Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Atmel Corporation

Cambridge Display Technology Limited

Ozmo, Inc.

Tdk Semiconductor,corp.

Barry Thompson

Katelijn Vleugels

Stefan M Wurster

Ilya Minkin

Nils Bunger

Dane Snow

Niranjan Achugundla Puttaswamy

Richard McCauley

Lawrence Albert Prather

Charles Walter Boecker

Euan Christopher Smith

Cyrus Soli Bamji

Jeffrey Neil Margolis

Chuan Pu

Sheethal Somesh Nayak

Andrew Dean Payne

Shaun M McCarthy

Mustansir Y Mukadam

Richard Alan Page

Dawson Yee

Jouya Jadidian

Minseok Oh

Zhanping Xu

Martin Francis Galinski, Iii

Matthew D Morris

Algird Michael Gudaitis

Travis Perry

Brandon Baxter Harris

Swati Mehta

Chang Joon Park

David S Warren

Aleksandra Rankov

Sunil Prakash Acharya

Patrick Timothy Codd

Brock McCray Roland

Mike Fenton

Rich Page

Dave Mietus

Larry Prather

Mustansir Mukadam

Shaun Mccarthy

Stefan Wurster

Stephan Wurster

Richard Page

Examples are provided that relate to determining a capacitance based on a charge accumulated on a sense capacitor electrode. One example provides a head-mounted device comprising a facial-tracking sensor, a controller, and a charge sensing circuit connected to the facial-tracking sensor. The facial-tracking sensor includes a sense capacitor electrode configured to be positioned proximate to a surface of a face and form a capacitance based upon a distance between the sense capacitor electrode and the surface of the face, and the controller configured to apply a reference voltage to the sense capacitor electrode. The charge sensing circuit is configured to determine the capacitance of the sense capacitor electrode by determining an amount of charge accumulated on the sense capacitor electrode resulting from the reference voltage.

Determining charge on a facial-tracking sensor

A display device includes a display substrate and a backplane substrate. The display substrate includes an array of micro-LEDs forming individual pixels. The backplane substrate includes a plurality of pixel logic hardware modules. Each pixel logic hardware module includes a local memory element configured to store a multi-bit pixel intensity value of a corresponding micro-LED for an image frame. The backplane substrate is bonded to a backside of the display substrate such that the pixel logic hardware modules are physically aligned behind the array of micro-LEDs and each pixel logic hardware module is electrically connected to a micro-LED of the corresponding pixel.

Micro-LED display

A system is provided for maintaining a safe operating area while also providing a suitable forward bias voltage to drive a laser diode. The system can monitor a voltage that is applied to a laser diode driver using a threshold that is based on the fabrication process of the laser diode driver. For example, a system can utilize a first threshold for a laser diode driver that is fabricated utilizing a 10 nm process and utilize a second threshold for another laser diode driver that is fabricated utilizing a 20 nm process. The threshold can also be based on a color of the laser or a desired operation mode. The system can monitor a voltage applied to a laser diode using different thresholds while controlling a bleed current to ensure that the laser diode is forward biased while mitigating the risk of silicon breakdown of the laser diode driver.

Laser diode driver break-down protection scheme

An imaging system includes a sensor array of differential pixels. A controller operates a first differential pixel of the sensor array in a first, lower power mode. The controller supplies a first clock signal to selectively activate a first collection terminal of the first differential pixel for a first duration, and a second clock signal to selectively activate a second collection terminal of the first differential pixel for a second duration. In an analog domain, a first amount of charge accumulated at the first collection terminal over the first duration is readout and compared to a readout of a second amount of charge accumulated at the second collection terminal over the second duration. Responsive to the first amount of charge being different from the second amount of charge by more than a threshold, the first differential pixel of the sensor array is operated in a second, higher power mode.

Low power operation of differential image sensor pixels

A clocking system disclosed herein includes a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit with a plurality of delay elements, where the DLL circuit is configured to receive a clock input signal and generate a plurality of clock output signals. The clocking system also includes a feed-forward system configured to increase the speed of the clock signal transmission through the delay elements and to enforce symmetric zero crossings of the clock signal at each of the plurality of delay elements.

