Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Chin Yin

Chih-Lin Lee

Shang-Fu Yeh

Calvin Yi-Ping Chao

Kuo-Yu Chou

Meng-Hsiu Wu

Seiji Takahashi

Po-Sheng Chou

An apparatus, a processing circuitry and a method for measuring a distance to an object are provided. The apparatus comprising a light source, a direct time of flight (DTOF) sensor array configured to receive a reflected signal from the object, a processing circuitry coupled to the DTOF sensor array and comprising a first time to digital converter (TDC) and a second TDC, respectively disposed on opposite sides of the DTOF sensor array, the processing circuitry configured to receive, by the first TDC, a first photon detection signal transmitted by a first pixel, receive, by the second TDC, a second photon detection signal transmitted by the first pixel, and calculate a first distance from the first pixel to the object according to a first arrival time of the first photon detection signal detected by the first TDC and a second arrival time of the second signal detected by the second TDC.

Apparatus, processing circuitry and method for measuring distance from direct time of flight sensor array to an object

A method of a sensing device, comprising steps of emitting, by a light source of the sensing device, a light pulse in each of n cycles; measuring, by a single photon avalanche diodes array of the sensing device, a time-of-flight value with a resolution of m in each of the n cycles to generate n raw data frames based on a reflected light of the light pulse; performing, by a pre-processing circuit of the sensing device, a pre-processing operation to n raw data frames to generate k pre-processed data frames, wherein m, n and k are natural numbers, and k is smaller than n; and generating, by post-processor of the sensing device, a histogram according to the k pre-processed data frames and analyzing the histogram to output a depth result.

Time-of-flight sensing device and method thereof

A noise monitoring apparatus includes a row selection circuit, a direct current (DC) cancellation circuit and an amplifier circuit. The row selection circuit selects a row of a DUT array to be a selected row during a readout period, wherein the selected row comprises a plurality of selected DUTs. The DC cancellation circuit is coupled to unselected DUTs of the DUT array during the readout period, generates a DC current signal based on bias current signals from a group of unselected DUTs and subtract the DC current signal from a first noise signal of the selected DUT to generate a second noise signal. The amplifier circuit is coupled to the plurality of selected DUTs of the selected row during the readout period, and amplifies the second noise signal from each of the selected DUTs to generate an output signal.

Noise monitoring apparatus, noise monitoring system and a noise monitoring method

An apparatus and method for providing a filtering false photon count events for each pixel in a DTOF sensor array are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes: a light source configured to emit a modulated signal towards the object; a direct time of flight (DTOF) sensor array configured to receive a reflected signal from the object, wherein the DTOF sensor array comprises a plurality of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs); and processing circuitry configured to receive photon event detection signals from a center pixel and a plurality of pixels orthogonally and diagonally adjacent to the center pixel and output a valid photon detection signal, in response to determining whether a sum of the received photon event detection signals is greater than a predetermined threshold.

High resolution low power inter-correlation SPAD assisted time-of-flight sensor

A sensing device that is configured to determine a depth result based on time-of-flight value is introduced. The sensing device includes a delay locked loop circuit, a plurality of time-to-digital converters, a multiplexer and a digital integrator. The delay locked loop circuit is configured to output a plurality of delay clock signals through output terminals of the delay locked loop circuit. The plurality of time-to-digital converters include a plurality of latches. The multiplexer is configured to select a sub-group of m latches among the latches of the plurality of time-to-digital converters to be connected to the output terminals of the delay locked loop circuit according to a control signal. The digital integrator is coupled to the plurality of time-to-digital converters and is configured to integrate digital outputs generated by the time-to-digital converters in each of n cycles to generate n raw data frames, wherein m and n are natural numbers, and the n raw data frames are used to generate the depth result.

Time-of-light sensing device and method thereof

Disclosed is a time-of-flight sensing apparatus and method. In one embodiment, a system for time-of-flight (TOF) sensing, comprising: a detector array comprising a plurality of single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs); and a control circuit comprising at least two digital control arrays coupled to the detector array, a counter array coupled to the at least two digital control arrays, and a logical control unit coupled to the counter array and the at least two digital control arrays, wherein the detector array is configured to receive at least one reflected light pulse from a target, wherein a first digital control array, the counter array, and the logical control unit of the control circuit are configured to receive at least one avalanche pulses from each of the plurality of SPADs to determine a first distance between the detector array and the target in a first TOF mode, and wherein a second digital control array, the counter array, and the logical control unit of the control circuit are configured to receive the at least one avalanche pulse from the each of the plurality of SPADs to determine a second distance between the detector array and the target in a second TOF mode.

