Systems and methods for array camera focal plane control
First Claim
1. An imaging sensor configured to capture a plurality of images using a plurality of focal planes, comprising:
- a plurality of focal planes, where each focal plane comprises a plurality of rows of pixels that also form a plurality of columns of pixels and each focal plane is contained within a region that does not contain pixels from another focal plane; and
control circuitry configured to control the capture of image data by the pixels within the focal planes, where the control circuitry is configured so that the capture of image data by the pixels in at least two of the focal planes is separately controllable;
wherein the control circuitry comprises a plurality of registers with associated register addresses;
wherein the plurality of registers comprises;
a plurality of parameter registers, where a given parameter register is associated with one of the plurality of focal planes and contains configuration data for the associated focal plane; and
a focal plane group register that contains data identifying focal planes from the plurality of focal planes that belong to a focal plane group;
wherein the control circuitry is further configured to;
receive commands to write data to and read data from register addresses via an interface;
map a virtual register address to the addresses of the parameter registers associated with the focal planes that belong to the focal plane group;
modify the parameter registers associated with the focal planes in the focal plane group in response to receiving a command to write a value to the virtual register address via the interface; and
control imaging parameters of the plurality of focal planes based upon the configuration data in the parameter register associated with each of the plurality of focal planes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for controlling the parameters of groups of focal planes as focal plane groups in an array camera are described. One embodiment includes a plurality of focal planes, and control circuitry configured to control the capture of image data by the pixels within the focal planes. In addition, the control circuitry includes: a plurality of parameter registers, where a given parameter register is associated with one of the focal planes and contains configuration data for the associated focal plane; and a focal plane group register that contains data identifying focal planes that belong to a focal plane group. Furthermore, the control circuitry is configured to control the imaging parameters of the focal planes in the focal plane groups by mapping instructions that address virtual register addresses to the addresses of the parameter registers associated with focal planes within specific focal plane groups.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An imaging sensor configured to capture a plurality of images using a plurality of focal planes, comprising:
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a plurality of focal planes, where each focal plane comprises a plurality of rows of pixels that also form a plurality of columns of pixels and each focal plane is contained within a region that does not contain pixels from another focal plane; and control circuitry configured to control the capture of image data by the pixels within the focal planes, where the control circuitry is configured so that the capture of image data by the pixels in at least two of the focal planes is separately controllable; wherein the control circuitry comprises a plurality of registers with associated register addresses; wherein the plurality of registers comprises; a plurality of parameter registers, where a given parameter register is associated with one of the plurality of focal planes and contains configuration data for the associated focal plane; and a focal plane group register that contains data identifying focal planes from the plurality of focal planes that belong to a focal plane group; wherein the control circuitry is further configured to; receive commands to write data to and read data from register addresses via an interface; map a virtual register address to the addresses of the parameter registers associated with the focal planes that belong to the focal plane group; modify the parameter registers associated with the focal planes in the focal plane group in response to receiving a command to write a value to the virtual register address via the interface; and control imaging parameters of the plurality of focal planes based upon the configuration data in the parameter register associated with each of the plurality of focal planes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of configuring imaging parameters of a plurality of focal planes on an imaging sensor, where each focal plane comprises a plurality of rows of pixels that also form a plurality of columns of pixels and each focal plane is contained within a region of the imaging sensor that does not contain pixels from another focal plane, the method comprising:
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receiving a command to write data to a virtual register address via an interface; mapping the virtual register address to at least one physical address based upon data identifying focal planes from the plurality of focal planes that belong to a focal plane group stored in a focal plane group register associated with the virtual address using control circuitry; modifying configuration data stored in parameter registers associated with the focal plane groups in response to the instruction to write data to a virtual register address using the control circuitry; and controlling imaging parameters of pixels within the plurality of focal planes based upon configuration data stored in the parameter registers associated with each of the plurality of focal planes using the control circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method of capturing imaging data using an imaging sensor comprising a plurality of focal planes, where each focal plane comprises a plurality of rows of pixels that also form a plurality of columns of pixels and each focal plane is contained within a region that does not contain pixels from another focal plane, the method comprising:
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assigning multiple focal planes from the plurality of focal planes to a focal plane group by outputting a command to an imaging sensor interface to write a value to a register address associated with a focal plane group register on the imaging sensor using a processor configured by array camera software; controlling imaging parameters for the multiple focal planes assigned to the focal plane group by outputting a command to the imaging sensor interface to write a value to a virtual address using the processor configured by the array camera software; and receiving imaging data from the imaging sensor via the imaging sensor interface, where the imaging data includes imaging data captured by the multiple focal planes assigned to the focal plane group using imaging parameters determined based upon the command to write the value to the virtual address. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification