a plurality of light beams through the exit aperture in a plurality of different directions, the light 15 beams comprising light having wavelengths in a wavelength range. 16 97. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a plurality 17 of detectors in the receive block, wherein the plurality of detectors are configured to detect light 18 having wavelengths in the wavelength range. 19 98. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a lens that is 20 configured to receive the light beams via the transmit path, collimate the light beams for 21 transmission into an environment of the LIDAR device, collect light comprising light from one or 22 more of the collimated light beams reflected by one or more of the collimated light beams 23 reflected by one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device, and focus the collected 24 light onto the detectors via the receive path. 25 99. Defendants’ infringement of the ’922 patent has been willful and deliberate because 26 Defendants knew or should have known about the ’922 patent and their infringement of that patent 27 but acted despite an objectively high likelihood that such acts would infringe the patent. On 28 information and belief, at least three of the individuals who developed the Accused LiDAR -22- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 23 of 28 1 Devices are named inventors of the ’922 patent who – while Waymo employees, and on behalf of 2 Waymo, which owns the ’922 patent – were involved in the conception and/or reduction to 3 practice of the ’922 patent and have had knowledge of the patent since it issued in September 4 2014. 5 100. As the direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Waymo has suffered 6 and, if Defendants’ conduct is not stopped, will continue to suffer, severe competitive harm, 7 irreparable injury, and significant damages, in an amount to be proven at trial. Because Waymo’s 8 remedy at law is inadequate, Waymo seeks, in addition to damages, temporary, preliminary, and 9 permanent injunctive relief. Waymo’s business operates in a competitive market and will continue 10 suffering irreparable harm absent injunctive relief. 11 FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION 12 Infringement of Patent No. 9,368,936 (Against All Defendants) 13 101. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 102. The ’936 patent, entitled “Laser Diode Firing System,” was duly and lawfully 14 15 issued on June 14, 2016. A true and correct copy of the ’936 patent is attached to this Complaint 16 as Exhibit B. 17 103. Waymo is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in the ’936 patent, including the 18 right to bring this suit for injunctive relief and damages. 19 104. The ’936 patent is valid and enforceable. 105. Defendants have infringed, and continue to infringe, literally and/or through the 20 21 doctrine of equivalents, one or more claims of the ’936 patent, including but not limited to claim 22 1, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), by making, using, selling, offering to sell, and/or importing 23 within the United States, without authority, the Accused LiDAR devices. 24 106. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices, such as those 25 using the Replicated Board, comprise a laser diode firing circuit for a LiDAR device, which 26 utilizes an inductor and a charging capacitor, where both the charging and discharge path are 27 28 -23- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 24 of 28 1 controllable via a single transistor and gate signal. Defendants infringe at least claim 1 of the ’936 2 patent for at least the following reasons: 3 107. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a voltage 108. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have an inductor 4 source. 5 6 coupled to the voltage source, wherein the inductor is configured to store energy in a magnetic 7 field. 8 109. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a diode or 9 equivalent coupled to the voltage source via the inductor. 10 110. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a transistor 11 configured to be turned on and turned off by a control signal. 12 111. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have a light 13 emitting element coupled to the transistor. 14 112. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices Circuit Boards 15 have a capacitor coupled to a charging path and a discharge path, wherein the charging path 16 includes the inductor and the diode, and wherein the discharge path includes the transistor and the 17 light emitting element. 18 113. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have, responsive 19 to the transistor being turned off, a capacitor configured to charge via the charging path such that a 20 voltage across the capacitor increases from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level and an 21 inductor configured to release energy stored in the magnetic field such that a current through the 22 inductor decreases from a higher current level to a lower current level. 23 114. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have, responsive 24 to the transistor being turned on, a capacitor configured to discharge through the discharge path 25 such that the light emitting element emits a pulse of light and the voltage across the capacitor 26 decreases from the higher voltage level to the lower voltage level and the inductor is configured to 27 store energy in the magnetic field such that the current through the inductor increases from the 28 lower current level to the higher current level. -24- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 25 of 28 1 115. As the direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Waymo has suffered 2 and, if Defendants’ conduct is not stopped, will continue to suffer, severe competitive harm, 3 irreparable injury, and significant damages, in an amount to be proven at trial. Because Waymo’s 4 remedy at law is inadequate, Waymo seeks, in addition to damages, temporary, preliminary, and 5 permanent injunctive relief. Waymo’s business operates in a competitive market and will continue 6 suffering irreparable harm absent injunctive relief. 7 FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION 8 Infringement of Patent No. 9,086,273 (Against All Defendants) 9 116. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 117. The ’273 patent, entitled “Microrod Compression of Laser Beam in Combination 10 11 with Transmit Lens,” was duly and lawfully issued on July 21, 2015. A true and correct copy of 12 the ’273 patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit C. 13 118. Waymo is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in the ’273 patent, including the 14 right to bring this suit for injunctive relief and damages. 15 119. The ’273 patent is valid and enforceable. 120. Defendants have infringed, and continue to infringe, literally and/or through the 16 17 doctrine of equivalents, one or more claims of the ’273 patent, including but not limited to claim 18 1, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), by making, using, selling, offering to sell, and/or importing 19 within the United States, without authority, the Accused LiDAR Devices. 20 121. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused Lidar Devices, such as those using 21 the Replicated Board and the Uber Custom LiDAR described in Uber’s Nevada regulatory filing, 22 comprise a LiDAR device with a single lens that both (i) collimates the light from one or more 23 light sources to provide collimated light for transmission into an environment of the LiDAR 24 device, and (ii) focuses the reflected light onto one or more photodetectors, and with cylindrical 25 lenses associated with each laser diode that pre-collimate the uncollimated laser beam. 26 Defendants infringe at least claim 1 of the ’273 patent for at least the following reasons: 27 28 -25- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 26 of 28 1 122. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices are LiDAR 2 devices. 3 123. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have at least one 4 laser diode, wherein the at least one laser diode is configured to emit an uncollimated laser beam 5 comprising light in a narrow wavelength range, wherein the uncollimated laser beam has a first 6 divergence in a first direction and a second divergence in a second direction, and wherein the first 7 divergence is greater than the second divergence. 8 124. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have at least one 9 cylindrical lens, wherein the at least one cylindrical lens is configured to pre-collimate the 10 uncollimated laser beam that has a third divergence in the first direction and a fourth divergence in 11 the second direction, wherein the third divergence is less than the fourth divergence and the fourth 12 divergence is substantially equal to the second divergence. 13 125. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have at least one 14 detector, wherein the at least one detector is configured to detect light having wavelengths in the 15 narrow wavelength range. 16 126. On information and belief, Defendants’ Accused LiDAR Devices have an objective 17 lens, wherein the objective lens is configured to (i) collimate the partially collimated laser beam 18 for transmission into an environment of the LiDAR device and (ii) focus object reflected light onto 19 the at least one detector, wherein the object-reflected light comprises light from the collimated 20 laser beam in the environment of the LiDAR device. 21 127. Defendants’ infringement of the ’273 patent has been willful and deliberate because 22 Defendants knew or should have known about the ’273 patent and their infringement of that patent 23 but acted despite an objectively high likelihood that such acts would infringe the patent. At least 24 one individual who developed the Accused LiDAR Devices is a named inventor on the ’273 patent 25 who – while a Waymo employee, and on behalf of Waymo, which owns the ’273 patent – was 26 involved in the conception and/or reduction to practice of the ’273 patent and therefore has had 27 knowledge of the patent since it issued in July 21, 2015. 28 -26- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 27 of 28 1 128. As the direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Waymo has suffered 2 and, if Defendants’ conduct is not stopped, will continue to suffer, severe competitive harm, 3 irreparable injury, and significant damages, in an amount to be proven at trial. Because Waymo’s 4 remedy at law is inadequate, Waymo seeks, in addition to damages, temporary, preliminary, and 5 permanent injunctive relief. Waymo’s business operates in a competitive market and will continue 6 suffering irreparable harm absent injunctive relief. 7 SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION 8 Violation of California Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 (Against All Defendants) 9 129. Waymo incorporates all of the above paragraphs as though fully set forth herein. 130. Defendants engaged in unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business acts and practices. 10 11 Such acts and practices include, but are not limited to, misappropriating Waymo’s confidential and 12 proprietary information. 13 131. Defendants’ business acts and practices were unlawful as described above. 132. Defendants’ business acts and practices were fraudulent in that a reasonable person 14 15 would likely be deceived by their material misrepresentations and omissions. Defendants have 16 acquired and used Waymo’s confidential and proprietary trade secret information through material 17 misrepresentations and omissions. 18 133. Defendants’ business acts and practices were unfair in that the substantial harm 19 suffered by Waymo outweighs any justification that Defendants may have for engaging in those 20 acts and practices. 21 134. Waymo has been harmed as a result of Defendants’ unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent 22 business acts and practices. Waymo is entitled to (a) recover restitution, including without 23 limitation, all benefits that Defendants received as a result of their unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent 24 business acts and practices and (b) an injunction restraining Defendants from engaging in further 25 acts of unfair competition. 26 PRAYER FOR RELIEF 27 WHEREFORE, Waymo respectfully requests the following relief: 28 -27- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 28 of 28 1 135. Judgment in Waymo’s favor and against Defendants on all causes of action alleged 136. For damages in an amount to be further proven at trial, including trebling of all 2 herein; 3 4 damages awarded with respect to infringement of the ’922 and ’273 patents; 5 137. For preliminary and permanent injunctive relief; 6 138. For judgment that this is an exceptional case; 7 139. For punitive damages; 8 140. For restitution; 9 141. For costs of suit incurred herein; 10 142. For prejudgment interest; 11 143. For attorneys’ fees and costs; and 12 144. For such other and further relief as the Court may deem to be just and proper. 13 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 14 Waymo hereby demands trial by jury for all causes of action, claims, or issues in this 15 action that are triable as a matter of right to a jury 16 DATED: February 23, 2017 17 18 19 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP By /s/ Charles K. Verhoeven Charles K. Verhoeven Attorneys for WAYMO LLC 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -28- Case No._________ COMPLAINT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 1 of 24 EXHIBIT A Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 2 of 24 US008836922B1 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent: Pennecot et al. (54) DEVICES AND METHODS FOR A ROTATING US 8,836,922 B1 Sep. 16, 2014 USPC ........ 356/4.01, 3.01, 4.07, 5.01, 5.09, 9, 625, LIDAR PLATFORM WITH A SHARED 356/337–342, 28, 28.5 TRANSMIT/RECEIVE PATH See application file for complete search history. (71) Applicant: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) (56) References Cited - U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (72) Inventors: Gaetan Pennecot, San Francisco, CA (US); Pierre-Yves Droz, Los Altos, CA (US); Drew Eugene Ulrich, San 3,790,277 A 2/1974 Hogan 4,516,158 A * 5/1985 Grainge et al. ............... 348/145 Francisco, CA (US); Daniel Gruver, º* : #. $ºn Fºnciscº, CA (US)/ashay Morriss, San Francisco, CA (US). Anthony Levandowski, Berkeley, CA 5,202,742 A 5,703,351 A 6,046,800 A 4/1993 Frank et al. 12/1997 Meyers 4/2000 Ohtomo et al. - - 3 * ~~~ 3 * 6,778,732 B1* (US) (*) Notice: - - - - ............ 356/141.1 8/2004 Fermann ......................... 385/31 Continued (73) Assignee: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) - tal ellekSOIn et al. ( - ) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 EP U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. Primary Examiner – Isam Alsomiri (21) Appl. No.: 13/971,606 s (22) Filed: Aug. 20, 2013 (51) Int. Cl. G0IC 3/08 (2006.01) G0IS 17/92 (2006.01) (52) U.S. CI. CPC ..…. Gois 1702 (2013.01) USPC ....... 356/4.01: 356/3.01: 356/5.01: 356/5.09: 2410358 A1 1/2012 Assistant Examiner – Samantha KAbraham (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (57) ABSTRACT A LIDAR device may transmit light pulses originating from one or more light sources and may receive reflected light pulses that are then detected by one or more detectors. The LIDAR device may include a lens that both (i) collimates the light from the one or more light sources to provide collimated 356/4.07: 356/9: 356/625: 356/337: 356/342: light for transmission into an environment of the LIDAR s s s 35628. 356/28 s (58) Field of Classification Search s CPC ...... GO1C 3/08; GO1C 15/002; GO1C 11/025; GO1C 15/02; GO1C 21/30; G01S 17/89: G01S 7/4817: G01S 17/42; G01S 17/50: G01S 17/158; G01N 15/0205; G01N 15/1459: G01N 21/29: G01N 2015/1486; G01N 21/53; G01N 21/538; G01N 2021/4709; G01N 21/21; G01P 3/36; G01P 5/26: G01P 3/366 device and (ii) focuses the reflected light onto the one or more detectors. The lens may define a curved focal surface in a transmit path of the light from the one or more light sources and a curved focal surface in a receive path of the one or more detectors. The one or more light sources may be arranged along the curved focal surface in the transmit path. The one or more detectors may be arranged along the curved focal sur face in the receive path. 18 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 3 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 Page 2 (56) References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 7,361,948 B2 * 4/2008 Hirano et al. ................. 257/294 7,417,716 B2 8/2008 Nagasaka et al. 7,544,945 B2 6/2009 Tan et al. 7,969,558 B2 6/2011 Hall 7,089,114 B1 8/2006 Huang 2002/0140924 A1* 10/2002 Wangler et al. ................. 356/28 7,248.342 B1 7/2007 Degnan 2010/0220,141 A1* 9/2010 Ozawa ............................ 