Signal monitoring and control system for an optical navigation sensor
First Claim
1. A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:
- receiving a current signal from an automatic gain control (AGC) photo-detector and generating an AGC signal in response thereto;
generating an illumination control signal in response to the AGC signal; and
coupling the illumination control signal to an illuminator configured to illuminate at least a portion of an array of photo-detectors with light reflected from a surface to sense displacement of the optical navigation sensor relative to a surface, and adjusting illumination from the illuminator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit and method are provided to control the strength of signals from an array of photo-detectors in an optical navigation sensor. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a current signal from an automatic gain control (AGC) photo-detector and generating an AGC signal in response thereto; generating an illumination control signal in response to the AGC signal; and coupling the illumination control signal to an illuminator configured to illuminate at least a portion of an array of photo-detectors with light reflected from a surface to sense displacement of the optical navigation sensor relative to a surface, and adjusting illumination from the illuminator. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
152 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:
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receiving a current signal from an automatic gain control (AGC) photo-detector and generating an AGC signal in response thereto; generating an illumination control signal in response to the AGC signal; and coupling the illumination control signal to an illuminator configured to illuminate at least a portion of an array of photo-detectors with light reflected from a surface to sense displacement of the optical navigation sensor relative to a surface, and adjusting illumination from the illuminator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:
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receiving a current signal from an automatic gain control (AGC) photo-detector and generating an AGC signal in response thereto; generating an integration time control signal in response to the AGC signal; coupling the integration time control signal to transimpedance-amplifiers each including an input coupled photo-detectors in an array of photo-detectors to receive current signals therefrom and an output to output a voltage signal generated in response thereto; and adjusting an integration time of the transimpedance-amplifiers over which the received current signals are integrated to generate the voltage signal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:
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illuminating at least a portion of an array of photo-detectors with light reflected from a surface; receiving in a plurality of a transimpedance-amplifiers current signals from the array of photo-detectors, each of the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers including an input coupled to a number of photo-detectors located in a contiguous area of the array different from photo-detectors coupled to another of the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers; generating from each transimpedance-amplifier an automatic gain control (AGC) signal in response to current signals received from the array of photo-detectors; and determining a spatial distribution of illumination level across the array of photo-detectors using AGC signals from the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification