Obtaining sensing results indicating time variation
First Claim
1. An article comprising:
- an encoding/sensing component that includes one or more sensing elements, the encoding/sensing component obtaining sensing results from objects in a respective encoding/sensing region relative to the encoding/sensing component; and
a relative motion component that, in operation, causes respective relative motion of each of a subset of the objects;
each of the objects in the subset having respective relative motion within the encoding/sensing region;
in response to the respective relative motion of an object in the subset within the encoding/sensing region, the sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms;
the encoding/sensing component including at least one of;
a non-periodic arrangement of sensing elements that, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results that indicate a non-periodic time-varying waveform with time variation in accordance with the non-periodic arrangement;
a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements, the longitudinal sequence having a combined sensing pattern that is approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a set of two or more simpler sensing patterns so that the sensing elements in the longitudinal sequence, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results that indicate a superposition time-varying waveform with time variation in accordance with all of the simpler sensing patterns in the set; and
one or more IC-implemented sensing elements, each IC-implemented sensing element including;
one or more arrays, each on a respective IC;
each array including photosensing cells; and
readout/combine circuitry that reads out photosensed quantities from a set of the photosensing cells in groups in accordance with one or more cell-group sensing patterns and combines the readout photosensed quantities to obtain sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms with time variation in accordance with the cell-group sensing patterns.
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Abstract
In response to objects having relative motion within an encoding/sensing region relative to an encoder/sensor that, e.g., photosenses emanating light or performs impedance-based sensing, sensing results can indicate sensed time-varying waveforms with information about the objects, about their relative motion, about excitation characteristics, about environmental characteristics, and so forth. An encoder/sensor can include, for example, a non-periodic arrangement of sensing elements; a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements with a combined sensing pattern that approximates a superposition or scaled superposition of simpler sensing patterns; and/or IC-implemented sensing elements that include photosensing arrays on ICs and readout/combine circuitry that reads out photosensed quantities from cells in groups in accordance with cell-group sensing patterns and combines the readout photosensed quantities to obtain the sensing results. Objects can move fluidically as in flow cytometry, through scanning movement as in document scanning, or in other ways.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. An article comprising:
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an encoding/sensing component that includes one or more sensing elements, the encoding/sensing component obtaining sensing results from objects in a respective encoding/sensing region relative to the encoding/sensing component; and a relative motion component that, in operation, causes respective relative motion of each of a subset of the objects;
each of the objects in the subset having respective relative motion within the encoding/sensing region;
in response to the respective relative motion of an object in the subset within the encoding/sensing region, the sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms;the encoding/sensing component including at least one of; a non-periodic arrangement of sensing elements that, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results that indicate a non-periodic time-varying waveform with time variation in accordance with the non-periodic arrangement; a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements, the longitudinal sequence having a combined sensing pattern that is approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a set of two or more simpler sensing patterns so that the sensing elements in the longitudinal sequence, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results that indicate a superposition time-varying waveform with time variation in accordance with all of the simpler sensing patterns in the set; and one or more IC-implemented sensing elements, each IC-implemented sensing element including; one or more arrays, each on a respective IC;
each array including photosensing cells; andreadout/combine circuitry that reads out photosensed quantities from a set of the photosensing cells in groups in accordance with one or more cell-group sensing patterns and combines the readout photosensed quantities to obtain sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms with time variation in accordance with the cell-group sensing patterns. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of using encoder/sensors that include sensing elements, the method comprising:
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operating an encoder/sensor that includes one or more sensing elements to obtain sensing results from an object that has relative motion within an encoding/sensing region relative to the encoder/sensor;
the sensing elements performing at least one of photosensing and impedance-based sensing;
the sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms that depend on the object'"'"'s relative motion;
the act of operating the encoder/sensor including at least one of;obtaining sensing results that indicate a non-periodic time-varying waveform, the non-periodic time-varying waveform at least approximating a time-varying waveform that would be indicated by sensing results from a non-periodic arrangement of sensing elements; obtaining sensing results that indicate a superposition time-varying waveform, the superposition time-varying waveform at least approximating a time-varying waveform that would be indicated by sensing results from a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements, the longitudinal sequence having a combined sensing pattern that is approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a set of two or more simpler sensing patterns so that the longitudinal sequence would provide sensing results that indicate a waveform with time variation in accordance with all of the simpler sensing patterns in the set; and with one or more arrays that include photosensing cells in the encoder/sensor, each array being on a respective IC, reading out photosensed quantities from a set of the photosensing cells in groups in accordance with one or more cell-group sensing patterns and combining the readout photosensed quantities to obtain sensing results indicating one or more time-varying waveforms in accordance with the cell-group sensing patterns. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An encoder/sensor that obtains sensing results from objects in an encoding/sensing region relative to the encoder/sensor, the encoder/sensor comprising:
a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements, the longitudinal sequence having a combined sensing pattern that is approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a set of two or more simpler sensing patterns so that the longitudinal sequence can perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results from objects in the encoding/sensing region in accordance with all of the simpler sensing patterns in the set; and
the combined sensing pattern being approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a periodic pattern and a non-periodic pattern.- View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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a sensing element arrangement that obtains sensing results from objects in a respective sensing region relative to the sensing element arrangement;
each of a subset of the objects having respective relative motion within the sensing region;
in response to the respective relative motion of an object in the subset within the sensing region, the sensing results indicating one or more sensed time-varying waveforms; anda processing component that receives the sensing results and, in response, provides data indicating the information resulting from the respective relative motion of at least one object in the subset; the sensing element arrangement including at least one of; a non-periodic arrangement of sensing elements that, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing and obtain sensing results that indicate a non-periodic sensed time-varying waveform; a longitudinal sequence of sensing elements that, in operation, perform photosensing or impedance-based sensing, the longitudinal sequence having a combined sensing pattern that is approximately equal to a superposition or scaled superposition of a set of two or more simpler sensing patterns so that the sensing elements in the longitudinal sequence, in operation, obtain sensing results that indicate a sensed waveform with time variation in accordance with all of the simpler sensing patterns in the set; and one or more IC-implemented sensing elements, each including; one or more arrays, each on a respective IC;
each array including photosensing cells; andreadout/combine circuitry that reads out photosensed quantities from a set of the photosensing cells in groups in accordance with one or more cell-group sensing patterns and combines the readout photosensed quantities to obtain sensing results indicating one or more sensed time-varying waveforms with time variation in accordance with the cell-group sensing patterns. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification