Bundling night vision and other driver assistance systems (DAS) using near infra red (NIR) illumination and a rolling shutter

• US 9,179,072 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MobilEye Vision Technologies Ltd. (Intel Corporation)
• Original Assignee: MobilEye Vision Technologies Ltd. (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Stein, Gideon, Belman, Efim
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jay
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUANG, FRANK F
• Application Number:
  US13/283,701
• Publication Number:
  US 20120105639A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,467 Days
• Field of Search: 348/148
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/24 in front of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/30 providing vision in the non-visible spectrum, e.g. night or infrared vision
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/103 Static body considered as a whole, e.g. static pedestrian or occupant recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/21 from near infrared [NIR] radiation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/951 by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/531 by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

A system mountable in a motor vehicle. The system includes a camera and a processor configured to receive image data from the camera. The camera includes a rolling shutter configured to capture the image data during a frame period and to scan and to read the image data into multiple image frames. A near infra-red illuminator may be configured to provide a near infra-red illumination cone in the field of view of the camera. The near infrared illumination oscillates with an illumination period. A synchronization mechanism may be configured to synchronize the illumination period to the frame period of the rolling shutter. The frame period may be selected so that the synchronization mechanism provides a spatial profile of the near infra-red illumination cone which may be substantially aligned vertically to a specific region, e.g. near the center of the image frame.

Claims

1. A system mountable in a motor vehicle, the system comprising:

a camera;

a processor configured to receive image data from the camera;

wherein the camera includes a rolling shutter configured to capture said image data by scanning during a frame period and to read the image data into a plurality of image frames, wherein the processor includes a plurality of driver assistance modules configured to perform respectively a plurality of driver assistance functions;

wherein said camera is configured to provide to the processor said image frames, wherein the image frames are partitioned into first image frames for use by a first driver assistance module and into second image frames for use by a second driver assistance module;

a near infra-red illuminator configured to provide a near infra-red illumination cone in the field of view of the camera, wherein the near infrared illumination oscillates with an illumination period;

wherein the first driver assistance module is configured to use the near infra-red illumination in a part of an image in at least one of the first image frames, wherein the second driver assistance module is configured to use a part of an image in at least one of the second image frames that does not have said near infrared illumination;

a synchronization mechanism configured to synchronize said illumination period to said frame period of said rolling shutter to time said near infra-red illumination to be in said part of the image of said at least one of the first image frames and to avoid said near infra-red illumination in said part of the image of said at least one of the second image frames.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the image frames include a long exposure frame and a short exposure frame, wherein said synchronization mechanism is configured to turn on the near infra-red illumination during exposure of at least one of the middle rows of said long exposure frame.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said frame period is selected so that said synchronization mechanism provides a spatial profile of said near infra-red illumination cone substantially aligned vertically to a specific region of the image frame.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein a parameter of said camera is configurable to alternate respective values between the first and second image frames.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said parameter is exposure period of said rolling shutter.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said first driver assistance module is configured to perform pedestrian detection responsive to said near infra-red illumination in said first image frames.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said second driver assistance module uses color information from said second image frames to detect headlights of an oncoming vehicle in the field of view of the camera.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said second driver assistance module uses color information from said second image frames to detect taillights of a leading vehicle in the field of view of the camera.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said second driver assistance module uses color information from said second image frames to detect a traffic sign in the field of view of the camera.

10. A method operable in a system mountable in a motor vehicle, the system including:

a processor, a camera having a rolling shutter configured to capture image data by scanning during a frame period and to read the image data into a plurality of image frames, wherein the processor includes a plurality of driver assistance modules configured to perform respectively a plurality of driver assistance functions, the method comprising;

receiving a plurality of image frames from the camera;

partitioning the images frames into first image frames for use by said first driver assistance module and into second image frames for use by a second driver assistance module;

providing near infra-red illumination in the field of view of the camera, wherein the near infrared illumination oscillates at an illumination frequency with an illumination period;

configuring a first driver assistance module to use the near infra-red illumination in a part of an image in at least one of the first image frames;

configuring a second driver assistance module to use a part of an image in at least one of the second image frames that does not have said near infrared illumination; and

synchronizing said illumination period to said frame period of said rolling shutter to time said near infra-red illumination to be in said part of the image of said at least one of the first image frames and to avoid said near infra-red illumination in said part of the image of said at least one of the second image frames.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the image frames include a long exposure frame and a short exposure frame, wherein said synchronizing turns on the near infra-red illumination during exposure of at least one of the middle rows of said long exposure frame.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

alternating values of a camera parameter respectively in the alternating first and second image frames.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said camera parameter is exposure period of said rolling shutter.