TERMINAL HAVING PLURALITY OF OPERATING MODES

• US 20140204268A1
• Filed: 04/10/2014
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Grunow, Jonathan T., Baker, Jeffrey, Skvoretz, Matthew, Pease, Michael, Garmon, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 8,866,963 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/370
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/651 for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means

Abstract

There is set forth herein a terminal having an image sensor array and a plurality of operator selectable operating modes. The image sensor array can have an associated light source bank. The operator selectable operating modes can include at least one camera operating mode and at least one flashlight operating mode. In the at least one camera operating mode the image sensor array and light source bank can be controlled for optimization of frame capture. In the at least one flashlight operating mode the image sensor array and the light source bank can be controlled for optimizing illumination of an operators viewing area with reduced average power consumption.

Claims

1. A terminal comprising:

an image sensor array having a plurality of pixels arranged over a two dimensional area;

an imaging lens for use in focusing an image onto the image sensor array wherein the imaging lens in combination with the image sensor array define a field of view of the terminal;

a light source bank for use in projecting light in a direction of the field of view;

a hand held housing incorporating the image sensor array;

wherein the terminal is configured to be operative in an operator selectable camera operating mode and an operator selectable flashlight operating mode;

wherein the terminal is operative so that when a trigger signal is activated when operating in the camera operating mode, the terminal captures and processes a plurality of frames of image data, and energizes the light source bank during exposure periods for the plurality of frames, the terminal in the camera operating mode having a first average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing; and

wherein the terminal in the flashlight operating mode responsively to activation of a trigger signal and during an active period captures a parameter determination frame and processes the parameter determination frame to determine an operating parameter determining an aspect of operation of the terminal in the flashlight operating mode, the terminal in the flashlight operating mode having a second average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing, the second average power consumption being lower than the first average power consumption, the terminal in the flashlight operating mode restricting operation of the image sensor array during an inactive period subsequent to the active period, the inactive period being longer than the active period.

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal in the flashlight operating mode subsequent to determination of the operating parameter restricts operation of the image sensor array for a duration of the operation of the terminal in the flashlight operating mode subsequent to the determination of the operating parameter.

3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal in the flashlight operating mode has a second active period following the inactive period in which the terminal captures a second parameter determination frame, and processes the second parameter determination frame, the terminal in the flashlight operating mode having a second inactive period following the second active period, wherein a shortest of the first and second inactive periods is longer than a longest of the first and second active periods.

4. The terminal of claim 3, wherein the shortest of the first and second inactive periods are at least 10 times the duration of the longest of the active periods.

5. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the operating parameter is a light source bank energization level.

6. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal includes a random access memory and wherein for operation in the camera operating mode, the terminal executes a first software program, and wherein for operation in the flashlight operating mode, the terminal executes a second software program, wherein the first software program is provided by an application level software program not loaded into the random access memory during bootup of the terminal, and wherein the second software program is provided by system level software program that is available for immediate execution before or on completion of a bootup of the terminal.

7. A terminal comprising:

an image sensor having a field of view;

an imaging lens for focusing an image onto the image sensor; and

a light source for projecting light in a direction of the field of view;

wherein the terminal is configured for;

when operating in a camera mode and in response to a trigger signal, capturing frames of image data with the image sensor and energizing the light source during image sensor exposure periods for the captured frames of image data; and

when operating in a flashlight mode and in response to a trigger signal;

projecting light with the light source during a first image-sensor active period, a first image-sensor inactive period after the first image-sensor active period, a second image-sensor active period after the first image-sensor inactive period, and a second image-sensor inactive period after the second image-sensor active period;

capturing a first parameter determination frame with the image sensor during the first image-sensor active period;

processing the first parameter determination frame to determine a first operating parameter for the flashlight mode;

capturing a second parameter determination frame with the image sensor during the second image-sensor active period; and

processing the second parameter determination frame to determine a second operating parameter for the flashlight mode;

wherein, when in the camera mode, the terminal has a first average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing;

wherein, when in the flashlight mode, the terminal has a second average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing;

wherein the second average power consumption is lower than the first average power consumption;

wherein the first image-sensor inactive period is longer than the first image-sensor active period; and

wherein the first operating parameter is a light source energization level.

8. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the terminal is configured for, when operating in the flashlight mode, determining the second operating parameter for the flashlight mode and, thereafter, restricting operation of the sensor array.

9. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the second operating parameter is a light source energization level.

10. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the shorter of the first image-sensor inactive period and the second image-sensor inactive period is longer than the longer of the first image-sensor active period and the second image-sensor active period.

11. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the shorter of the first image-sensor inactive period and the second image-sensor inactive period is at least 10 times the duration of the longer of the first image-sensor active period and the second image-sensor active period.

12. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the terminal is configured for, when processing the second parameter determination frame to determine a second operating parameter for the flashlight mode, determining the second operating parameter such that the second operating parameter has a different value from the first operating parameter.

13. The terminal of claim 7, comprising a random access memory, wherein the terminal is configured for:

when in the camera mode, executing a first software program provided by an application level software program not loaded into the random access memory during bootup of the terminal; and

when in the flashlight mode, executing a second software program provided by a system level software program that is available for immediate execution before or on completion of a bootup of the terminal.

14. A terminal comprising:

an image sensor having a field of view;

an imaging lens for focusing an image onto the image sensor; and

a light source for projecting light in a direction of the field of view;

wherein the terminal is configured for;

when operating in a camera mode and in response to a trigger signal, capturing frames of image data with the image sensor and energizing the light source during image sensor exposure periods for the captured frames of image data; and

when operating in a flashlight mode and in response to a trigger signal, projecting light with the light source during an image-sensor active period and an image-sensor inactive period, capturing a parameter determination frame with the image sensor during the image-sensor active period, and processing the parameter determination frame to determine an operating parameter for the flashlight mode, the image-sensor inactive period being longer than the image-sensor active period;

wherein, when in the camera mode, the terminal has a first average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing;

wherein, when in the flashlight mode, the terminal has a second average power consumption attributable to activity of the image sensor array and image data processing; and

wherein the second average power consumption is lower than the first average power consumption.

15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the terminal is configured for, when operating in the flashlight mode, determining the operating parameter for the flashlight mode and, thereafter, restricting operation of the sensor array.

16. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the terminal is configured for, when operating in the flashlight mode, projecting light with the light source during a second image-sensor active period after the image-sensor inactive period and a second image-sensor inactive period after the second image-sensor active period, capturing a second parameter determination frame with the image sensor during the second image-sensor active period, and processing the second parameter determination frame to determine a second operating parameter for the flashlight mode.

17. The terminal of claim 16, wherein the shorter of the image-sensor inactive period and the second image-sensor inactive period is longer than the longer of the image-sensor active period and the second image-sensor active period.

18. The terminal of claim 16, wherein the shorter of the image-sensor inactive period and the second image-sensor inactive period is at least 10 times the duration of the longer of the image-sensor active period and the second image-sensor active period.

19. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the operating parameter is a light source energization level.

20. The terminal of claim 14, comprising a random access memory, wherein the terminal is configured for:

when in the camera mode, executing a first software program provided by an application level software program not loaded into the random access memory during bootup of the terminal; and

when in the flashlight mode, executing a second software program provided by a system level software program that is available for immediate execution before or on completion of a bootup of the terminal.