347/18 7,255,275 B2 8/2007 Gurevich et al. 2011/0216304 A1 9/2011 Hall 7,259,838 B2 * 8/2007 Carlhoffet al. .............. 356/5.04 7,311,000 B2 * 12/2007 Smith et al. ................ 73/170.11 * cited by examiner Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 4 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 1 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 100 Housing 110 Transmit B?ock 120 20 Receive Block 130 ?ight Sources 122 T 104 i # FIG. 1 : 106 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 5 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 2 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 200 \, 206 # : # : 228 220 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 6 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 3 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 Ç co cr) : : Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 7 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 4 of 11 FIG. 3B US 8,836,922 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 8 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 5 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 9 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 FIG. 5A Sheet 6 of 11 506 US 8,836,922 B1 508 ` FIG. 5B 508- 504 : <---------. 500 506 FIG. 5C 510 506 504 <---------, 500 ; Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 10 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 7 of 11 690 FIG. 6B US 8,836,922 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 11 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 8 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 750 752 × FIG. 7A 752 754 FIG. 7B Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 12 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 840 Sheet 9 of 11 US 8,836,922 B1 Right Side View Back View Top View FIG. 8A Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 13 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 10 of 11 FIG. 8B US 8,836,922 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 14 of 24 U.S. Patent Sep. 16, 2014 Sheet 11 of 11 , US 8,836,922 B1 900 ROTATING A HOUSENG OF A LIGHT DETECTION AND 902 RANGING (LIDAR) DEVICE ABOUT AN AXIS, WHEREIN THE HOUSING HAS AN INTERIOR SPACE THAT INCLUDES A TRANSMIT BLOCK, A RECEIVE BLOCK, AND A SHARED SPACE, WHEREIN THE TRANSMIT BLOCK HAS AN EXIT APERTURE, AND WHEREIN THE RECEIVE BLOCK HAS AN ENTRANCE APERTURE 904 EMITTING, BY A PLURALITY OF LIGHT SOURCES IN THE TRANSMIT BLOCK, A PLURALITY OF LIGHT BEAMS THAT ENTER THE SHARED SPACE VIA A TRANSMIT PATH, THE ? GHT BEAMS COMPRISING LIGHT HAVING WAVELENGTHS IN A WAVELENGTH RANGE 906 RECEIVING THE LIGHT BEAMS AT A LENS MOUNTED TO THE HOUSING ALONG THE TRANSMHT PATH 908 COLLIMATING, BY THE LENS, THE LIGHT BEAMS FOR TRANSMHSS}ON INTO AN ENVIRONMENT OF THE {_{DAR DEVICE g40 FOCUSING, BY THE LENS, THE COLLECTED LIGHT ONTO A Pi_URALITY OF DETECTORS N THE RECEIVE BLOCK VIA A RECEIVE PATH THAT EXTENDS THROUGH THE SHARED SPACE AND THE ENTRANCE APERTURE OF THE RECEIVE B? OCK 912 DETECTING, BY THE PLURALITY OF DETECTORS IN THE RECEIVE BLOCK, LIGHT FROM THE FOCUSED LIGHT HAVENG WAVELENGTHS N THE WAVELENGTH RANGE Figure 9 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 15 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 1 2 shared space via a transmit path. The light beams include light having wavelengths in a wavelength range. The method fur ther involves receiving the light beams at a lens mounted to the housing along the transmit path. The method further involves collimating, by the lens, the light beams for trans DEVICES AND METHODS FOR A ROTATING LIDAR PLATFORM WITH A SHARED TRANSMIT/RECEIVE PATH BACKGROUND mission into an environment of the LIDAR device. The Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Vehicles can be configured to operate in an autonomous mode in which the vehicle navigates through an environment with little or no input from a driver. Such autonomous vehicles can include one or more sensors that are configured 10 ture of the receive block. The method further involves detect to detect information about the environment in which the vehicle operates. One such sensor is a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) 15 ing, by the plurality of detectors in the receive block, light from the focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength range. device. A LIDAR can estimates distance to environmental features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment. Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from an object in the environment, and deter mining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse. A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene. Combining the measured distances and the orientation of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for asso ciating a three-dimensional position with each returning pulse. In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indica method further involves collecting, by the lens, light from one or more of the collimated light beams reflected by one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device. The method further involves focusing, by the lens, the collected light onto a plurality of detectors in the receive block via a receive path that extends through the shared space and the entrance aper 20 These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alterna tives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 25 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example LIDAR device. FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an example LIDAR device. FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an example LIDAR device fitted with various components, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein 30 tive of locations of reflective features in the environment can be generated for the entire scanning zone. FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the example LIDAR device shown in FIG. 3A with the various components removed to illustrate interior space of the housing. FIG. 4 illustrates an example transmit block, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. SUMMARY In one example, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device is provided that includes a housing configured to rotate about an axis. The housing has an interior space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space. The transmit block has an exit aperture and the receive block has an entrance aperture. The LIDAR device also includes a plu rality of light sources in the transmit block. The plurality of light sources is configured to emit a plurality of light beams that enter the shared space through the exit aperture and traverse the shared space via a transmit path. The light beams include light having wavelengths in a wavelength range. The LIDAR device also includes a plurality of detectors in the receive block. The plurality of detectors is configured to detect light having wavelengths in the wavelength range. The LIDAR device also includes a lens mounted to the housing. The lens is configured to (i) receive the light beams via the transmit path, (ii) collimate the light beams for transmission into an environment of the LIDAR device, (iii) collect light that includes light from one or more of the collimated light beams reflected by one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device, and (iv) focus the collected light onto the detectors via a receive path that extends through the shared space and the entrance aperture of the receive block. In another example, a method is provided that involves rotating a housing of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device about an axis. The housing has an interior space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space. The transmit block has an exit aperture and the receive block has an entrance aperture. The method further involves emit ting a plurality of light beams by a plurality of light sources in the transmit block. The plurality of light beams enter the 35 FIG. 5A is a view of an example light source, in accordance with an example embodiment. FIG. 5B is a view of the light source of FIG. 5A in combi nation with a cylindrical lens, in accordance with an example embodiment. 40 FIG. 5C is another view of the light source and cylindrical lens combination of FIG. 5B, in accordance with an example embodiment. FIG. 6A illustrates an example receive block, in accor 45 dance with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG. 6B illustrates a side view of three detectors included in the receive block of FIG. 6A. FIG. 7A illustrates an example lens with an aspheric sur face and a toroidal surface, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. 50 FIG. 7B illustrates a cross-section view of the example lens 750 shown in FIG. 7A. FIG. 8A illustrates an example LIDAR device mounted on a vehicle, in accordance with at least some embodiments 55 described herein. FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where the LIDAR device shown in FIG. 8A is scanning an environment that includes one or more objects, in accordance with at least some embodi ments described herein. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method, in accordance with at 60 least some embodiments described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION 65 The following detailed description describes various fea tures and functions of the disclosed systems, devices and methods with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, similar symbols identify similar components, unless Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 16 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 3 context dictates otherwise. The illustrative system, device and method embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting. It may be readily understood by those skilled in the art that certain aspects of the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of 5 different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device may trans mit light pulses originating from a plurality of light sources and may receive reflected light pulses that are then detected by a plurality of detectors. Within examples described herein, a LIDAR device is provided that includes a transmit/receive lens that both collimates the light from the plurality of light sources and focuses the reflected light onto the plurality of detectors. By using a transmit/receive lens that performs both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided. The LIDAR device comprises a housing that is configured to rotate about an axis. In some examples, the axis is substantially vertical. The housing may have an interior space that includes various components such as a transmit block that includes the plurality of light sources, a receive block that includes the plurality of detectors, a shared space where emit ted light traverses from the transmit block to the transmit? receive lens and reflected light traverses from the transmit/ 10 15 20 25 receive lens to the receive block, and the transmit/receive lens that collimates the emitted light and focuses the reflected light. By rotating the housing that includes the various com ponents, in some examples, a three-dimensional map of a 360-degree field of view of an environment of the LIDAR device can be determined without frequent recalibration of the arrangement of the various components. In some examples, the housing may include radio fre quency (RF) and optical shielding between the transmit block and the receive block. For example, the housing can be formed from and/or coated by a metal, metallic ink, or metal lic foam to provide the RF shielding. Metals used for shield ing can include, for example, copper or nickel. The plurality of light sources included in the transmit block can include, for example, laser diodes. In one example, the light sources emit light with wavelengths of approximately 905 nm. In some examples, a transmit path through which the transmit/receive lens receives the light emitted by the light sources may include a reflective element, such as a mirror or prism. By including the reflective element, the transmit path can be folded to provide a smaller size of the transmit block and, hence, a smaller housing of the LIDAR device. Addi tionally, the transmit path includes an exit aperture of the transmit block through which the emitted light enters the shared space and traverses to the transmit/receive lens. In some examples, each light source of the plurality of light sources includes a respective lens, such as a cylindrical or acylindrical lens. The light source may emit an uncollimated light beam that diverges more in a first direction than in a second direction. In these examples, the light source’s respec tive lens may pre-collimate the uncollimated light beam in the first direction to provide a partially collimated light beam, thereby reducing the divergence in the first direction. In some examples, the partially collimated light beam diverges less in 30 35 40 45 4 may have a greater divergence in the second direction than in the first direction, and the exit aperture can accommodate vertical and horizontal extents of the beams of light from the light sources. The housing mounts the transmit/receive lens through which light from the plurality of light sources can exit the housing, and reflected light can enter the housing to reach the receive block. The transmit/receive lens can have an optical power that is sufficient to collimate the light emitted by the plurality of light sources and to focus the reflected light onto the plurality of detectors in the receive block. In one example, the transmit/receive lens has a surface with an aspheric shape that is at the outside of the housing, a surface with a toroidal shape that is inside the housing, and a focal length of approxi mately 120 mm. The plurality of detectors included in the receive block can include, for example, avalanche photodiodes in a sealed envi ronment that is filled with an inert gas, such as nitrogen. The receive block can include an entrance aperture through which focused light from the transmit/receive lens traverses towards the detectors. In some examples, the entrance aperture can include a filtering window that passes light having wave lengths within the wavelength range emitted by the plurality of light sources and attenuates light having other wave lengths. The collimated light transmitted from the LIDAR device into the environment may reflect from one or more objects in the environment to provide object-reflected light. The trans mit/receive lens may collect the object-reflected light and focus the object-reflected light through a focusing path (“re ceive path”) onto the plurality of detectors. In some examples, the receive path may include a reflective surface that directs the focused light to the plurality of detectors. Additionally or alternatively, the reflective surface can fold the focused light towards the receive block and thus provide space savings for the shared space and the housing of the LIDAR device. In some examples, the reflective surface may define a wall that includes the exit aperture between the transmit block and the shared space. In this case, the exit aperture of the transmit block corresponds to a transparent and/or non-reflective por tion of the reflective surface. The transparent portion can be a hole or cut-away portion of the reflective surface. Alterna tively, the reflective surface can be formed by forming a layer of reflective material on a transparent substrate (e.g., glass) and the transparent portion can be a portion of the substrate that is not coated with the reflective material. Thus, the shared space can be used for both the transmit path and the receive path. In some examples, the transmit path at least partially overlaps the receive path in the shared space. 