Self gating photosurface
First Claim
1. A semiconductor surface comprising a plurality of light sensitive pixels, wherein each pixel of said plurality of pixels comprises an electronic circuit formed on or in said semiconductor surface, said circuit comprising:
- a photosensor that generates a signal responsive to light incident thereon at an output thereof;
a current integrator;
a switchable current source that can be turned on or off, which when on provides a predetermined current that flows into the integrator; and
circuitry that turns the switchable current source on at a start time and subsequently turns the source off at a stop time and generates a signal responsive to current from the current source that is integrated by the integrator between the start and stop times and wherein one of the start time and stop time is determined responsive to a signal generated by the photosensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A semiconductor surface is provided comprising a plurality of light sensitive pixels wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels comprises an electronic circuit formed on or in the semiconductor surface, the circuit comprising: a photosensor that generates a signal responsive to light incident thereon at an output thereof; and circuitry that provides a signal responsive to a time lapse between a first time responsive to said signal and a reference time. There is also provided a 3D camera incorporating the semiconductor surface.
384 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A semiconductor surface comprising a plurality of light sensitive pixels, wherein each pixel of said plurality of pixels comprises an electronic circuit formed on or in said semiconductor surface, said circuit comprising:
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a photosensor that generates a signal responsive to light incident thereon at an output thereof; a current integrator; a switchable current source that can be turned on or off, which when on provides a predetermined current that flows into the integrator; and circuitry that turns the switchable current source on at a start time and subsequently turns the source off at a stop time and generates a signal responsive to current from the current source that is integrated by the integrator between the start and stop times and wherein one of the start time and stop time is determined responsive to a signal generated by the photosensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A 3D camera for measuring distances to points on an object comprising:
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a semiconductor surface comprising a plurality of light sensitive pixels wherein each pixel comprises a circuit having a photosensor, a switch and an output terminal, wherein said circuit provides a signal on said output terminal only while light is incident on said photosensor and said switch is closed;
a fan beam controllable to illuminate the object from at least one position of the fan beam, which position is defined by a scan angle, so that light from said fan beam is reflected by said object to at least one of said pixels,a controller that controls the fan beam to illuminate the object at a plurality of scan angles of the fan beam, wherein for each scan angle, while light from the fan beam illuminates the object, the controller simultaneously closes a plurality of the switches and for a pixel that generates a pulse when the pixel'"'"'s switch is closed, the controller determines a distance from the pixel to the object by triangulation responsive to the scan angle and the position oI the pixel in the semiconductor surface. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of measuring distances to regions of an object comprising:
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providing a semiconductor surface having a plurality of light sensitive pixels, each of which provides an output signal responsive to light thereon only while illuminated with the light; illuminating said object with light from a fan beam of light having a position defined by a scan angle so that light from the fan beam is reflected by the object to at least one of said plurality of pixels; simultaneously sensing signals from a group of pixels in the semiconductor surface to determine which of the pixels in the group is providing a signal; determining the scan angle for the pixels in the group of pixels; using locations of pixels that provide signals and said determined scan angle to determine distances to regions of said object. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification