Time-of-flight imaging systems
US9229096B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 2011 |
| Grant date | Jan 5, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 15, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F39/15
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Electronic devices may include time-of-flight image pixels. A time-of-flight image pixel may include first and second charge storage regions coupled to a photosensor and a transfer transistor with a gate terminal coupled to the first storage region. An electronic device may further include a light pulse emitter configured to emit pulses of light to be reflected by objects in a scene. Reflected portions of the emitted pulses of light may be captured along with background light by the time-of-flight image pixels. Time-of-flight image pixels may be configured sense the time-of-flight of the reflected portions of the emitted pulses. The electronic device may include processing circuitry configured to use the sensed time-of-flight of the reflected portions to generate depth images of a scene. Depth images may include depth-image pixel values that contain information corresponding to the distance of the objects in the scene from the electronic device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.