Infineon Technologies Ag

Infineon Technologies Austria Ag

Boris Kirillov

Marcus Edward Hennecke

Wojciech Kudla

Maksym Sladkov

Hendrikus Van Lierop

Marijn Van Os

Harm Wichers

Franz Michael Darrer

Norbert Druml

Christoph Steiner

Stefan Mendel

Philipp Greiner

Thomas Gigl

Ievgeniia Maksymova

Maximilian Werner

Martin Graefling

Thomas Thurner

Rainer Reichert

Emanuele Bruno Bodini

Roland Richter

Andreas Hofbauer

Michiel Helsloot

Vladimir Petrovic

Francesco Secli

A method of scanning a field of view implemented by a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system includes transmitting pulsed light into the field of view; receiving, by a photodetector array, light from the field of view, wherein the photodetector array is configured to receive the light from objects in the field of view corresponding to ambient light and the pulsed light reflected therefrom; generating, by the photodetector array, DC signal components exclusively attributed to receiving the ambient light and AC signal components exclusively attributed to receiving the pulsed light; separating, by a processing circuit, the DC signal components from the AC signal components; generating, by the processing circuit, a two-dimensional image that represents an ambient light image of the field of view from the DC signal components; and generating, by the processing circuit, a three-dimensional image of the field of view from the AC signal components.

Hybrid lidar receiver and lidar methods

A picture generation system includes a plurality of red-green-blue (RGB) light transmitters configured to synchronously generate respective pixel light beams and transmit the respective pixel light beams along respective transmission paths to be projected into a full field of view (FOV). The full FOV is divided into a plurality of FOV sections that are respectively paired with a different one of the plurality of RGB light transmitters such that each of the plurality of RGB light transmitters transmits light into a respective area defined by its respective FOV section. The picture generation system further includes a scanning system arranged on each of the respective transmission paths of the plurality of RGB light transmitter. The scanning system includes a scanning structure that enables the scanning system to simultaneously steer the respective pixel light beams into the plurality of FOV sections.

Multi-beam laser beam scanner in a picture generation unit

A light scanning system includes a transmitter configured to transmit a transmit light beam along a transmission path; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror arranged on the transmission path and configured to oscillate about a first scanning axis to steer the transmit light beam in a first dimension; a macro scanner arranged on the transmission path and on a receiver path, the macro scanner configured to rotate about a second scanning axis to steer the transmit light beam in a second dimension, where the macro scanner is further configured to receive a receive light beam that is produced from the transmit light beam via backscattering, and where the macro scanner is configured to direct the receive light beam further along the receiver path; and a photodetector configured to receive the receive light beam from the macro scanner and generate a measurement signal representative of the receive light beam.

Laser scanner using macro scanning structure and a MEMS scanning mirror

A vehicle includes a vehicle chassis that defines an in-cabin volume of the vehicle; a windshield mounted to the vehicle chassis; a dashboard including a dashboard interior volume that is separated from the in-cabin volume; a head-up display (HUD) reflector arranged within the dashboard interior volume; and an image generation unit configured to generate a plurality of pixel light beams corresponding to an image and transmit the plurality of pixel light beams on an optical path towards the HUD reflector. The image generation unit is arranged within the in-cabin volume and external to the dashboard interior volume. The HUD reflector is configured to receive the plurality of pixel light beams from the image generation unit and project the image onto the windshield by reflecting the plurality of pixel light beams back into the in-cabin volume and onto the windshield.

Distributed optical architecture for vehicle head up display

A light beam deflection system is configured to transmit a light beam at an output deflection angle that changes over time. The system includes a first resonant structure configured to oscillate about a first rotation axis at first resonant frequency; a second resonant structure configured to oscillate about a second rotation axis at a second resonant frequency, where the first rotation axis is parallel to the second rotation axis, and where the first resonant frequency and the second resonant frequency are different and define a predetermined frequency difference; and a driver circuit configured to generate a first driving signal to drive the first resonant structure while further generating a second driving signal to drive the second resonant structure such that the output deflection angle of the light beam oscillates according to a beat pattern of a beat wave whose extrema amplitudes are modulated and defined by a periodic envelope.

MEMS mirror system with slow light beam deflection using fast resonant oscillations about at least two resonant axes

A photodetector device includes a photodetector array comprising an array of photodetectors and a plurality of metal structures arranged between photodetectors of the array of photodetectors, wherein the plurality of metal structures are arranged in a first pattern; and a transparent substrate comprising a plurality of diffusion structures being patterned according to a second pattern that matches the first pattern. Each diffusion structure of the plurality of diffusion structures is configured to redirect light that is incident thereon. Additionally, the transparent substrate and the photodetector array are coupled together such that the first pattern is aligned with the second pattern and the plurality of diffusion structures covers the plurality of metal structures.

Optical crosstalk mitigation for a detector array in an optical receiver

An image projection system includes a cascaded waveguide system including a first waveguide and a second waveguide arranged downstream along a transmission path from the first waveguide. The first waveguide includes a first output structure and is configured to receive a light beam having a first beam width and output a first expanded light beam at the first output structure, wherein the first expanded light beam has a second beam width greater than the first beam width. The second waveguide includes a second output structure and is configured to receive the first expanded light beam from the first waveguide and output the first expanded light beam multiple times from the second output structure as a plurality of output light beams. Each of the plurality of output light beams is output from a different area of the second output structure along a propagation direction of the second waveguide.

