Experimental demonstration of omnidirectional multi-target ranging leveraging an asymmetric coupling semiconductor laser network

We introduce an experimental methodology designed to detect the position-vectors of omnidirectional targets located in a circular environment. This is achieved using multiple channels of probe chaotic waves generated by an asymmetric coupling semiconductor lasers network (ACSLN). The probe waves’ key features of time–space uncorrelation and broad bandwidth are integral to this process. These features enable us to accurately measure position-vectors for a multitude of omnidirectional targets. This is accomplished by correlating the multiple channels of the probe waves with their respective reference waves. Our experimental outcomes indicate impressively low relative errors in the position-vector detection of omnidirectional targets, not amounting to more than 0.4%. By fine-tuning the coupling strength, we were able to achieve ranging-resolutions for the omnidirectional targets as high as 4.63 mm. While a single target within a distance of no more than 4.3 m has minimal impact on the resolution of ranging measurements, it significantly influenced both the relative error and the peak sidelobe level. Our successful detection of omnidirectional targets’ position-vectors with the ACSLN opens up fascinating prospects for potential applications; notably in the fields of driverless cars and object tracking systems that require omnidirectional vision. These results may indeed revolutionize future developments in these areas. •We have developed an experimental configuration that enables precise ranging for omnidirectional multi-targets using the multiple channels of the probe chaotic wave from the laser network.•Our experimental outcomes validate that the detections for the position-vectors of the omnidirectional targets carry extremely low relative errors, not exceeding 0.4%. The ranging resolution to multi-targets can achieve an impressive highpoint of 4.7 mm.•The distance to arbitrary target minimally impacts the ranging resolution, but markedly impacts both the relative-error and peak sidelobe-level.