US Patent 11860282 Techniques for identifying obstructions in a LIDAR system

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, includes an optical source to generate a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) optical beam, a memory, and a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, to identify energy peaks in a frequency domain of a range-dependent baseband signal that corresponds to a return signal from a reflection of the FMCW optical beam and identify an obstruction of the LIDAR system based on a comparison of a frequency of the energy peaks to a threshold frequency.