Cascaded eyebox expansion in extended reality image projection devices

An oscillator system includes a transmitter configured to transmit a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light beam along a transmission path, where the FMCW light beam comprises a plurality of wavelength ramps and a wavelength of the FMCW light beam continuously varies over time; and an oscillator structure configured to oscillate about a scanning axis based on a deflection angle of the oscillator structure that continuously varies over time. The oscillator structure is arranged in the transmission path and is configured to receive the FMCW light beam at a reflective surface. The reflective surface is a micro-structured surface configured to compensate for a propagation direction disturbance caused by an oscillation of the oscillator structure such that each wavelength of a corresponding wavelength ramp of the FMCW light beam is reflected by the reflective surface in a same direction along transmission path.

Dispersion compensation for a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) LIDAR system

An oscillator system includes an oscillator structure configured to oscillate about a first axis according to a first oscillation and oscillate about a second axis according to a second oscillation; a first driver configured to drive the first oscillation, detect first zero-crossing events of the first mirror, and generate a first position signal based on the detected first zero-crossing events; a second driver configured to drive the second oscillation, detect second zero-crossing events of the second mirror, and generate a second position signal based on the detected second zero-crossing events; and a synchronization controller configured to receive the first and the second position signals, and synchronize at least one of a phase or a frequency of the second oscillation with at least one of a phase or a frequency of the first oscillation, respectively, based on the first and the second position signals.

Synchronization of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirrors

An image projection system includes a first transmitter configured to generate first light beams; a first collimation lens configured to receive the first light beams and generate first collimated light beams to be projected onto an eye to render a first projection image perceived at a first projection plane; a second transmitter configured to generate second light beams; a second collimation lens configured to receive the second light beams and generate second collimated light beams to be projected onto the eye to render a second projection image perceived at a second projection plane; a first beam combiner configured to transmit the first and the second collimated light beams on a combined transmission path; and a scanner configured to steer the first and the second collimated light beams according to a scanning pattern to render the first projection image and the second projection image onto the eye.

Multi-plane projection with laser beam scanning in augmented reality displays

An image projection system includes: eyeglasses including a frame, a first eyeglass lens, and a second eyeglass lens; and a binocular light engine coupled to the frame. The binocular light engine includes a first light transmitter configured to transmit a first plurality of light beams corresponding to a first stereoscopic image on a first transmission path; a second light transmitter configured to transmit a second plurality of light beams corresponding to a second stereoscopic image on a second transmission path; and a single scanning structure shared by the first transmission path and the second transmission path. The single scanning structure is configured to: rotate about two scanning axes, direct the first plurality of light beams at the first eyeglass lens according to a scanning pattern, and direct the second plurality of light beams at the second eyeglass lens according to the scanning pattern.

Binocular display light engine with single microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror and multiple light transmitters

A method of manufacturing a photodetector device is provided. The method includes providing a photodetector array comprising an array of photodetectors and a plurality of metal structures arranged laterally between photodetectors of the array of photodetectors, wherein the photodetectors are co-planar with the plurality of metal structures, and wherein the plurality of metal structures are arranged in a first pattern; applying an antireflective coating to a surface of a transparent substrate, the antireflective coating being patterned according to a second pattern that matches the first pattern; aligning the transparent substrate over the photodetector array such that the first pattern is aligned with the second pattern; and coupling the transparent substrate to the photodetector array such that the antireflective coating covers the plurality of metal structures.

A Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system is provided. The LIDAR system includes a LIDAR transmitter configured with a first field of view and configured to transmit laser beams into the first field of view at a plurality of discrete transmission angles in order to scan the first field of view with the laser beams; a LIDAR receiver configured with a second field of view and configured to receive reflected laser beams from the second field of view and generate electrical signals based on the received reflected laser beams; and a controller configured to shift at least one of the first field of view or the second field of view based on a misalignment in order to optimize an overlap of the first field of view and the second field of view.

Transmitter and receiver calibration in 1D scanning LIDAR

A time-of-flight (ToF) optical beam splitter includes a main body having a first reflectivity and comprising a main surface configured to receive a receive light beam from an environment that corresponds to a transmit light beam transmitted into the environment, where the main surface includes a first region and a second region; and a reflective coating disposed on the main surface at the first region and excluded from the main surface at the second region, where the reflective coating has second reflectivity that is greater than the first reflectivity. The ToF optical beam splitter has a time variable splitting ratio with respect to the receive light beam that is dependent on a ToF of a round trip light beam comprising of the transmit light beam and the receive light beam.

Dynamic beam splitter for direct time of flight distance measurements

A receiver for a light detection and ranging system includes detecting elements, each configured to convert light into an analog detection signal. The receiver includes a first converting element configured to provide a first digital detection signal in response to a first analog detection signal. The first converting element is configured to use a first number of bits to represent the first analog detection signal. The receiver includes a second converting element configured to provide a second digital detection signal. The second converting element is configured to use a second number of bits to represent the second analog detection signal. The second number of bits is greater than the first number of bits. The receiver comprises a processing module configured to determine a first parameter of an object using the first digital detection signal and a second parameter of the object using the second digital detection signal.

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Graz, Austria

Boris Kirillov