Scaleable DLL clocking system

A time-of-flight image sensor including a readout circuit is provided. The readout circuit may include a pixel array including multiple pixels. The pixel array may be configured to produce a pixel signal for each of one or more pixels over a series of timesteps. The pixel signal may include an illuminated value and a reset value. The readout circuit may further include a plurality of gain selection comparators configured to receive the pixel signal and select an amplifier gain value. The readout circuit may further include analog correlated double sampling circuitry. The readout circuit may further include a programmable gain amplifier configured to generate an amplified pixel signal from the pixel signal, which may be amplified at the selected amplifier gain value. The readout circuit may further include a plurality of analog-to-digital converters. Each of the analog-to-digital converters may have a common ramp generated by a global ramp generator.

Time-of-flight sensor readout circuit

A voltage mode laser diode driver selectively turns on and off a laser diode. An output stage has an output node configured to be connected to one of the terminals of the laser diode. Depending upon implementation, an active swing controller drives the output stage in a manner that substantially prevents inductive kickback from causing the output node voltage to swinging above the voltage level at the voltage output of the power supply, or swing below ground. The output stage provides a discharge path around the laser diode to shunt current associated with the inductive kickback, and substantially eliminates ringing on the output node of the output stage while the laser diode is off. A power supply controller adjusts the voltage level of the voltage output of the power supply so that current through the laser diode when on and emitting light is substantially equal to a predetermined desired current.

Power efficient laser diode driver circuit and method

Two transistors are connected between a power source and separate current references. The base of the first transistor is connected to a bias voltage, and the base of the second transistor is connected to the output of a differential amplifier. The amplifier inputs are connected to the nodes where the transistors are connected to the current references. The transistors and the current references may be of different sizes, such that the output voltage of the amplifier is a function of temperature and of the product of the ratios of the transistors and the current references. A number of switches may be employed such that, in alternative modes of operation, the amplifier is used to buffer the bias voltage, the offset of the amplifier, the output of the first transistor, and/or a stored sample of the temperature output voltage, which are combined to arrive at an adjusted temperature reading.

High accuracy voltage references

A transducer such as a translinear proportional-to-absolute-temperature sensor uses two amplifiers, where each amplifier is used in a variety of modes. The first amplifier generates a measurement voltage though feedback in an analog circuit. The second amplifier samples and integrates the measurement in a switched-capacitor mode, and the output is stored on a capacitor. Then the first amplifier is set to measure its offset. The offset is sampled and integrated by the second amplifier, and the output is stored on a second capacitor. Then the first and second amplifiers are set to buffer the voltages stored on the capacitors. The measurement can then be offset-adjusted by digital or analog means. The adjusted measurement is then available to be used for calibration of, e.g., an image sensor. Other transducers, such as pressure sensors, strain sensors, gyroscopes, magnetometers, accelerometers, and xyz positioning sensors may employ the same dual amplifier approach.

Transducer measurement

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to time-of-flight (TOF) systems, and methods for use therewith, that substantially reduce interference that the TOF system may cause to at least one other system that is configured to wirelessly receive and respond to IR light signals. Some such embodiments involve emitting IR light having a low frequency (LF) power envelope that is shaped to substantially reduce frequency content within at least one frequency range known to be used by at least one other system that may be in close proximity to the TOF system. Such embodiments can also involve detecting at least a portion of the emitted RF modulated IR light that has reflected off one or more objects. A TOF system can produce depth images in dependence on results of the detecting, as well as update an application in dependence on the depth images.

Interference reduction for TOF systems

In a communication system wherein a plurality of electronic devices connect and disconnect from communication over a medium and wherein the communication system has a protocol such that it is followed by the plurality of electronic devices when using the communication system, a probing device attempts to detect presence of a listening device and parameters associated with a connection to be set up between the probing device and the listening device by sending a probe request packet directed to the listening device and sending, from the listening device, a probe response packet in response to the probe request packet, wherein the listening device bypasses at least one step of the protocol when sending the probe response packet. The bypassed step might be medium arbitration, the communication system might be a wireless network fully or partially based on an 802.11x specification, or a wireless network that uses 802.11x frame formatting and/or modifications/extensions thereof.

Method and apparatus for scanning and device detection in a communication system

Dynamic adjustment of offset between timebases of separated electronic circuits is provided based on an amount of time between synchronization events, wherein a synchronization event is an event involving communication across a separation between the separated electronic circuits in order to synchronize the timebases. The dynamic adjustment can be dynamically or adaptively adjusting a margin of error to account for drift that may have occurred since a prior synchronization event. Adjustments might be done by applying a learning sequence to quantify and adjust for static or slowly varying delays between the timebases and coordinating the timebases using output of the learning sequence.

Method and apparatus for iterative synchronization of two or more electronic devices

Growing community of inventors

Menlo Park, CA, United States of America

Barry Thompson