Large dynamic range cameras

• US 20070257184A1
• Filed: 04/19/2007
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Protarius Filo AG LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Sun, Feng-Qing, Gates, James, Olsen, Richard, Sato, Darryl
• Granted Patent: US 7,564,019 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/208.100
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0031 Replication or moulding, e.g. hot embossing, UV-casting, injection moulding
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0043 Inhomogeneous or irregular arrays, e.g. varying shape, size, height
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0062 Stacked lens arrays, i.e. refractive surfaces arranged in at least two planes, without structurally separate optical elements in-between
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0075 characterized by non-optical structures, e.g. having integrated holding or alignment means
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 9/12 having three components only
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14618 Containers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14621 Colour filter arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14625 Optical elements or arrangements associated with the device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14634 Assemblies, i.e. Hybrid structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14645 Colour imagers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0232 Optical elements or arrangements associated with the device H01L31/0236 takes precedence; for photovoltaic cells H01L31/054; for photovoltaic modules H02S40/20
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02325 the optical elements not being integrated nor being directly associated with the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2209/049 having three pick-up sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/11 for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/13 with multiple sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/16 Optical arrangements associated therewith, e.g. for beam-splitting or for colour correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/54 Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/55 Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 : by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/00 : Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 : based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/41 : Extracting pixel data from a plurality of image sensors simultaneously picking up an image, e.g. for increasing the field of view by combining the outputs of a plurality of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/531 : by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/772 : comprising A/D, V/T, V/F, I/T or I/F converters

Abstract

Digital camera systems and methods are described that provide digital cameras with large effective single-frame dynamic exposure ranges. The digital camera systems include multiple channels. Each channel includes an optics component and sensor comprising an array of photo-detectors. The sensors of the camera channels are integrated on a semiconductor substrate. The camera systems include a processing component coupled to the channels. The processing component is configured to separately and simultaneously control an integration time of each channel. The integration time of at least one channel is controlled relative to the integration time of at least one other channel so that an image formed by combining data of a frame received simultaneously from the channels has a relatively large dynamic range.

Claims

1. A digital camera comprising:

a plurality of sensors integrated in a semiconductor substrate, each sensor comprising an array of photo-detectors;

a plurality of optics component, each optics component configured to pass light to a sensor of the plurality of sensors, wherein each optics component and an associated sensor form one of a plurality of channels; and

a processing component coupled to the plurality of channels and configured to separately and simultaneously control an integration time of each sensor during a frame, wherein the integration time of at least one sensor is relatively shorter than the integration time of at least one other sensor, the processing component configured to combine data from the plurality of sensors received simultaneously during the frame to provide an image having a large dynamic range.

2. The camera of claim 1, wherein the processing component is configured to use the image to determine the integration time for each sensor for a subsequent frame.

3. The camera of claim 1, wherein the processing component being configured to separately and simultaneously control the integration time of each sensor comprises controlling the integration time of each sensor so collectively the integration times of the plurality of sensors correspond to a range of optical signal levels incident on the plurality of channels.

4. The camera of claim 1, wherein the processing component is configured to automatically control the integration time of each sensor.

5. The camera of claim 1, wherein the processing component is configured to control the integration time of each sensor in response to an input by an operator.

6. The camera of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors includes:

a first sensor controlled by a first integration time; and

a second sensor controlled by a second integration time.

7. The camera of claim 6, wherein the first integration time is relatively shorter than the second integration time, wherein the first sensor is configured for high incident light levels and the second sensor is configured for low incident light levels.

8. The camera of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors includes:

a first sensor controlled by a first integration time;

a second sensor controlled by a second integration time; and

a third sensor controlled by a third integration time.

9. The camera of claim 8, wherein the first integration time is relatively longer than the second integration time and the second integration time is relatively longer than the third integration time, wherein the first sensor is configured for low incident light levels and the second sensor is configured for medium incident light levels and the third sensor is configured for high incident light levels.

10. The camera of claim 8, wherein the first and third integration times are longer than the second integration time, wherein the first and third sensors are configured for relatively low incident light levels and the second sensor is configured for relatively high incident light levels.

11. The camera of claim 8, wherein the first and third integration times are shorter than the second integration time, wherein the first and third sensors are configured for relatively high incident light levels and the second sensor is configured for relatively low incident light levels.

12. The camera of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to form a triangular configuration on the semiconductor substrate.

13. The camera of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to form a rectangular configuration on the semiconductor substrate.

14. The camera of claim 1, wherein the processing component is configured to separately and simultaneously control a parameter of each optics component.

15. The camera of claim 1, wherein at least one optics component includes a different configuration than at least one other optics component.

16. The camera of claim 1, wherein the optics component includes at least one lens.

17. The camera of claim 1, wherein the optics component includes at least one filter.

18. The camera of claim 1, wherein each channel is configured to pass light including a plurality of colors.

19. The camera of claim 1, wherein at least one channel is configured to pass light of a first color and at least one other channel is configured to pass light of a second color.

20. The camera of claim 1, wherein the plurality of channels are configured to pass light of a first color.

21. A digital camera comprising:

a plurality of channels, wherein each channel includes an optics component and an array of photo-detectors integrated on a semiconductor substrate; and

a processing component coupled to the plurality of channels, the processing component configured to separately and simultaneously control an integration time of each channel, wherein the integration time of at least one channel is relatively shorter than the integration time of at least one other channel, the processing component configured to combine data from the plurality of channels received simultaneously during a frame to provide an image having a relatively large dynamic range.

22. The camera of claim 21, wherein being configured to separately and simultaneously control an integration time of each channel includes configured to control the integration time for the array of photo-detectors of the channel.

23. The camera of claim 21, wherein the processing component is configured to use the image to determine the integration time for each channel for use during a subsequent frame.

24. The camera of claim 21, wherein the processing component being configured to separately and simultaneously control the integration time of each channel comprises controlling the integration time of each channel so collectively the integration times of the plurality of channels correspond to a range of optical signal levels incident on the plurality of channels.

25. The camera of claim 21, wherein the processing component is configured to automatically control the integration time of each channel.

26. The camera of claim 21, wherein the processing component is configured to control the integration time of each channel in response to an input by an operator.

27. The camera of claim 21, wherein the processing component is configured to separately and simultaneously control a parameter of each optics component.

28. The camera of claim 21, wherein each channel is configured to pass light of at least one color.

29. A method comprising:

controlling each sensor of a plurality of camera channels under an integration time, wherein a plurality of integration times correspond to a range of optical signal levels incident on the plurality of channels during a frame;

simultaneously accumulating charge at each sensor during the frame for a period equivalent to the integration time corresponding to the sensor;

reading a photo-signal from each sensor, the photo-signal representative of the accumulated charge of the sensor; and

generating a continuous image by combining the photo-signals from each of the plurality of sensors received simultaneously during the frame to provide an image having a relatively large dynamic range.

30. The method of claim 29, comprising using the image to determine a subsequent integration time for controlling each sensor during a subsequent frame, wherein the subsequent integration time provides an optimum dynamic range for a subsequent image.

31. The method of claim 29, comprising controlling linearity of each sensor using data of the photo-signal.

32. The method of claim 29, comprising controlling gain of each sensor using data of the photo-signal.

33. The method of claim 29, comprising controlling offset of each sensor using data of the photo-signal.

34. The method of claim 29, comprising automatically determining the integration time of each sensor.

35. The method of claim 29, comprising determining the integration time of each sensor in response to an input by an operator.

36. The method of claim 29, wherein controlling each sensor includes:

controlling a first sensor set under a first integration time; and

controlling a second sensor set under a second integration time.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first integration time is relatively shorter than the second integration time, wherein the first sensor set is configured for high incident light levels and the second sensor set is configured for low incident light levels.

38. The method of claim 29, wherein controlling each sensor includes:

controlling a first sensor set under a first integration time;

controlling a second sensor set under a second integration time; and

controlling a third sensor set under a third integration time.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the first integration time is relatively longer than the second integration time and the second integration time is relatively longer than the third integration time, wherein the first sensor set is configured for low incident light levels and the second sensor set is configured for medium incident light levels and the third sensor set is configured for high incident light levels.

40. The method of claim 29, comprising separately and simultaneously controlling a parameter of an optics component associated with each of the plurality of camera channels.

41. A method comprising:

forming a first image sensor and a second image sensor in a semiconductor substrate;

configuring a first optics component relative to the first image sensor and a second optics component relative to the second image sensor; and

forming circuitry in the semiconductor substrate and coupling and configuring the circuitry to independently control simultaneous data acquisition by the first image sensor under a first integration time and by the second image sensor under a second integration time, wherein the first integration time is different from the second integration time.

42. A solid-state camera system produced according to the method of claim 41.