50 The vertical and horizontal extents of the exit aperture are sufficient to accommodate the beam widths of the emitted light beams from the light sources. However, the non-reflec tive nature of the exit aperture prevents a portion of the collected and focused light in the receive path from reflecting, 55 at the reflective surface, towards the detectors in the receive block. Thus, reducing the beam widths of the emitted light beams from the transmit blocks is desirable to minimize the size of the exit aperture and reduce the lost portion of the collected light. In some examples noted above, the reduction 60 of the beam widths traversing through the exit aperture can be the first direction than in the second direction. The transmit/ achieved by partially collimating the emitted light beams by receive lens receives the partially collimated light beams from including a respective lens, such as a cylindrical or acylindri the one or more light sources via an exit aperture of the cal lens, adjacent to each light source. transmit block and the transmit/receive lens collimates the Additionally or alternatively, to reduce the beam widths of partially collimated light beams to provide collimated light 65 the emitted light beams, in some examples, the transmit/ beams that are transmitted into the environment of the LIDAR receive lens can be configured to define a focal surface that device. In this example, the light emitted by the light sources has a substantial curvature in a vertical plane and/or a hori Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 17 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 5 zontal plane. For example, the transmit/receive lens can be configured to have the aspheric surface and the toroidal sur face described above that provides the curved focal surface along the vertical plane and/or the horizontal plane. In this configuration, the light sources in the transmit block can be arranged along the transmit/receive lens’ curved focal surface in the transmit block, and the detectors in the receive block can be arranged on the transmit/receive lens’ curved focal surface in the receive block. Thus, the emitted light beams from the light sources arranged along the curved focal surface can converge into the exit aperture having a smaller size than an aperture for light beams that are substantially parallel and/or diverging. To facilitate such curved arrangement of the light sources, in some examples, the light sources can be mounted on a curved edge of one or more vertically-oriented printed circuit boards (PCBs), such that the curved edge of the PCB substan tially matches the curvature of the focal surface in the vertical plane of the PCB. In this example, the one or more PCBs can be mounted in the transmit block along a horizontal curvature that substantially matches the curvature of the focal surface in the horizontal plane of the one or more PCBs. For example, 10 15 receive block 130 and determine the distance between the one 20 the transmit block can include four PCBs, with each PCB mounting sixteen light sources, so as to provide 64 light sources along the curved focal plane of the transmit/receive lens in the transmit block. In this example, the 64 light sources are arranged in a pattern substantially corresponding to the curved focal surface defined by the transmit/receive lens such that the emitted light beams converge towards the exit aper ture of the transmit block. For the receive block, in some examples, the plurality of detectors can be disposed on a flexible PCB that is mounted to the receive block to conform with the shape of the transmit/ receive lens’ focal surface. For example, the flexible PCB may be held between two clamping pieces that have surfaces corresponding to the shape of the focal surface. Additionally, in this example, each of the plurality of detectors can be arranged on the flexible PCB so as to receive focused light from the transmit/receive lens that corresponds to a respective light source of the plurality of light sources. In this example, the detectors can be arranged in a pattern substantially corre sponding to the curved focal surface of the transmit/receive lens in the receive block. Thus, in this example, the transmit/ receive lens can be configured to focus onto each detector of the plurality of detectors a respective portion of the collected light that comprises light from the detector’s corresponding light source. Some embodiments of the present disclosure therefore pro vide systems and methods for a LIDAR device that uses a shared transmit/receive lens. In some examples, such LIDAR device can include the shared lens configured to provide a curved focal plane for transmitting light sources and receiv ing detectors such that light from the light sources passes through a small exit aperture included in a reflective surface that reflects collected light towards the detectors. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example LIDAR device 100. The LIDAR device 100 comprises a housing 110 that houses an arrangement of various components included in the 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 to an environment of the LIDAR device 100 as collimated light beams 104, and collect reflected light 106 from one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 by the lens 150 for focusing towards the receive block 130 as or more objects and the LIDAR device 100 based on the comparison. The housing 110 included in the LIDAR device 100 can provide a platform for mounting the various components included in the LIDAR device 100. The housing 110 can be formed from any material capable of supporting the various components of the LIDAR device 100 included in an interior space of the housing 110. For example, the housing 110 may be formed from a structural material such as plastic or metal. In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured for optical shielding to reduce ambient light and/or unintentional transmission of the emitted light beams 102 from the transmit block 120 to the receive block 130. Optical shielding from ambient light of the environment of the LIDAR device 100 can be achieved by forming and/or coating the outer surface of the housing 110 with a material that blocks the ambient light from the environment. Additionally, inner surfaces of the housing 110 can include and/or be coated with the mate rial described above to optically isolate the transmit block 120 from the receive block 130 to prevent the receive block 130 from receiving the emitted light beams 102 before the emitted light beams 102 reach the lens 150. In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured for electromagnetic shielding to reduce electromagnetic noise (e.g., Radio Frequency (RF) Noise, etc.) from ambient envi ronment of the LIDAR device 110 and/or electromagnetic noise between the transmit block 120 and the receive block LIDAR device 100 such as a transmit block 120, a receive block 130, a shared space 140, and a lens 150. The LIDAR device 100 includes the arrangement of the various compo ments that provide emitted light beams 102 from the transmit block 120 that are collimated by the lens 150 and transmitted 6 focused light 108. The reflected light 106 comprises light from the collimated light beams 104 that was reflected by the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100. The emitted light beams 102 and the focused light 108 traverse in the shared space 140 also included in the housing 110. In some examples, the emitted light beams 102 are propagating in a transmit path through the shared space 140 and the focused light 108 are propagating in a receive path through the shared space 140. In some examples, the transmit path at least partially overlaps the receive path in the shared space 140. The LIDAR device 100 can determine an aspect of the one or more objects (e.g., location, shape, etc.) in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 by processing the focused light 108 received by the receive block 130. For example, the LIDAR device 100 can compare a time when pulses included in the emitted light beams 102 were emitted by the transmit block 120 with a time when corresponding pulses included in the focused light 108 were received by the 65 130. Electromagnetic shielding can improve quality of the emitted light beams 102 emitted by the transmit block 120 and reduce noise in signals received and/or provided by the receive block 130. Electromagnetic shielding can be achieved by forming and/or coating the housing 110 with a material that absorbs electromagnetic radiation such as a metal, metal lic ink, metallic foam, carbon foam, or any other material configured to absorb electromagnetic radiation. Metals that can be used for the electromagnetic shielding can include for example, copper or nickel. In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured to have a substantially cylindrical shape and to rotate about an axis of the LIDAR device 100. For example, the housing 110 can have the substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter of approximately 10 centimeters. In some examples, the axis is substantially vertical. By rotating the housing 110 that includes the various components, in some examples, a three dimensional map of a 360 degree view of the environment of the LIDAR device 100 can be determined without frequent recalibration of the arrangement of the various components of the LIDAR device 100. Additionally or alternatively, the Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 18 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 7 LIDAR device 100 can be configured to tilt the axis of rota tion of the housing 110 to control the field of view of the LIDAR device 100. Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, the LIDAR device 100 can optionally include a mounting structure for the housing 110. The mounting structure can include a motor or other means for rotating the housing 110 about the axis of the LIDAR device 100. Alternatively, the mounting structure can be included in a device and/or system other than the LIDAR device 100. 5 10 In some examples, the various components of the LIDAR device 100 such as the transmit block 120, receive block 130, and the lens 150 can be removably mounted to the housing 110 in predetermined positions to reduce burden of calibrat ing the arrangement of each component and/or subcompo ments included in each component. Thus, the housing 110 provides the platform for the various components of the LIDAR device 100 for ease of assembly, maintenance, cali 15 bration, and manufacture of the LIDAR device 100. The transmit block 120 includes a plurality of light sources 122 that can be configured to emit the plurality of emitted light beams 102 via an exit aperture 124. In some examples, each of the plurality of emitted light beams 102 corresponds to one of the plurality of light sources 122. The transmit block 120 can optionally include a mirror 126 along the transmit path of the emitted light beams 102 between the light sources 122 and the exit aperture 124. The light sources 122 can include laser diodes, light emit ting diodes (LED), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical sys tems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light to provide the plurality of emitted light beams 102. In some examples, the light sources 122 can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 102 in a wavelength range that can be detected by detectors 132 included in the receive block 130. The wavelength range could, for example, be in the ultraviolet, visible, and/or infra red portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some examples, the wavelength range can be a narrow wavelength range, such as provided by lasers. In one example, the wave length range includes wavelengths that are approximately 905 nm. Additionally, the light sources 122 can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 102 in the form of pulses. In some examples, the plurality of light sources 122 can be disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.) and arranged to emit the plurality of light beams 102 towards the exit aperture 124. In some examples, the plurality of light sources 122 can be configured to emit uncollimated light beams included in the emitted light beams 102. For example, the emitted light beams 102 can diverge in one or more directions along the transmit path due to the uncollimated light beams emitted by the plurality of light sources 122. In some examples, vertical and horizontal extents of the emitted light beams 102 at any position along the transmit path can be based on an extent of the divergence of the uncollimated light beams emitted by the plurality of light sources 122. The exit aperture 124 arranged along the transmit path of the emitted light beams 102 can be configured to accommo date the vertical and horizontal extents of the plurality of light beams 102 emitted by the plurality of light sources 122 at the exit aperture 124. It is noted that the block diagram shown in FIG. 1 is described in connection with functional modules for convenience in description. However, the functional modules in the block diagram of FIG. 1 can be physically implemented 20 25 8 in other locations. For example, although illustrated that the exit aperture 124 is included in the transmit block 120, the exit aperture 124 can be physically included in both the transmit block 120 and the shared space 140. For example, the transmit block 120 and the shared space 140 can be separated by a wall that includes the exit aperture 124. In this case, the exit aperture 124 can correspond to a transparent portion of the wall. In one example, the transparent portion can be a hole or cut-away portion of the wall. In another example, the wall can be formed from a transparent substrate (e.g., glass) coated with a non-transparent material, and the exit aperture 124 can be a portion of the substrate that is not coated with the non transparent material. In some examples of the LIDAR device 100, it may be desirable to minimize size of the exit aperture 124 while accommodating the vertical and horizontal extents of the plurality of light beams 102. For example, minimizing the size of the exit aperture 124 can improve the optical shielding of the light sources 122 described above in the functions of the housing 110. Additionally or alternatively, the wall separating the transmit block 120 and the shared space 140 can be arranged along the receive path of the focused light 108, and thus, the exit aperture 124 can be minimized to allow a larger portion of the focused light 108 to reach the wall. For example, the wall can be coated with a reflective material (e.g., reflective surface 142 in shared space 140) and the receive path can include reflecting the focused light 108 by the reflective material towards the receive block 130. In this 30 case, minimizing the size of the exit aperture 124 can allow a larger portion of the focused light 108 to reflect off the reflec tive material that the wall is coated with. 35 40 45 To minimize the size of the exit aperture 124, in some examples, the divergence of the emitted light beams 102 can be reduced by partially collimating the uncollimated light beams emitted by the light sources 122 to minimize the ver tical and horizontal extents of the emitted light beams 102 and thus minimize the size of the exit aperture 124. For example, each light source of the plurality of light sources 122 can include a cylindrical lens arranged adjacent to the light source. The light source may emit a corresponding uncolli mated light beam that diverges more in a first direction than in a second direction. The cylindrical lens may pre-collimate the uncollimated light beam in the first direction to provide a partially collimated light beam, thereby reducing the diver gence in the first direction. In some examples, the partially collimated light beam diverges less in the first direction than in the second direction. Similarly, uncollimated light beams from other light sources of the plurality of light sources 122 can have a reduced beam width in the first direction and thus 50 the emitted light beams 102 can have a smaller divergence due to the partially collimated light beams. In this example, at least one of the vertical and horizontal extents of the exit 55 60 aperture 124 can be reduced due to partially collimating the light beams 102. Additionally or alternatively, to minimize the size of the exit aperture 124, in some examples, the light sources 122 can be arranged along a substantially curved surface defined by the transmit block 120. The curved surface can be configured such that the emitted light beams 102 converge towards the exit aperture 124, and thus the vertical and horizontal extents of the emitted light beams 102 at the exit aperture 124 can be reduced due to the arrangement of the light sources 122 along the curved surface of the transmit block 120. In some 65 examples, the curved surface of the transmit block 120 can include a curvature along the first direction of divergence of the emitted light beams 102 and a curvature along the second direction of divergence of the emitted light beams 102, such Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 19 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 9 that the plurality of light beams 102 converge towards a central area in front of the plurality of light sources 122 along the transmit path. To facilitate such curved arrangement of the light sources 122, in some examples, the light sources 122 can be disposed on a flexible substrate (e.g., flexible PCB) having a curvature along one or more directions. For example, the curved flex ible substrate can be curved along the first direction of diver gence of the emitted light beams 102 and the second direction of divergence of the emitted light beams 102. Additionally or alternatively, to facilitate such curved arrangement of the light sources 122, in some examples, the light sources 122 can be disposed on a curved edge of one or more vertically oriented printed circuit boards (PCBs), such that the curved edge of the PCB substantially matches the curvature of the first direction (e.g., the vertical plane of the PCB). In this example, the one or more PCBs can be mounted in the trans mit block 120 along a