In the last decade, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) became a leading technology of detailed and reliable 3D environment perception. This paper gives an overview of the wide applicability of LIDAR sensors from the perspective of signal processing for autonomous driving, including dynamic and static scene analysis, mapping, situation awareness which functions significantly point beyond the role of a safe obstacle detector, which was the sole typical function for LIDARs in the pioneer years of driver-less vehicles. The paper focuses on a wide range of LIDAR data analysis applications of the last decade, and in addition to the presentation of a state-of-the-art survey, the article also summarizes some issues and expected directions of the development in this field, and the future perspectives of LIDAR systems and intelligent LIDAR based information processing.