Method and apparatus for a hybrid time-of-flight sensor with high dynamic range

A semiconductor device includes a source/drain diffusion area, a first doped region and a gate. The source/drain diffusion area, defined between a first isolation structure and a second isolation structure, includes a source region, a drain region and a device channel. The first doped region, disposed along a first junction between the device channel and the first isolation structure, is separated from at least one of the source region and the drain region. The first doped region has a dopant concentration higher than that of the device channel. The gate is disposed over the source/drain diffusion area. The first doped region is located within a projected area of the gate onto the source/drain diffusion area, the first isolation structure and the second isolation structure. A length of the first doped region is shorter than a length of the gate in a direction from the source region to the drain region.

Semiconductor device with low random telegraph signal noise

A pixel circuit includes: a photodiode capable of generating electrical current according to an incoming light signal; a control circuit coupled to the photodiode for selectively coupling a cathode of the photodiode to a first reference voltage to generate the electrical current according to a first control signal; and an output circuit coupled to the control circuit for selectively coupling a second reference voltage to a connecting terminal between the control circuit and the output circuit and to generate an output signal according to a reset signal and a select signal.

Pixel circuit, sensing device, and method thereof

A self-calibration time-to-digital converter (TDC) integrated circuit for single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) based depth sensing is disclosed. The circuit includes a SPAD matrix with a plurality of SPAD pixels arranged in m rows and n columns, the SPAD pixels in each column of SPAD pixels are connected by a column bus; a global DLL unit with n buffers and n clock signals; and an image signal processing unit for receiving image signals from the column TDC array. The circuit can also include a row control unit configured to enable one SPAD pixel in each row for a transmitting signal; a circular n-way multiplexer for circularly multiplexing n clock signals in the global DLL unit; a column TDC array with n TDCs, each TDC further comprises a counter and a latch, the latch of each TDC is connected to the circular n-way multiplexer for circular multiplexing.

Time-to-digital converter circuit and method for single-photon avalanche diode based depth sensing

A semiconductor device comprises a source/drain diffusion area, and a first doped region. The source/drain diffusion area is defined between a first isolation structure and a second isolation structure. The source/drain diffusion area includes a source region, a drain region, and a device channel. The device channel is between the source region and the drain region. The first doped region is disposed along a first junction between the device channel and the first isolation structure in a direction from the source region to the drain region. The first doped region is separated from at least one of the source region and the drain region, and has a dopant concentration higher than that of the device channel. The semiconductor device of the present disclosure has low random telegraph signal noise and fewer defects.

A CMOS image sensor, and a method of operating a pixel array by a CMOS image sensor is provided. The CMOS image sensor includes a sensor, and a readout circuit. The sensor is configured to generate a first voltage signal and a first reset signal. The readout circuit is configured to perform a first readout operation by reading out the first reset signal and the first voltage signal simultaneously at a first predetermined time. After the first readout operation, the readout circuit turns on a plurality of switches to obtain a common-mode signal by making the first reset signal equal to the first voltage signal and re-perform a second readout operation by reading out the common-mode signal at a second predetermined time. The first predetermined time and the second predetermined time do not overlap each other.

CMOS image sensor and method of operating pixel array by CMOS image sensor

A counter, a counting method and an apparatus for image sensing are introduced in the present disclosure. The counter includes a plurality of dual phase clock generators and a plurality of column counters. Each of the plurality of dual phase clock generator receives a common clock signal and generates dual phase clock signals which comprise a first clock signal and a second clock signal according to the common clock signal. Each of the plurality of column counters is coupled to one of the plurality of dual phase clock generators to receive the first clock signal and the second clock signal, and is configured to output a counting value according to the first clock signal and the second clock signal. Each of the plurality of dual phase clock generators provides the first clock signal and the second clock signal to a group of the plurality of column counters.

Counter, counting method and apparatus for image sensing

A device includes a current source and sampling units. Each of the sampling units includes a transistor and a capacitor electrically coupled to a gate of the transistor. The sampling units are sequentially activated such that the capacitor samples a voltage of a column line of a pixel array and are activated together such that the transistor is turned on according to the sampled voltage of the capacitor, to drain a current from the current source through an output node to generate an output voltage thereat.

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Tainan, Taiwan

Chin Yin