horizontal curvature that substantially matches the curvature of the second direction (e.g., the hori zontal plane of the one or more PCBs). For example, the 10 a flexible substrate (e.g., flexible PCB) and arranged along the curved surface of the flexible substrate to each receive 5 10 15 20 transmit block 120 can include four PCBs, with each PCB mounting sixteen light sources, so as to provide 64 light sources along the curved surface of the transmit block 120. In this example, the 64 light sources are arranged in a pattern such that the emitted light beams 102 converge towards the exit aperture 124 of the transmit block 120. The transmit block 120 can optionally include the mirror 126 along the transmit path of the emitted light beams 102 between the light sources 122 and the exit aperture 124. By including the mirror 126 in the transmit block 120, the trans mit path of the emitted light beams 102 can be folded to provide a smaller size of the transmit block 120 and the housing 110 of the LIDAR device 100 than a size of another transmit block where the transmit path that is not folded. The receive block 130 includes a plurality of detectors 132 that can be configured to receive the focused light 108 via an entrance aperture 134. In some examples, each of the plurality of detectors 132 is configured and arranged to receive a por tion of the focused light 108 corresponding to a light beam emitted by a corresponding light source of the plurality of light sources 122 and reflected of the one or more objects in 25 108 from the lens 150 to the receive block 130. In some 30 35 40 45 50 55 of the receive block 130. The curved surface of the receive block 130 can similarly be curved along one or more axes of the curved surface of the receive block 130. Thus, each of the detectors 132 are configured to receive light that was origi nally emitted by a corresponding light source of the plurality of light sources 122. To provide the curved surface of the receive block 130, the detectors 132 can be disposed on the one or more substrates similarly to the light sources 122 disposed in the transmit block 120. For example, the detectors 132 can be disposed on examples, the transmit path at least partially overlaps with the receive path in the shared space 140. By including the trans mit path and the receive path in the shared space 140, advan tages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity of assem bly, manufacture, and/or maintenance of the LIDAR device 100 can be provided. In some examples, the shared space 140 can include a reflective surface 142. The reflective surface 142 can be the environment of the LIDAR device 100. The receive block 130 can optionally include the detectors 132 in a sealed envi ronment having an inert gas 136. The detectors 132 may comprise photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors (APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors, orany other sensoroflight configured to receive focused light 108 having wavelengths in the wavelength range of the emit ted light beams 102. To facilitate receiving, by each of the detectors 132, the portion of the focused light 108 from the corresponding light source of the plurality of light sources 122, the detectors 132 can be disposed on one or more substrates and arranged accordingly. For example, the light sources 122 can be arranged alonga curved surface of the transmit block120, and the detectors 132 can also be arranged along a curved surface focused light originating from a corresponding light source of the light sources 122. In this example, the flexible substrate may be held between two clamping pieces that have surfaces corresponding to the shape of the curved surface of the receive block 130. Thus, in this example, assembly of the receive block 130 can be simplified by sliding the flexible substrate onto the receive block 130 and using the two clamp ing pieces to hold it at the correct curvature. The focused light 108 traversing along the receive path can be received by the detectors 132 via the entrance aperture 134. In some examples, the entrance aperture 134 can include a filtering window that passes light having wavelengths within the wavelength range emitted by the plurality of light sources 122 and attenuates light having other wavelengths. In this example, the detectors 132 receive the focused light 108 substantially comprising light having the wavelengths within the wavelength range. In some examples, the plurality of detectors 132 included in the receive block 130 can include, for example, avalanche photodiodes in a sealed environment that is filled with the inert gas 136. The inert gas 136 may comprise, for example, nitrogen. The shared space 140 includes the transmit path for the emitted light beams 102 from the transmit block 120 to the lens 150, and includes the receive path for the focused light 60 arranged along the receive path and configured to reflect the focused light 108 towards the entrance aperture 134 and onto the detectors 132. The reflective surface 142 may comprise a prism, mirror or any other optical element configured to reflect the focused light 108 towards the entrance aperture 134 in the receive block 130. In some examples where a wall separates the shared space 140 from the transmit block 120. In these examples, the wall may comprise a transparent sub strate (e.g., glass) and the reflective surface 142 may comprise a reflective coating on the wall with an uncoated portion for the exit aperture 124. In embodiments including the reflective surface 142, the reflective surface 142 can reduce size of the shared space 140 by folding the receive path similarly to the mirror 126 in the transmit block 120. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the reflective surface 142 can direct the focused light 103 to the receive block 130 further providing flexibility to the placement of the receive block 130 in the housing 110. For example, varying the tilt of the reflective surface 142 can cause the focused light 108 to be reflected to various portions of the interior space of the housing 110, and thus the receive block 130 can be placed in a corresponding position in the housing 110. Additionally or alternatively, in this example, the LIDAR device 100 can be calibrated by varying the tilt of the reflective surface 142. 65 The lens 150 mounted to the housing 110 can have an optical power to both collimate the emitted light beams 102 from the light sources 122 in the transmit block 120, and focus the reflected light 106 from the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 onto the detectors 132 in the receive block 130. In one example, the lens 150 has Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 20 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 11 a focal length of approximately 120 mm. By using the same lens 150 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided. In some examples, collimating the emitted light beams 102 to provide the collimated light beams 104 allows determining the distance travelled by the collimated light beams 104 to the one or more objects in the environment of 5 the LIDAR device 100. In an example scenario, the emitted light beams 102 from the light sources 122 traversing along the transmit path can be collimated by the lens 150 to provide the collimated light 10 beams 104 to the environment of the LIDAR device 100. The collimated light beams 104 may then reflect off the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 and return to the lens 150 as the reflected light 106. The lens 150 may then collect and focus the reflected light 106 as the focused light 108 onto the detectors 132 included in the receive block 130. In some examples, aspects of the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 can be determined by comparing the emitted light beams 102 with the focused light beams 108. The aspects can include, for example, distance, shape, color, and/or material of the one or more objects. Additionally, in some examples, rotating the housing 110, a three dimensional map of the surroundings of 15 20 25 the LIDAR device 100 can be determined. In some examples where the plurality of light sources 122 are arranged along the curved surface of the transmit block 120, the lens 150 can be configured to have a focal surface corresponding to the curved surface of the transmit block 120. For example, the lens 150 can include an aspheric surface outside the housing 110 and a toroidal surface inside the housing 110 facing the shared space 140. In this example, the shape of the lens 150 allows the lens 150 to both collimate the emitted light beams 102 and focus the reflected light 106. Additionally, in this example, the shape of the lens 150 allows the lens 150 to have the focal surface corresponding to the curved surface of the transmit block 120. In some examples, the focal surface provided by the lens 150 substantially matches the curved shape of the transmit block 120. Addi tionally, in some examples, the detectors 132 can be arranged similarly in the curved shape of the receive block 130 to receive the focused light 108 along the curved focal surface provided by the lens 150. Thus, in some examples, the curved surface of the receive block 130 may also substantially match the curved focal surface provided by the lens 150. FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an example LIDAR device 200. In this example, the LIDAR device 200 includes a hous ing 210 that houses a transmit block 220, a receive block 230, a shared space 240, and a lens 250. For purposes of illustra tion, FIG. 2 shows an x-y-Z axis, in which the z-axis is in a substantially vertical direction and the x-axis and y-axis define a substantially horizontal plane. The structure, function, and operation of various compo nents included in the LIDAR device 200 are similar to corre 30 space 140 described in FIG. 1. The transmit block 220 includes a plurality of light sources 222a-c arranged along a curved focal surface 228 defined by the lens 250. The plurality of light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit, respectively, the plurality of light beams 202a-c having wavelengths within a wavelength range. For example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may comprise 1. Although FIG. 2 shows that the curved focal surface 228 is curved in the x-y plane (horizontal plane), additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a vertical plane. For example, the curved focal surface 228 can have a curvature in a vertical plane, and the plurality of light sources 222a-c can include additional light sources arranged verti cally along the curved focal surface 228 and configured to emit light beams directed at the mirror 224 and reflected through the exit aperture 226. Due to the arrangement of the plurality of light sources 222a-c along the curved focal surface 228, the plurality of light beams 202a-c, in some examples, may converge towards the exit aperture 226. Thus, in these examples, the exit aper ture 226 may be minimally sized while being capable of accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the plural ity of light beams 202a-c. Additionally, in some examples, the curved focal surface 228 can be defined by the lens 250. For example, the curved focal surface 228 may correspond to a focal surface of the lens 250 due to shape and composition of the lens 250. In this example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c can be arranged along the focal surface defined by the lens 250 at the transmit block. 35 40 45 The plurality of light beams 202a-c propagate in a transmit path that extends through the transmit block 220, the exit aperture 226, and the shared space 240 towards the lens 250. The lens 250 collimates the plurality of light beams 202a-c to provide collimated light beams 204a-c into an environment of the LIDAR device 200. The collimated light beams 204a-c correspond, respectively, to the plurality of light beams 202a c. In some examples, the collimated light beams 204a-c reflect off one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 as reflected light 206. The reflected light 206 may be focused by the lens 250 into the shared space 240 as focused light 208 traveling along a receive path that extends through the shared space 240 onto the receive block 230. For example, the focused light 208 may be reflected by the reflective surface 242 as focused light 208a-c propagating towards the receive block 230. 50 55 sponding components included in the LIDAR device 100 described in FIG. 1. For example, the housing 210, the trans mit block 220, the receive block 230, the shared space 240, and the lens 250 are similar, respectively, to the housing 110, the transmit block 120, the receive block 130, and the shared 12 laser diodes that emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c having the wavelengths within the wavelength range. The plurality of light beams 202a-c are reflected by mirror 224 through an exit aperture 226 into the shared space 240 and towards the lens 250. The structure, function, and operation of the plurality of light sources 222a-c, the mirror 224, and the exit aperture 226 can be similar, respectively, to the plurality of light sources 122, the mirror 124, and the exit aperture 226 discussed in the description of the LIDAR device 100 of FIG. 60 65 The lens 250 may be capable of both collimating the plu rality of light beams 202a-c and focusing the reflected light 206 along the receive path 208 towards the receive block 230 due to shape and composition of the lens 250. For example, the lens 250 can have an aspheric surface 252 facing outside of the housing 210 and a toroidal surface 254 facing the shared space 240. By using the same lens 250 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided. The exit aperture 226 is included in a wall 244 that sepa rates the transmit block 220 from the shared space 240. In some examples, the wall 244 can be formed from a transpar ent material (e.g., glass) that is coated with a reflective mate rial 242. In this example, the exit aperture 226 may corre spond to the portion of the wall 244 that is not coated by the reflective material 242. Additionally or alternatively, the exit aperture 226 may comprise a hole or cut-away in the wall 244. Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 21 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 13 The focused light 208 is re?ected by the re?ective surface 242 and directed towards an entrance aperture 234 of the receive block 230. In some examples, the entrance aperture 234 may comprise a ?ltering window con?gured to allow in the wavelength range of the plurality of light beams 202a-c emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and attenuate other The focused light 208a-c re?ected by the re?ective surface 242 from the focused light 208 propagates, respectively, onto a plurality of detectors 232a The structure, function, and operation of the entrance aperture 234 and the plurality of detectors 232a-c is similar, respectively, to the entrance aperture 134 and the plurality of detectors 132 included in the LIDAR device 100 described in FIG. 1. The plurality of detectors 232a-c can be arranged along a curved focal surface 238 of the receive block 230. Although FIG. 2 shows that the curved focal surface 238 is curved along the x-y plane (horizontal plane), additionally or altematively, the curved focal surface 238 can be curved in a vertical plane. The curvature of the focal surface 238 is also de?ned by the lens 250. For example, the curved focal surface 238 may correspond to a focal surface of the light projected by the lens 250 along the receive path at the receive block 230. Each of the focused light 208a-c corresponds, respectively, to the emitted light beams 202a-c and is directed onto, respec- tively, the plurality of detectors 232a-c. For example, the detector 232a is con?gured and arranged to received focused light 208a that corresponds to collimated light beam 204a re?ected of the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200. In this example, the collimated light beam 204a corresponds to the light beam 202a emitted by the light source 222a. Thus, the detector 232a receives light that was emitted by the light source 222a, the detector 232E) receives light that was emitted by the light source 2221), and the detector 2320 receives light that was emitted by the light source 2220. By comparing the received light 208a-c with the emitted light beams 202a-c, at least one aspect of the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be determined. For example, by comparing a time when the plurality of light beams 202a-c were emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and a time when the plurality of detectors 232a-c received the focused light 208.51 -C, a distance between the LIDAR device 200 and the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be deter- mined. In some examples, other aspects such as shape, color, material, etc. may also be determined. In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about an axis to determine a three-dimensional map of the surroundings of the LIDAR device 200. For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about a substantially ver- tical axis as illustrated by arrow 290. Although illustrated that the LIDAR device 200 is rotated counter clock-wise about the axis as illustrated by the arrow 290, additionally or alterna- tively, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated in the clockwise direction. In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated 360 degrees about the axis. In other examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated back and forth along a portion of the 360 degree view of the LIDAR device 200. For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be mounted on a plat- form that wobbles back and forth about the axis without making a complete rotation. FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an example LIDAR device 300 ?tted with various components, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG. 3B is a per- spective View of the example LIDAR device 300 shown in FIG. 3A with the various components removed to illustrate interior space of the housing 310. The structure, function, and operation of the LIDAR device 300 is similar to the LIDAR devices 100 and 200 described, respectively, in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the LIDAR device 300 includes a housing 310 that houses a transmit block 320, a receive block 330, and a lens 350 that are similar, respectively, to the housing 110, the transmit block 120, the receive block 130, and the lens 150 described in FIG. 1. Additionally, collimated light beams 304 propagate from the lens 350 toward an environment of the LIDAR device 300 and re?ect of one or more objects in the enviromnent as re?ected light 306, similarly to the collimated light beams 104 and re?ected light 106 described in FIG. 1. The LIDAR device 300 can be mounted on a mounting structure 360 and rotated about an axis to provide a 360 degree view of the environment surrounding the LIDAR device 300. In some examples, the mounting structure 360 may comprise a movable platform that may tilt in one or more directions to change the axis of rotation of the LIDAR device 300. