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The innovation expands the range of signals that coherent optical receivers can detect. Unlike traditional systems with fixed LOs, this approach allows real-time adjustments to an LO’s properties, such as frequency, phase, polarization, amplitude, spatial mode, or timing, to better match incoming signals. These adjustments improve measurement accuracy and signal recovery in various scenarios, such as shifting heterodyne frequencies into the receiver’s bandwidth or adapting to different signal polarizations. The innovation lies in the ability to switch an LO's configurations on the fly using technologies like fiber-optic or integrated photonic switches, as well as other methods like optical modulation or tunable delay lines. This dynamic capability allows coherent receivers to switch seamlessly between range-Doppler and Doppler-only modes. As a result, a single system can track both nearby, slow-moving targets and distant, high-velocity objects (up to 20+ km/s) while operating with a compact, low-speed receiver (<1 GHz). This versatility significantly enhances the performance and adaptability of advanced optical sensing and communication systems. While initially developed for NASA’s Navigation Doppler LiDAR project, this invention can support advanced signal detection applications across several industries, including optical communications, aerospace, structural health monitoring, and autonomous vehicles. By enabling real-time reconfiguration, the invention offers improved signal recovery, enhanced sensitivity, and broader system adaptability for challenging detection environments. The technology has gone through prototype development and is currently at TRL 3 (proof-of-concept), and the reconfigured LO is available for patent licensing.