Apple Inc.

Aptina Imaging Corporation

Netlogic Microsystems, Inc

Other

Qualcomm Incorporated

Scott Thomas Smith

Peng Lin

Thierry Oggier

Neil MacKinnon

Robert Arthur Black

Jawad Nawasra

Andrew T Herrington

Richard Lawrence Baer

Brad Vaughn Johnson

Cristiano L Niclass

David S Gere

Edward Allen Valko

Laura Savidge

Seyedeh Nasim Habibi

Matthew Emanuel Last

Wyatt Thomas Riley

Paul M Hubel

Mark Leo Moeglein

Roland Reinhard Rick

Alkinoos Hector Vayanos

Rudolph Van Der Merwe

John W Ladd

Myra Mary Haggerty

Zoltan F Biacs

Dmitry Vasily Bakin

Grant Alexander Marshall

William Matthew Vieta

Thomas M Gregory

Jan Erik Solem

Niv Gilboa

Alex Tremain Nelson

Jeffrey Nathan Gleason

Roei Remez

Matthew C Waldon

Iain A McAllister

James Douglass DeLoach, Jr

Kevin A Gross

Damien J Thivent

Dong Li

Keith Lyon

Bruce Everett Wilson

Richard John Girerd

Edward T Chang

Lingtao Jiang

Matt Waldon

Karen Louise Jenkins

Sunil Patel

Christopher Zeleznik

Ronen Akerman

An optical device includes a first array of emitters disposed on a substrate and configured to emit respective beams of optical radiation in a direction perpendicular to the substrate. A second array of microlenses is positioned on the substrate in alignment with the respective beams of the emitters, having respective sag profiles that vary over an area of the substrate. The second array includes at least first microlenses in a central region of the substrate and second microlenses in a peripheral region of the substrate, such that the first microlenses have respective first focal powers, while the second microlenses have respective second focal powers, which are less than the first focal powers.

Microlens array with tailored sag profile

Optical apparatus includes a projector, which is configured to direct a pattern of one or more stripes, extending along a longitudinal dimension across a target. A receiver includes an array of optical sensors, and objective optics, which are configured to image the target onto the array, and which have a non-circular aperture, which is elongated in a direction dependent upon the longitudinal dimension of the stripes.

Multi-beam scanning system

An optical sensing device includes a light source, which is configured to emit one or more beams of light pulses at respective angles toward a target scene. An array of sensing elements is configured to output signals in response to incidence of photons on the sensing elements. Light collection optics are configured to image the target scene onto the array. Control circuitry is coupled to actuate the sensing elements only in one or more selected regions of the array, each selected region containing a respective set of the sensing elements in a part of the array onto which the light collection optics image a corresponding area of the target scene that is illuminated by the one of the beams, and to adjust a membership of the respective set responsively to a distance of the corresponding area from the device.

Time-of-flight depth mapping with parallax compensation

Optical apparatus includes a plurality of emitters arranged in a row and configured to emit respective beams of optical radiation. Projection optics, which are configured to project the beams toward a target, include first cylindrical lenses, which have respective, mutually-parallel first cylinder axes and are aligned respectively with the emitters in the row so as to receive and focus the respective beams in a first dimension, and a second cylindrical lens, which has a second cylinder axis perpendicular to the first cylinder axes and is positioned to receive and focus all of the beams in a second dimension, perpendicular to the first dimension. A scan driver is configured to shift the second cylindrical lens in a direction perpendicular to the second cylinder axis so as to scan the beams across the target.

Optical apparatus includes a projector, which directs a sequence of pulses of radiation toward a scene so as to form one or more lines of the radiation on the scene. A receiver includes an array of single-photon detectors, which output, in response to the radiation that is incident thereon, signals indicative of a time-of-flight of the pulses from the projector to the receiver via the points in the scene, and collection optics, which form an image the scene on the array, including the one or more lines of the radiation, such that each single-photon detector receives the radiation reflected from a corresponding point in the scene. A processor receives the signals output by the sensing elements, and derives depth coordinates of the points in the scene from both the time-of-flight of the pulses and triangulation of the one or more lines in the image.

Depth sensor combining line triangulation and time of flight

Optical apparatus includes a scanning line projector, which is configured to scan a line of radiation across a scene. A receiver includes an array of sensing elements, which are configured to output signals in response to the radiation that is incident thereon, and collection optics configured to image the scene onto the array, such that each sensing element receives the radiation reflected from a corresponding point in the scene. A processor is coupled to receive the signals output by the sensing elements, to identify respective times of passage of the scanned line across the points in the scene by comparing a time-dependent waveform of the signals from the corresponding sensing elements to an expected waveform, and to derive depth coordinates of the points in the scene from the respective times of passage.

Line scan depth sensor comparing a time dependent waveform of the signals to an expected waveform

One embodiment may take the form of a method of operating a computing device in a reduced power state and collecting a first set of data from at least one sensor. Based on the first set of data, the computing device determines a probability that an object is within a threshold distance of the computing device and, if so, the device activates at least one secondary sensor to collect a second set of data. Based on the second set of data, the device determines if the object is a person. If it is a person, a position of the person relative to the computing device is determined and the computing device changes its state based on the position of the person. If the object is not a person, the computing device remains in a reduced power state.

Presence sensing

Embodiments described include a system comprising a position sensing device (PSD) and a light source. The light source is configured to, by passing one or more light beams through the PSD, cause one or more electrical currents to flow through the PSD. The system further comprises a processor, configured to (i) in response to the electrical currents, ascertain an amount of power that is delivered by the light source, and (ii) in response to the amount of power exceeding a threshold amount of power, inhibit the light source from further operation. Other embodiments are also described.

Thin PSD for laser-scanning systems

Imaging apparatus includes an image capture device, which includes an optical transmitter, which is configured to emit one or more pulses of infrared radiation toward an area containing a body surface of a living subject, and an optical receiver, which is configured to receive the pulses reflected from the body surface and to generate an output indicative of a modulation of the pulses by tissue below the body surface. A processor is configured to generate, based on the modulation of the pulses, an image of blood vessels located beneath the body surface within the area.

Vein imaging using detection of pulsed radiation

A camera includes a pulse transmitter for transmitting at a transmit time through an aperture and along an optical path to a target a coherent electromagnetic ranging pulse at a first wavelength range outside the visible spectrum. In some embodiments, the camera includes a reflected pulse detector for receiving a reflected electromagnetic pulse reflected by the target back along the optical path and through the aperture at a detect time subsequent to the transmit time. In some embodiments, the camera includes a shutter positioned for shielding the pulse detector from at least transmit time to an intermediate time between the transmit time and the detect time. In some embodiments, the shutter includes a layer of semiconductor material placed in the optical path at a point between the target and the detector.

Optically gated detector arrangement

Imaging apparatus includes an image sensor, which acquires an image of a scene, and a scanner, which includes an optical transmitter, which emits a sequence of optical pulses toward the scene, and an optical receiver, which receives the optical pulses reflected from the scene and generates an output indicative of respective times of flight of the pulses. Scanning optics are configured to scan the optical pulses over the scene in a scan pattern that covers and is contained within a non-rectangular area within the scene. A processor identifies an object in the image of the scene, defines the non-rectangular area so as to contain the identified object, and processes the output of the optical receiver so as to extract a three-dimensional (3D) map of the object.

Time-of-flight depth mapping with flexible scan pattern

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system has an emitter which produces a sequence of outgoing pulses of coherent collimated light that transmitted in a given direction, a mirror system having a scanning mirror that is positioned to deflect the outgoing pulse sequence towards a scene, and a detector collocated with the emitter and aimed to detect a sequence of incoming pulses being reflections of the outgoing pulses that are returning from said given direction and have been deflected by the scanning mirror. An electronic controller communicates with the emitter and the detector and controls the scanning mirror, so that the outgoing pulses scan the scene and the controller computes a radial distance or depth for each pair of outgoing and incoming pulses and uses the computed radial distance to provide a scanned 3D depth map of objects in the scene. Other embodiments are also described.

3D depth point cloud from timing flight of 2D scanned light beam pulses

The color response of camera devices may be calibrated, using a correction factor that can account for differences in the spectra of light emitted by different light sources used during calibration. The correction factor may be calculated based on the expected spectral sensitivities of the camera devices, the power spectrum of an actual light source, and the power spectrum of a canonical light source. The correction factor is then applied to adjust a measured color response of a given camera device, so that the adjusted color response is effectively the response of the given camera device if it had been illuminated by the canonical light source. In this manner, any measured color response differences, which may be due to differences between the actual light source used and the canonical light source, can be effectively reduced (if not essentially eliminated.) Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Correction factor for color response calibration

To generate data for color pixels in an image, Bayer symmetric interleaved exposures can more evenly spread the long exposure pixels in the vertical direction and produce a higher dynamic range by having pixels with different exposure times interleaved within different rows. Long and short exposure pixels can be interleaved across two adjacent rows to form 4 pixel wide by 2 pixel tall blocks that are repeated across a Bayer pattern color array. In each block, the first row can be three long and one short exposure pixel; and the second row can be three short and one long exposure pixel. The long exposure pixels can form an 'L' shaped pattern rotated 90 degrees clockwise; and the short exposure pixels can form an 'L' shaped pattern rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Subsequent rows of the blocks may be offset horizontally to form diagonal bands of long and short exposure pixels.

High dynamic range image sensor having symmetric interleaved long and short exposure pixels

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Scott Thomas Smith