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the various components of the LIDAR device 300 can be removably mounted to the housing 310. For example, the transmit block 320 may comprise one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are ?tted in the portion of the housing 310 where the transmit block 320 can be mounted. Additionally, the receive block 330 may com- prise a plurality of detectors 332 mounted to a ?exible sub- strate and can be removably mounted to the housing 310 as a block that includes the plurality of detectors. Similarly, the lens 350 can be mounted to another side of the housing 310. A plurality of light beams 302 can be transmitted by the transmit block 320 into the shared space 340 and towards the lens 350 to be collimated into the collimated light beams 304. Similarly, the received light 306 can be focused by the lens 350 and directed through the shared space 340 onto the receive block 330. FIG. 4 illustrates an example transmit block 420, in accor- dance with at least some embodiments described herein. Transmit block 420 can correspond to the transmit blocks 120, 220, and 320 described in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the transmit block 420 includes a plurality of li sources 422a-c similar to the plurality of light sources 222a-c included in the transmit block 220 of FIG. 2. Additionally, the light sources 422a-c are arranged along a focal surface 428, which is curved in a vertical plane. The light sources 422a-c are con- ?gured to emit a plurality of light beams 402a-c that converge and propagate through an exit aperture 426 in a wall 444. Although the plurality of light sources 422a-c can be arranged along a focal surface 428 that is curved in a vertical plane, additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 422a-c can be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a horizontal plane or a focal surface that is curved both vertically and horizontally. For example, the plurality of light sources 422a-c can be arranged in a curved three dimen- sional grid pattern. For example, the transmit block 420 may comprise a plurality of printed circuit board (PCB) vertically mounted such that a column of light sources such as the plurality of light sources 422a-c are along the vertical axis of each PCB and each of the plurality of PCBs can be arranged adjacent to other vertically mounted PCBs along a horizon- tally curved plane to provide the three dimensional grid pat- tern. As shown in FIG. 4, the light beams 402a-c converge towards the exit aperture 426 which allows the size of the exit aperture 426 to be minimized while accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the light beams 402a-c similarly to the exit aperture 226 described in FIG. 2. Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 22 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 15 As noted above in the description of FIG. 1, the light from light sources 122 could be partially collimated to fit through the exit aperture 124. FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C illustrate an example of how such partial collimation could beachieved. In this example, a light source 500 is made up of a laser diode 502 and a cylindrical lens 504. As shown in FIG. 5A, laser diode 502 has an aperture 506 with a shorter dimension cor responding to a fast axis 508 and a longer dimension corre sponding to a slow axis 510. FIGS. 5B and 5C show an uncollimated laser beam 512 being emitted from laser diode 502. Laser beam 512 diverges in two directions, one direction defined by fast axis 508 and another, generally orthogonal direction defined by slow axis 510. FIG. 5B shows the diver gence of laser beam 512 along fast axis 508, whereas FIG. 5C shows the divergence of laser beam 512 along slow axis 510. Laser beam 512 diverges more quickly along fast axis 508 than along slow axis 510. In one specific example, laser diode 502 is an Osram SPL DL90 3 nanostack pulsed laser diode that emits pulses of light with a range of wavelengths from about 896 nm to about 910 nm (a nominal wavelength of 905 nm). In this specific example, the aperture has a shorter dimension of about 10 microns, corresponding to its fast axis, and a longer dimen sion of about 200 microns, corresponding to its slow axis. The divergence of the laser beam in this specific example is about 25 degrees along the fast axis and about 11 degrees along the slow axis. It is to be understood that this specific example is illustrative only. Laser diode 502 could have a different con figuration, different aperture sizes, different beam diver gences, and/or emit different wavelengths. As shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, cylindrical lens 504 may be positioned in front of aperture 506 with its cylinder axis 514 generally parallel to slow axis 510 and perpendicular to fast axis 508. In this arrangement, cylindrical lens 504 can pre collimate laser beam 512 along fast axis 508, resulting in partially collimated laser beam 516. In some examples, this pre-collimation may reduce the divergence along fast axis 508 to about one degree or less. Nonetheless, laser beam 516 is only partially collimated because the divergence along slow axis 510 may be largely unchanged by cylindrical lens 504. Thus, whereas uncollimated laser beam 512 emitted by laser diode has a higher divergence along fast axis 508 than along slow axis 510, partially collimated laser beam 516 provided by cylindrical lens 504 may have a higher divergence along slow axis 510 than along fast axis 508. Further, the diver gences along slow axis 510 in uncollimated laser beam 512 and in partially collimated laser beam 516 may be substan tially equal. In one example, cylindrical lens 504 is a microrod lens with a diameter of about 600 microns that is placed about 250 microns in front of aperture 506. The material of the microrod lens could be, for example, fused silica or a borosilicate crown glass, such as Schott BK7. Alternatively, the microrod lens could be a molded plastic cylinder or acylinder. Cylin drical lens 504 could also be used to provide magnification along fast axis 508. For example, if the dimensions of aper ture 506 are 10 microns by 200 microns, as previously described, and cylindrical lens 504 is a microrod lens as described above, then cylindrical lens 504 may magnify the shorter dimension (corresponding to fast axis 508) by about 20 times. This magnification effectively stretches out the shorter dimension of aperture 506 to about the same as the longer dimension. As a result, when light from laserbeam 516 is focused, for example, focused onto a detector, the focused spot could have a substantially square shape instead of the rectangular slit shape of aperture 506. 16 FIG. 6A illustrates an example receive block 630, in accor dance with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG. 6Billustrates aside view of three detectors 632a-cincluded in the receive block 630 of FIG. 6A. Receive block 630 can 5 10 correspond to the receive blocks 130, 230, and 330 described in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the receive block 630 includes a plurality of detectors 632a-c arranged along a curved surface 638 defined by a lens 650 similarly to the receive block 230, the detectors 232 and the curved plane 238 described in FIG. 2. Focused light 608a-c from lens 650 propagates along a receive path that includes a reflective surface 642 onto the detectors 632a-c similar, respectively, to the focused light 208a-c, the lens 250, the reflective surface 242, and the detec 15 tors 232a-c described in FIG. 2. The receive block 630 comprises a flexible substrate 680 on which the plurality of detectors 632a-c are arranged along the curved surface 638. The flexible substrate 680 conforms 20 to the curved surface 638 by being mounted to a receive block housing 690 having the curved surface 638. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the curved surface 638 includes the arrangement of the detectors 632a-c curved along a vertical and horizontal axis of the receive block 630. 25 FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an example lens 750 with an aspheric surface 752 and a toroidal surface 754, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG. 7B 30 35 40 45 50 illustrates a cross-section view of the example lens 750 shown in FIG. 7A. The lens 750 can correspond to lens 150,250, and 350 included in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the lens 750 can be configured to both collimate light incident on the toroidal surface 754 from a light source into collimated light propa gating out of the aspheric surface 752, and focus reflected light entering from the aspheric surface 752 onto a detector. The structure of the lens 750 including the aspheric surface 752 and the toroidal surface 754 allows the lens 750 to per form both functions of collimating and focusing described in the example above. In some examples, the lens 750 defines a focal surface of the light propagating through the lens 750 due to the aspheric surface 752 and the toroidal surface 754. In these examples, the light sources providing the light entering the toroidal surface 754 can be arranged along the defined focal surface, and the detectors receiving the light focused from the light entering the aspheric surface 752 can also be arranged along the defined focal surface. By using the lens 750 that performs both of these functions (collimating transmitted light and focusing received light), instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or com plexity can be provided. FIG. 8A illustrates an example LIDAR device 810 mounted on a vehicle 800, in accordance with at least some 55 60 65 embodiments described herein. FIG. 8A shows a Right Side View, Front View, Back View, and Top View of the vehicle 800. Although vehicle 800 is illustrated in FIG. 8 as a car, other examples are possible. For instance, the vehicle 800 could represent a truck, a van, a semi-trailer truck, a motor cycle, a golf cart, an off-road vehicle, or a farm vehicle, among other examples. The structure, function, and operation of the LIDAR device 810 shown in FIG. 8A is similar to the example LIDAR devices 100, 200, and 300 shown in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the LIDAR device 810 can be configured to rotate about an axis and determine a three-dimensional map of a surrounding environment of the LIDAR device 810. To facilitate the rota tion, the LIDAR device 810 can be mounted on a platform 802. In some examples, the platform 802 may comprise a Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 23 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 17 movable mount that allows the vehicle 800 to control the axis of rotation of the LIDAR device 810. While the LIDAR device 810 is shown to be mounted in a particular location on the vehicle 800, in some examples, the LIDAR device 810 may be mounted elsewhere on the vehicle 800. For example, the LIDAR device 810 may be mounted anywhere on top of the vehicle 800, on a side of the vehicle 5 800, under the vehicle 800, on a hood of the vehicle 800, and/or on a trunk of the vehicle 800. The LIDAR device 810 includes a lens 812 through which collimated light is transmitted from the LIDAR device 810 to the surrounding environment of the LIDAR device 810, simi larly to the lens 150, 250, and 350 described in FIGS. 1-3. Similarly, the lens 812 can also be configured to receive reflected light from the surrounding environment of the LIDAR device 810 that were reflected off one or more objects in the surrounding environment. 10 15 FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where the LIDAR device 810 shown in FIG. 8A and scanning an environment 830 that includes one or more objects, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. In this example scenario, vehicle 800 can be traveling on a road 822 in the environment 830. By rotating the LIDAR device 810 about the axis defined by the platform 802, the LIDAR device 810 may be able to determine aspects of objects in the surrounding environment 20 25 830, such as lane lines 824a–b, other vehicles 826a-c, and/or street sign 828. Thus, the LIDAR device 810 can provide the vehicle 800 with information about the objects in the sur rounding environment 830, including distance, shape, color, and/or material type of the objects. FIG.9 is a flowchartofa method 900 of operating a LIDAR device, in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. Method 900 shown in FIG. 9 presents an 30 embodiment of a method that could be used with the LIDAR devices 100, 200, and 300, for example. Method 900 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illus trated by one or more of blocks 902-912. Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may be 35 40 combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation. In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of a manufacturing or opera tion process. At block 902, the method 900 includes rotating a housing of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device about an axis, wherein the housing has an interior space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space, wherein the transmit block has an exit aperture, and wherein the receive block has an entrance aperture. At block 904, the method 900 includes emitting, by a plurality of light sources in the transmit block, a plurality of light beams that enter the shared space via a transmit path, the light beams comprising light having wavelengths in a wave length range. At block 906, the method 900 includes receiving the light beams at a lens mounted to the housing along the transmit path. At block 908, the method 900 includes collimating, by the lens, the light beams for transmission into an environment of the LIDAR device. At block 910, the method 900 includes focusing, by the lens, the collected light onto a plurality of detectors in the 45 18 receive block via a receive path that extends through the shared space and the entrance aperture of the receive block. At block 912, the method 900 includes detecting, by the plurality of detectors in the receive block, light from the focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength range. For example, a LIDAR device such as the LIDAR device 200 can be rotated about an axis (block 902). A transmit block, such as the transmit block 220, can include a plurality of light sources that emit light beams having wavelengths in a wavelength range, through an exit aperture and a shared space to a lens (block 904). The light beams can be received by the lens (block 906) and collimated for transmission to an environment of the LIDAR device (block 908). The colli mated light may then reflect off one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device and return as reflected light collected by the lens. The lens may then focus the collected light onto a plurality of detectors in the receive block via a receive path that extends through the shared space and an entrance aperture of the receive block (block 910). The plu rality of detectors in the receive block may then detect light from the focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength range of the emitted light beams from the light sources (block 912). Within examples, devices and operation methods described include a LIDAR device rotated about an axis and configured to transmit collimated light and focus reflected light. The collimation and focusing can be performed by a shared lens. By using a shared lens that performs both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided. Additionally, in some examples, the shared lens can define a curved focal surface. In these examples, the light sources emitting light through the shared lens and the detectors receiving light focused by the shared lens can be arranged along the curved focal surface defined by the shared lens. It should be understood that arrangements described herein are for purposes of example only. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements and otherelements (e.g. machines, interfaces, functions, orders, and groupings of functions, etc.) can be used instead, and some elements may be omitted altogether according to the desired results. Fur ther, many of the elements that are described are functional entities that may be implemented as discrete or distributed components or in conjunction with other components, in any suitable combination and location, or other structural ele 50 55 ments described as independent structures may be combined. While various aspects and embodiments have been dis closed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be appar ent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodi ments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indi cated by the following claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. What is claimed is: 1. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, compris 60 1ng: a lens mounted to a housing, wherein the housing is con figured to rotate about an axis and has an interior space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, a transmit 65 path, and a receive path, wherein the transmit block has an exit aperture in a wall that comprises a reflective surface, wherein the receive block has an entrance aper ture, wherein the transmit path extends from the exit Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 24 of 24 US 8,836,922 B1 19 aperture to the lens, and wherein the receive path extends from the lens to the entrance aperture via the re?ective surface; a plurality of light sources in the transmit block, wherein the plurality of light sources are con?gured to emit a plurality of light beams through the exit aperture in a plurality of different directions, the light beams com- prising light having in a wavelength range; a plurality of detectors in the receive block, wherein the plurality of detectors are con?gured to detect light hav- ing in the wavelength range; and wherein the lens is con?gured to receive the light beams via the transmit path, collimate the light beams for transmis- sion into an environment of the LIDAR device, collect light comprising light from one or more of the colli- mated light beams re?ected by one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device, and focus the col- lected light onto the detectors via the receive path. 2. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein each detector in the plurality of detectors is associated with a corresponding light source in the plurality of light sources, and wherein the lens is con?gured to focus onto each detector a respective portion of the collected light that comprises light from the detector?s corresponding light source. 3. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the wall com- prises a transparent material, the re?ective surface covers a portion of the transparent material, and the exit aperture cor- responds to a portion of the transparent material that is not covered by the re?ective surface. 4. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the transmit path at least partially overlaps the receive path. 5. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the lens de?nes a curved focal surface in the transmit block and a curved focal surface in the receive block. 6. The LIDAR device of claim 5, wherein the light sources in the plurality of light sources are arranged in a pattern substantially corresponding to the curved focal surface in the transmit block, and wherein the detectors in the plurality of detectors are arranged in a pattern substantially correspond- ing to the curved focal surface in the receive block. 7. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the lens has an aspheric surface and a toroidal surface. 8. The LIDAR device of claim 7, wherein the toroidal surface is in the interior space within the housing and the aspheric surface is outside of the housing. 9. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the axis is sub- stantially vertical. 10. The LIDAR device of claim 1, further comprising a mirror in the transmit block, wherein the mirror is con?gured to re?ect the light beams toward the exit aperture. 11. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the receive block comprises a sealed environment containing an inert gas12. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein the entrance aperture comprises a material that passes light having wave- in the wavelength range and attenuates light having other 13. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein each light source in the plurality of light sources comprises a respective laser diode. 14. The LIDAR device of claim 1, wherein each detector in the plurality of detectors comprises a respective avalanche photodiode. 15. A method comprising: rotating a housing of a light detection and ranging (LI- DAR) device about an axis, wherein the housing mounts a lens and has an interior space that includes a transmit block, a receive block, a transmit path, and a receive path, wherein the transmit block has an exit aperture in a wall that comprises a re?ective surface, wherein the receive block has an entrance aperture, wherein the transmit path extends from the exit aperture to the lens, and wherein the receive path extends from the lens to the entrance aperture via the re?ective surface; emitting, by a plurality of light sources in the transmit block, a plurality of li beams through the exit aperture in a plurality of different directions, the light beams comprising light having in a wavelength range; receiving, by the lens, the light beams via the transmit path; collimating, by the lens, the light beams for transmission into an environment of the LIDAR device; collecting, by the lens, light from one or more of the col- limated light beams re?ected by one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device; focusing, by the lens, the collected light onto a plurality of detectors in the receive block via the receive path; and detecting, by the plurality of detectors in the receive block, light from the focused light having in the wavelength range. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein each detector in the plurality of detectors is associated with a corresponding light source in the plurality of light sources, the method further comprising: focusing onto each detector, by the lens, a respective por- tion of the collected light that comprises light from the detector?s corresponding light source. 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising: re?ecting, by a mirror in the transmit block, the emitted light beams toward the exit aperture. 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the wall comprises a transparent material, the re?ective surface covers a portion of the transparent material, and the exit aperture corresponds to a portion of the transparent material that is not covered by the re?ective surface. Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 1 of 28 EXHIBIT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 2 of 28 US009368936B1 (12) United States Patent Lenius et al. (54) LASER DIODE FIRING SYSTEM (10) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent: (56) US 9,368,936 B1 Jun. 14, 2016 References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (71) Applicant: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) (72) Inventors: Samuel William Lenius, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Pierre-yves Droz, Mountain View, CA (US) (73) Assignee: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) 3,790,277 A 4,700,301 A 2/1974 Hogan 10/1987 Dyke 4,709,195 A 5,202,742 A 6,882,409 B1 11/1987 Hellekson et al. 4/1993 Frank et al. 4/2005 Evans et al. 7,089,114 B1 7,248.342 B1 8/2006 Huang 7/2007 Degnan (*) Notice: 7,255,275 B2 7,969,558 B2 8,188,794 B2 8/2007 Gurevich et al. 6/2011 Hall 5/2012 Lautzenhiser Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 378 days. (21) Appl. No.: 14/132,219 (22) Filed: Dec. 18, 2013 Related U.S. Application Data (60) Provisional application No. 61/884,762, filed on Sep. 30, 2013. (51) (52) Int. Cl. G0IC 3/08 H0 IS 5/06 G0IS 17/32 PHOIS 5/062 (2006.01) (2006.01) (2006.01) (2006.01) PH05B 33/08 G0IJ 1/46 (2006.01) (2006.01) U.S. CI. CPC H01S 5/06 (2013.01); G0IS 17/32 (2013.01); G0IJ 1/46 (2013.01), HOIS 5/062 (2013.01); H05B 33/0842 (2013.01); H05B 33/0845 (2013.01) (58) Field of Classification Search CPC ... G01J 1/46; H05B 33/0845, H05B 33/0842; H01S 5/06; H01S 5/062; G01S 17/06 8,320,423 B2 11/2012 Stern 9,185,762 B2 * 1 1/2015 Mark ........................ G01J 1/46 2013/0106468 A1 5/2013 Aso 2013/0314711 A1 * 1 1/2013 Cantin .................... G01S 17/10 356/445 2014/0269799 A1* 9/2014 Ortiz ..................... H01S 5/0428 372/38.02 2014/0312233 A1 * 10/2014 Mark ........................ G01J 1/46 250/341.8 * cited by examiner Primary Examiner – Mark Hellner (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (57) ABSTRACT A laser diode firing circuit for a light detection and ranging device is disclosed. The firing circuit includes a laser diode coupled in series to a transistor, such that current through the laser diode is controlled by the transistor. The laser diode is configured to emit a pulse of light in response to current flowing through the laser diode. The firing circuit includes a capacitor that is configured to charge via a charging path that includes an inductorand to discharge via a discharge path that includes the laser diode. The transistor controlling current through the laser diode can be a Gallium nitride field effect transistor. USPC ..…. 359/4.01 See application file for complete search history. 20 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets y^T 500 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 3 of 28 U.S. Patent Sheet 1 of 11 Jun. 14, 2016 US 9,368,936 B1 Vehicle 100 Propulsion System 102 Engine / Sensor System Control System Peripherals 104 106 108 Motor Global Positioning System Steering Unit Wireless Communicat 118 122 Energy Source Inertial Measure ment Unit 119 124 Transmiss ion 120 Wheels/Tires 121 132 ion System 146 Throttle Touch-screen 134 148 RADAR Unit Brake Unit Microphone 126 136 150 Speaker Laser Sensor Fusion Rangefinder / LIDAR Unit 128 Algorithm 138 Camera Computer Vision System 130 152 140 Microphone Navigation / Pathing System 142 Obstacle g Avoidance System Processor 113 144 Instructions 115 Data Storage Power Supply User Interface 110 116 Computer System 112 Figure 1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 4 of 28 U.S. Patent Jun. 14, 2016 Sheet 2 of 11 Back View US 9,368,936 B1 Top View Figure 2 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 5 of 28 U.S. Patent Jun. 14, 2016 308 Sheet 3 of 11 US 9,368,936 B1 319 410a 410b 410s g410d 430\ Ta Tb Td CONTROLLER Point Cloud Data Figure 4B 440/ Figure 4A US. Patent Jun.14,2016 Sheet 4 of 11 US 9,368,936 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 6 of 28 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 7 of 28 U.S. Patent Jun. 14, 2016 Sheet 5 of 11 520d 530 4tow-> ! 2). Following the increase in the voltage at node A 512, the current through the inductor 510 can continue to decrease as the capacitor 516 becomes charged, and the voltage at node A 512 can therefore decrease. The capacitor 516 may continue charging until the diode 514 becomes reverse biased, at time T2 in FIG. 5B. While charging, between times Torr, and T2, the voltage Vox, across the capacitor 516 increases and the Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 24 of 28 US 9,368,936 B1 21 voltage A of node A 512 decreases. The time T2, at which the charging cycle stops, occurs when the two voltages approxi- mately equal one another In some examples, the voltage at which the two voltages are approximately equal so as to terminate the charging cycle occurs for a voltage of about 2 V1 2 VleAzVCap). The voltage on the capaci- tor 516 VCQP) following the charging cycle may be, for example, about 40 Volts. Upon the diode 514 becoming reverse biased, at time T2, the charging current stops ?owing through the diode 514, and therefore the current 11nd through the inductor 518 changes quickly to zero. The change in inductor current at time T2 is therefore accompanied a change in the voltage A of node A, to return to the voltage of the voltage source 502 the voltage V1). The voltage variations across the inductor 510 can be described in terms of energy temporarily stored in a magnetic ?eld of the inductor 510 and then released. Energy stored in an inductor?s magnetic ?eld is proportionate to the square of the current ?owing through the inductor. When the inductor current is increased, the inductor 510 increases the energy stored in its magnetic ?eld according to the difference in current I In Increasing the inductor current 11nd thus charges the energy stored in the magnetic ?eld of the inductor 510 from a low energy level zero) to a high energy level. When the inductor 510 is being charged by an increasing current from the voltage source 502, the induced voltage across the inductor 510 opposes the change in current and so node A 512 goes to a voltage less than V1. By contrast, when the inductor current 11nd is decreased, the energy stored in the magnetic ?eld of the inductor 510 is decreased. Decreasing the inductor current thus discharges the energy stored in the magnetic ?eld of the inductor 510 from high energy level to a low energy level. When the inductor 510 is being dis- charged by a decreasing current from the voltage source 502, the induced voltage across the inductor 510 opposes the change in current and so nodeA 512 goes to a voltage higher thanVl. However, the diode 514 only remains forward biased while the voltage at nodeA 512 exceeds the voltage across the capacitor 516. The diode 514 and inductor 510 can thus combine to cause the capacitor 516 to be charged to a voltage that exceeds the voltage V1 of the voltage source 502. For example, the diode 514 is forward biased when the voltage across the capacitor 516 is at a lower level, such as between time times TOFF and T2 as shown in FIG. 5B when the capacitor voltage charges from less than V1 to about 2 V1. However, the diode 514 is reverse biased when the voltage across the capacitor 516 is at a higher level, such as following time T2 as shown in FIG. 5B when the capacitor voltage VCQP remains at about 2 V1 while the voltage A at node A 512 decreases to V1. For example, 1 may be about 20 Volts and the capacitor voltage VCQP following charging may be about 40 Volts. In some examples, the ?ring circuit 500 is operated such that the capacitor 516 is recharged immediately following emission of a pulse of light from the laser diode 518. As shown in FIG. SE, a capacitor recharging interval begins at the transistor turn off time TOFF and ends with the reverse biasing of the diode 514, at time T2. The capacitor recharging interval GE may be approximately 500 nanoseconds, for example. Moreover, by con?guring the ing circuit 500 such that the capacitor 516 is recharged imme- diately following a pulse emission, the ?ring circuit 500 can be recharged and ready to emit a subsequent pulse faster than an alternative con?guration. If, for example, a recharging operation were to be initiated after some duration following a pulse emission using a second transistor other than a transistor controlling current through a laser diode), the additional time would increase the lag time between emission of subsequent pulses and thus reduce the duty cycle of the ?ring circuit. In some examples, the ?ring circuit 500 is con?gured to immediately recharge the capacitor 516 upon emission of a pulse because the recharging operation is initiated in response to operation of the same transistor 520 that initiates emission turning on the transistor 520 both causes a pulse to be emitted and, upon suf?cient discharge from the capacitor 51 6, causes the diode 514 to become forward biased and current to begin ?owing through the inductor 51 0 so as to initiate charg- ing). The light pulse emitted at time ONcan be re?ected from an environmental object, such as an obstacle surrounding an autonomous vehicle, and a light signal from the re?ected portion of the emitted pulse is received via a photo detector at reception time Rx. The time AT between the emission time (at time TON) and the reception time can then be used to calculate the distance to the re?ective object. For example, the round trip travel time AT can be multiplied by the speed of light in the surrounding atmosphere to get the round trip distance, which is twice the distance to the re?ective object. In some examples, the emission time of the emitted pulse may be determined using a feedback loop con?gured to react to the discharge current ?owing through the laser diode 518. For example, a conductive loop may be situated such that a voltage is induced in the loop due to changing magnetic ?ux through the loop in response to the discharge current ?owing through the ?ring circuit 500. The voltage across the leads of such a conductive feedback loop can then be detected, and the time at which a pulse is emitted from the ?ring circuit can be estimated based on the time the voltage is detected. Such a system can be used to reduce timing uncertainty in the ?ring time due to delays between application of the turn on signal the gate voltage and the ?ring of the laser diode 518, which may involve some non-zero random and/or sys- tematic timing delay and/ or timing jitter. FIG. 5C shows a current path through the example laser diode ?ring circuit 500 of FIG. 5A during a charging mode. During charging, the voltage across the capacitor 516 is less than the voltage at the node between the inductor 510 and diode 514 such that the diode 514 is forward biased. In addi- tion, the transistor 520 is turned off (as indicated by the OFF block coupled to the gate terminal 520g in FIG. 5C). As such, current does not ?ow through the laser diode 518, and instead ?ows to accumulate charge across the capacitor 516. The dashed arrow in FIG. 5C illustrates such a charging current path, which ?ows from the voltage source 502 (which may have a voltage V1), through the biasing diode 514, toward the capacitor 516. In some examples, following a discharge, the capacitor 516 can be recharged in preparation for a subse- quent discharge (and associated pulse emission) event in about 500 nanoseconds. FIG. 5D shows a current path through the example laser diode ?ring circuit 500 of FIG. 5A during an emission mode. During emission, the transistor 520 is turned on (as indicated by the ON block coupled to the gate terminal 520g in FIG. 5D). As such, the capacitor 516 is connected across the laser diode 518 (via the tunied on transistor 520), and so the charge on the capacitor 516 rapidly discharges through the laser diode 518 and the transistor 520. The dashed arrow in FIG. 5D illustrates such a discharge current path, which ?ows from the capacitor 516, through the laser diode 518 and the transistor 520 toward ground. Upon the transistor 520 being turned on, the discharge current ?ows rapidly to discharge the capacitor 516 and the resulting change in current increase in current) causes the laser diode 518 to emit a pulse of light. Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 25 of 28 US 9,368,936 B1 23 The current paths shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D illustrate two operation modes of the firing circuit 500: a charging mode (FIG. 5C) and an emission mode (FIG. 5D). In some examples, the firing circuit 500 switches between the charg— ing mode and the emission mode based solely on whether the transistor 520 is turned on or turned off. In the charging mode, the transistor 520 is turned off and current flows from the voltage source 502 to the capacitor 516 via the charging path (e.g., the current path including the inductor 510 and diode 514) until the diode 514 is reverse biased. In the emission 10 mode, the transistor 520 is turned on and current flows from the charged capacitor 516 through the laser diode 518 and the transistor 520 until the transistor 520 is turned off again. FIG. 5E illustrates an arrangement 540 in which multiple laser diode firing circuits 550a-n are connected to be charged via a single inductor 544. The inductor 544 has one terminal connected to a voltage source 542 (labeled V1), and a second terminal that connects to the firing circuits 550a-n so as to be included in a charging path of the respective firing circuits 550a-n. Each of the firing circuits 550a-n can be similar to the firing circuit 500 described above in connection with FIGS. 5A-5D. For example, the first firing circuit 550a includes a capacitor 558a connected to a laser diode 554a and a transis tor 556a. The capacitor 558a, laser diode 554a, and transistor 556a can be connected in series such that turning on the transistor 556a causes the capacitor 558a to discharge through the laser diode 554a, which causes the laser diode to emit a pulse of light. A discharge diode 560a can be connected across the laser diode 554a to discharge the internal capaci tance of the laser diode 554a. The first firing circuit 550a also includes a diode 552a that connects the firing circuit 550a to the inductor 544 and the voltage source 542. The diode 552a can function similarly to the diode 514 described above in connection with FIGS. 5A-5D. For example, the diode 552a can become forward biased and draw current through the inductor 544 to charge the capacitor 558a following a firing event (and associated discharge of the capacitor 558a). Upon the capacitor 558a being recharged, the diode 552a can then become reverse biased and thereby cause the capacitor 558a to maintain its stored charge. The second firing circuit 550b is similarly connected to the inductor 544 via a diode 552b and includes a capacitor 558b, laser diode 554b, transistor 556b, discharge diode 560b. One or more additional firing circuits can also be similarly con nected in parallel with the inductor 544 to the “nth” firing circuit 550m. In some cases, the arrangement 540 includes 16 individual laser diode firing circuits 550a-n connected to the single inductor 544. Similar to the operation of the firing circuit described above in connection with FIGS. 5A-5D, the firing circuits 550a-n are turned on and off by operation of their respective transistors 556a-n, which are controlled by the respective gate voltages applied by the gate driver 548. For example, the gate driver 548 can be used to turn on all of the firing circuits 550a-n at substantially the same time by setting the gate voltage high (or otherwise manipulating the gate voltage to turn the respective transistors on). The discharging capacitors 558a-n cause current to begin flowing through the inductor 544. Upon the transistors 556a-n in the firing circuits 550a-n being turned back off (by the gate driver 548), the voltage across the inductor rises to begin recharging the capacitors 558a-n in the firing circuits 550a-n until the respective diodes 552a-n are reverse biased, at which point recharging termi 15 20 ment described above in connection with FIG. 5A-5D. V. Example Operations 25 FIGS. 6A through 6C present flowcharts describing pro cesses employed separately or in combination in some embodiments of the present disclosure. The methods and processes described herein are generally described by way of example as being carried out by an autonomous vehicle, such as the autonomous vehicles 100, 200 described above in 30 connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the processes described herein can be carried out by the LIDAR sensor 128 mounted to an autonomous vehicle in communication with 35 40 45 50 the computer system 112, sensor fusion algorithm module 138, and/or computer vision system 140. Furthermore, it is noted that the functionality described in connection with the flowcharts described hereincan be imple mented as special-function and/or configured general-func tion hardware modules, portions of program code executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 113 in the computer system 112) for achieving specific logical functions, determinations, and/or steps described in connection with the flowcharts. Where used, program code can be stored on any type of computer readable medium (e.g., computer readable storage medium or non-transitory media, such as data storage 114 described above with respect to computer system 112), for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. In addition, each block of the flowcharts can represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specific logical functions in the process. Unless specifically indicated, functions in the flowcharts can be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrent execution of separately described functions, or even in reverse order in some examples, depending on the functionality involved, so long as the overall functionality of the described method is 55 60 nateS. Additionally, the firing circuit arrangement 540 shown in 24 alternative current path during rapid current switching through the inductor 544 to regulate and/or smooth the result ing variations across the inductor 544. The snubber circuit 546 may include a resistor and/or capacitor connected in parallel across the inductor 544, for example. The snubber circuit 546 may additionally or alternatively include one or more diodes and/or solid state components configured to limit and/or regulate the maximum voltage and/or maximum volt age rate across the inductor 544. Thus, the snubber circuit 546 may operate actively and/or passively to modify transient voltage variations across the inductor 544. In some cases, the snubber circuit 544 may be used to prevent transient voltage variations from exceeding a predetermined threshold and thereby prevent damage to circuit components. While illus trated in FIG. 5E, the snubber circuit 544 may (or may not) be included in particular implementations of the arrangement 540 shown in FIG. 5E. Moreover, a snubber circuit may (or may not) be included across the charging path inductor in a particular implementation of the single firing circuit arrange 65 maintained. Furthermore, similar combinations of hardware and/or software elements can be employed to implement the methods described in connection with other flowcharts pro vided in the present disclosure. FIG. 6A is a flowchart of an example process 600 for operating a laser diode firing circuit. The laser diode firing circuit may be the laser diode firing circuit 500 described above in connection with FIG. 5. The laser diode firing circuit may therefore include a capacitor connected to a charging path and a discharge path. The discharge path can include a laser diode and a transistor, and the charging path can include FIG. 5E also illustrates a snubber circuit 546 connected an inductor and a diode. At block 602, the transistor is turned across the inductor 544. The snubber circuit 546 provides an off, which causes the capacitor to charge via the charging Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 26 of 28 US 9,368,936 B1 25 path. The current through the charging path can flow through the inductor and the diode. As charge builds on the capacitor, the current through charging path (and the inductor) decreases. The decrease in current through the inductor causes the inductor to discharge energy stored in its magnetic field. For example, the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductor may transition from a higher energy level to a lower energy level in response to the transistor being turned 5 off. At block 604, the transistor can be turned on, which causes the capacitor to discharge via the discharge path. The current through the discharge path can flow through the laser 10 diode and the transistor, which causes the laser diode to emit a pulse of light. The voltage stored on the capacitor can discharge until the diode is forward biased, which causes the current through the charging path (and the inductor) to increase. The increase in current through the inductor causes the inductor to charge energy stored in its magnetic field. For example, the energy stored in the magnetic field of the induc tormay transition from a lowerenergy level to a higher energy level in response to the transistor being turned on. In some embodiments, the operation of the transistor in blocks 602 and 604 provides for operation of a laser diode firing circuit to emit pulses of light and recharge by manipu lating only a single transistor. In particular, turning the tran sistor on (block 604) can cause the circuit to both emit a pulse of light (by discharging the capacitor through the laser diode) and initiate a recharge cycle (by the voltage on the capacitor discharging to a level sufficient to forward bias the diode in the charging path). The recharge cycle is then terminated in response to turning off the transistor (block 602), which directs the current conveyed via the charging path to the capacitor (rather than through the laser diode). FIG. 6B is a flowchart of an example process 620 for operating a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device. The LIDAR device includes a light source having a laser diode firing circuit similar to the firing circuit 500 described above in connection with FIG. 5. For example, the laser diode firing circuit may include a laser diode activated by current through a discharge path of a capacitor. A transistor in the discharge pathis configured to control such discharge events by turning on and turning off. The capacitoris also connected to a charg ing path that includes an inductor and a diode. The transistor may be, for example, a Gallium nitride field effect transistor (GaNFET). At block 622, the GaNFET is turned off to thereby cause the capacitor to charge (via the charging path) and the inductor (in the charging path) to decrease its stored energy. The inductor can release stored energy as current through the inductor decreases. At block 624, the GaNFET is turned on to thereby cause the capacitor to discharge (via the discharge path), which causes the laser diode to emit a pulse of light. The inductor charges to an increased stored energy level due to increasing current through the inductor, which 15 20 25 30 FIG. 6G is a flowchart of another example process 640 for operating a laser diode firing circuit. The laser diode firing circuit may be similar to the firing circuit 500 described above in connection with FIG. 5. For example, the laser diode firing circuit may include a laser diode activated by current through a discharge path of a capacitor. A transistor in the discharge pathis configured to control such discharge events by turning on and turning off. The capacitoris also connected to a charg ing path that includes an inductor and a diode. The transistor may be, for example, a Gallium nitride field effect transistor (GaNFET). At block 642, the GaNFET is turned on. At block 644, the capacitor discharges through the discharge path. At block 646, a pulse of light is emitted from the laser diode due to the discharge current. At block 648, energy stored in the inductor included in the charging path is increased. For example, upon the diode in the charging path becoming for ward biased, the current through the inductor can be increased, which causes energy to be stored in the magnetic field of the inductor. At block 650, the GaNFET is turned off. 35 40 At block 652, energy stored in the inductor is released as the inductor current decreases. At block 654, the capacitor is charged from energy released by the inductor. For example, following turning off the GaNFET, current through the induc tor is conveyed to the capacitor via the charging path. The inductor current can transition from increasing (while the transistor is on) to decreasing (once the transistor is off and current no longer flows through the laser diode). The decrease in inductor current causes the inductor to release its stored 45 50 55 determined based on the time at which the transistor is turned on to initiate the discharge current and/or based on the time an induced voltage is detected in a conductive feedback loop configured to react to changes in the discharge current path. At block 628, a reflected light pulse is received. The reflected light pulse can include at least a portion of the light pulse emitted in block 624 that is reflected from a reflective object in an environment surrounding the LIDAR device. At block 630, a reception time of the reflected light pulse is deter mined. At block 632, a distance to the reflective object is determined based on both the time of reception determined in block 630 of the reflected light signal and the transmission autonomous vehicle 100 described in connection with FIG. 1 may control the autonomous vehicle to avoid obstacles (e.g., the reflective object), navigate toward a predetermined desti nation, etc. occurs once the diode is forward biased. At block 626, the transmission time of the emitted pulse (e.g., the pulse emis sion time) is determined. The pulse emission time may be 26 time determined in block 624. For example, the distance can be determined based on computing the round trip travel time to the reflective object from the difference of the reception time and emission time, multiplying by the speed of light in the surrounding environment and dividing by 2. At block 634, the autonomous vehicle is navigated based at least in part on the determined distance to the reflective object. In some examples, one or more of the control systems 106 of the 60 65 energy, and that released energy can be transferred, at least in part, to the capacitor. At block 656, the charging path diode can become reverse biased, which causes the capacitor to hold charge due to the released energy from the inductor. For example, while the inductor releases its stored energy, the voltage conveyed to the capacitor via the diode can transiently exceed the voltage of the voltage source connected to the inductor. The capacitor charges until the capacitor voltage approximately equals the voltage applied to the diode, at which point the diode is reverse biased. The capacitor holds a voltage due in part to the transient voltage while the voltage applied to the diode settles to the voltage of the voltage source (e.g., upon the inductor current reaching zero). As indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 6G, the process 640 can be repeated to cause the firing circuit to repeatedly emit pulses of light, and be recharged immediately following each firing event. Moreover, the firing circuit may be operated such that the voltage charged on the capacitor following a given firing event is not sufficient to forward bias the diode in the charging path. In such an example, the firing circuit is not recharged and the firing circuit is re-activated by discharging the charge remaining on the capacitor to generate current through the laser diode and transistor. If the voltage on the capacitor discharges to a level sufficient to forward bias the diode in the charging current path following such a second Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 27 of 28 US 9,368,936 B1 27 firing (or third firing, etc.), the firing circuit can then undergo the charging mode with the capacitor recharging via the charging path. FIG. 7 depicts a computer-readable medium configured according to an example embodiment. In example embodi ments, the example system can include one or more proces sors, one or more forms of memory, one or more input devices/interfaces, one or more output devices/interfaces, and machine-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to carry out the various functions, tasks, capabilities, etc., described above, such as the processes discussed in connection with FIGS. 6A through 28 are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. What is claimed is: 10 6C above. As noted above, in some embodiments, the disclosed tech niques can be implemented by computer program instruc tions encoded on a non-transitory computer-readable storage 15 media in a machine-readable format, or on other non-transi tory media or articles of manufacture (e.g., the instructions 115 stored on the data storage 114 of the computer system 112 of vehicle 100). FIG. 7 is a schematic illustrating a conceptual partial view of an example computer program product 700 that includes a computer program for executing a computer process on a computing device, arranged according to at least some embodiments presented herein. In one embodiment, the example computer program prod uct 700 is provided using a signal bearing medium 702. The signal bearing medium 702 may include one or more pro gramming instructions 704 that, when executed by one or more processors may provide functionality or portions of the functionality described above with respect to FIGS. 1-6. In some examples, the signal bearing medium 702 can be a non-transitory computer-readable medium 706, such as, but not limited to, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, memory, etc. In some implementations, the signal bearing medium 702 can be a computer recordable medium 708, such as, but not limited to, memory, read/write (R/W) CDs, R/W DVDs, etc. In some implementations, the signal bearing medium 702 can be a 20 level; and 25 30 35 40 45 form of the communications medium 710. The one or more programming instructions 704 can be, for example, computer executable and/or logic implemented instructions. In some examples, a computing device such as the computer system 112 of FIG. 1 is configured to provide various operations, functions, or actions in response to the programming instructions 704 conveyed to the computer sys tem 112 by one or more of the computer readable medium 706, the computer recordable medium 708, and/or the com munications medium 710. 50 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light emitting element is a laser diode. 55 device that executes some or all of the stored instructions 60 2. Alternatively, the computing device that executes some or all of the stored instructions could be another computing device, such as a server. While various example aspects and example embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various example aspects and example embodiments disclosed herein higher current level. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lower current level is approximately zero. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capacitor is charged immediately following emission of a pulse of light from the light emitting element. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the higher voltage level is greater than a voltage of the voltage source, and wherein the diode has an anode coupled to the voltage source via the inductor and a cathode coupled to the capacitor, such that the diode is forward biased when the voltage across the capacitor is at the lower voltage level and the diode is reverse biased when the voltage across the capacitor is at the higher voltage level. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transistor is a Gallium nitride field effect transistor (GaNFET). 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the control signal applies voltage to a gate of the GaNFET to selectively turn the GaNFET on and off. The non-transitory computer readable medium could also be distributed among multiple data storage elements, which could be remotely located from each other. The computing could be a vehicle, such as the vehicle 200 illustrated in FIG. wherein, responsive to the transistor being turned on, the capacitor is configured to discharge through the dis charge path such that the light emitting element emits a pulse of light and the voltage across the capacitor decreases from the higher voltage level to the lower voltage level and the inductor is configured to store energy in the magnetic field such that the current through the inductor increases from the lower current level to the communications medium 710, such as, but not limited to, a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.). Thus, for example, the signal bearing medium 702 can be conveyed by a wireless 1. An apparatus, comprising: a voltage source; an inductor coupled to the voltage source, wherein the inductoris configured to store energy in a magnetic field; a diode coupled to the voltage source via the inductor; a transistor configured to be turned on and turned off by a control signal; a light emitting element coupled to the transistor; a capacitor coupled to a charging path and a discharge path, wherein the charging path includes the inductor and the diode, and wherein the discharge path includes the tran sistor and the light emitting element; wherein, responsive to the transistor being turned off, the capacitor is configured to charge via the charging path such that a voltage across the capacitor increases from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level and the inductor is configured to release energy stored in the magnetic field such that a current through the inductor decreases from a higher current level to a lower current 65 8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a drain diode coupled across the laser diode, wherein the drain diode is configured to discharge an internal capacitance of the laser diode through the drain diode when the transistor is off. 9. A method, comprising: turning off a transistor, wherein the transistor is coupled to a light emitting element, wherein both the transistor and the light emitting element are included in a discharge path coupled to a capacitor, wherein the capacitoris also coupled to a charging path including a diode and an inductor, wherein the inductor is configured to store energy in a magnetic field, wherein the diode is coupled to a voltage source via the inductor, and wherein, responsive to the transistor being turned off, the capaci Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-2 Filed 02/23/17 Page 28 of 28 US 9,368,936 B1 29 toris configured to charge via the charging path such that a voltage across the capacitor increases from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level and the inductoris configured to release energy stored in the magnetic field such that a current through the inductor decreases from a higher current level to a lower current level; and turning on the transistor, wherein responsive to the transis tor being turned on, the capacitor is configured to dis charge through the discharge path such that the light emitting element emits a pulse of light and the voltage across the capacitor decreases from the higher voltage level to the lower voltage level and the inductor is con figured to store energy in the magnetic field such that the current through the inductor increases from the lower current level to the higher current level. 30 a voltage source; an inductor coupled to the voltage source, wherein the inductor is configured to store energy in a magnetic field; 5 10 15 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the lower current level is approximately zero. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the capacitor is charged immediately following emission of a pulse of light from the light emitting element. 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the higher voltage level is greater than a voltage of the voltage source, and wherein the diode has an anode coupled to the voltage source via the inductor and a cathode coupled to the capacitor, such that the diode is forward biased when the voltage across the capacitor is at the lower voltage level and the diode is reverse biased when the voltage across the capacitor is at the higher voltage 20 25 level. 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the charging of the capacitor is carried out in about 500 nanoseconds. 30 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the light emitting element is a laser diode. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: when the transistor is off, discharging an internal capaci tance of the laser diode via a drain diode coupled across 35 the laser diode. 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the transistor com prises a Gallium nitride field effect transistor (GaNFET), wherein the GaNFET is turned on and turned off by applying a control signal to a gate of the GaNFET. 17. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device compris 1ng: a light source including: 40 a diode coupled to the voltage source via the inductor; a transistor configured to be turned on and turned off by a control signal; a light emitting element coupled to the transistor; a capacitor coupled to a charging path and a discharge path, wherein the charging path includes the inductor and the diode, and wherein the discharge path includes the transistor and the light emitting element; wherein, responsive to the transistor being turned off, the capacitor is configured to charge via the charging path such that a voltage across the capacitor increases from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level and the inductor is configured to release energy stored in the magnetic field such that a current through the inductor decreases from a higher current level to a lower current level; and wherein, responsive to the transistor being turned on, the capacitor is configured to discharge through the dis charge path such that the light emitting element emits a pulse of light and the voltage across the capacitor decreases from the higher voltage level to the lower voltage level and the inductor is configured to store energy in the magnetic field such that the current through the inductor increases from the lower current level to the higher current level; a light sensor configured to detect a reflected light signal comprising light from the emitted light pulse reflected by a reflective object; and a controller configured to determine a distance to the reflective object based on the reflected light signal. 18. The LIDAR device of claim 17, wherein the lower current level is approximately zero. 19. The LIDAR device of claim 17, wherein the capacitor is charged immediately following emission of a pulse of light from the light emitting element. 20. The LIDAR device of claim 17, wherein the transistor is a Gallium nitride field effect transistor (GaNFET). Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-3 Filed 02/23/17 Page 1 of 14 EXHIBIT Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-3 Filed 02/23/17 Page 2 of 14 US009086273B1 (12) United States Patent Gruver et al. (10) Patent No.: (54) MICROROD COMPRESSION OF LASER (71) Applicant: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) e - (72) Inventors: Daniel Gruver, San Francisco, CA (US); Pierre-Yves Droz. Mountain View, CA (US); Gaetan Pennecot, San 7,701,558 B2 4/2010 Walsh et al. 7,710,545 B2 7,969,558 B2 2005/0237519 A1 * egnan 8/2007 Gurevich et al. 3/2010 Lubard et al. 5/2010 Cramblitt et al. 6/2011 Hall 10/2005 Bondurant et al. ........ 356/241.1 2007/02684.74 A1 :}; 1 1/2007 Omura et al. ------------------- 355/67 2008/0100820 A1* 5/2008 Sesko ......... . . 356/4.01 2009/0059183 A1* 3/2009 Tejima ............................ 353/69 2009/01472.39 A1 San Francisco,s CA (US);s Dorel Ionut !º. A 3: ºsal ºr 356/338 2011/0216304 A1 9/2011 Ha (73) Assignee: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US) Subj ect to any º the º: º º: e 20. adjusted under -- - *--> - y ays. 6/2009 Zhu et al. 2011/0255070 A1* 10/2011 Phillips et al. ............... 356/4.01 2013/0114077 A1* 5/2013 Zhang ........................... 356/328 OTHER PUBLICATIONS OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH, Datasheet for SPL DL90 3 Nanostack Pulsed Laser Diode, Mar. 24, 2009. * cited by examiner (21) Appl. No.: 13/790,251 (22) Filed: ; i. Jul. 21, 2015 Francisco, CA (US); Zachary Morriss, Iordache, Walnut Creek, CA (US) (*) Notice: º}. º 52- . ~ * 7,255,275 B2 7,688,348 B2 BEAM IN COMBINATION WITH TRANSMIT LENS - US 9,086,273 B1 (45) Date of Patent: y Primary Examiner – Isam Alsomiri Assistant Examiner – Samantha KAbraham Mar. 8, 2013 (51) Int. Cl (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — McDonnell Boehnen Goic 30s G0IC 3/02 (52) U.S. Cl (2006.01) ( 2006.01 ) Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (57) ABSTRACT Crºº. Goic 3/02 (2013.01) A LIDAR device may transmit light pulses originating from CPC G01S 17/10: G01S 7/497: G01S 17/89: pulses that are detected by one or more detectors. The LIDAR Gois 7487. Goid 308 device may include a lens that both (i) collimates the light (58) Field of Classification Search - --- - -- -- USPC ......... 356,301,401,407, soil sojo,62s S lication file f let h history. one or more light sources and may receive reflected light º the one or º lightsourcesto º ºeV1Ce light Or TrainSIII.1SS1011 1DIO all enviro?lineIII OT IIle ee application IIIe Ior complete searcn n1story and (ii) focuses the reflected light onto the one or more detec References Cited tors. Each light source may include a respective laser diode and cylindrical lens. The laser diode may emit an uncolli mated laserbeam that diverges more in a first direction than in a second direction. The cylindrical lens may pre-collimate the uncollimated laser beam in the first direction to provide a partially collimated laser that diverges more in the second (56) U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,790,277 A 4,700,301 A 2/1974 Hogan 10/1987 Dyke 4,709,195 A 4,801.201 A 5,202,742 A 11/1987 Hellekson et al. 1/1989 Eichweber 4/1993 Frank et al. 6,108,094 A * 8/2000 Tani et al. ..................... 356/417 direction than in the first direction. 20 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets 100 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-3 Filed 02/23/17 Page 3 of 14 U.S. Patent Jul. 21, 2015 Sheet 1 of 6 US 9,086,273 B1 VI.?un61-I 102 Figure 1C 114 116 US. Patent Jul. 21, 2015 Sheet 2 of 6 US 9,086,273 B1 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-3 Filed 02/23/17 Page 4 of 14 Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-3 Filed 02/23/17 Page 5 of 14 U.S. Patent Jul. 21, 2015 Sheet 3 of 6 US 9,086,273 B1 210 2– 206 FIG. 2A } 208 212 <– 200 FIG. 2C 210