Routing for DTOF sensors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11428792-B2
Application number	US-202016895477-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2020
Priority date	Jun 8, 2020
Publication date	Aug 30, 2022
Grant date	Aug 30, 2022

Abstract

A ToF sensor includes an array of pixels having first and second subsets of pixels, first and second pluralities of TDCs, a routing bus having first and second pluralities of bus drivers, and a controller configured to: when the first subset of pixels is active and the second subset of pixels is not active, control the first plurality of bus drivers to route events from half of the pixels of the first subset to the first plurality of TDCs and control the first and second pluralities of bus drivers to route events from the other half of the pixels of the first subset to the second plurality of TDCs, and when the first subset of pixels is not active and the second subset of pixels is active, control the first plurality of bus drivers to route events from the second subset of pixels to the first plurality of TDCs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A time-of-flight (ToF) sensor comprising:
an array of pixels arranged in rows and columns, the array of pixels comprising first and second subsets of pixels, each pixel of the array of pixels configured to generate event signals;
a first plurality of time to digital converters (TDCs);
a second plurality of TDCs;
a first routing bus coupled to the first and second pluralities of TDCs and to the first and second subsets of pixels, the first routing bus comprising a first plurality of bus drivers associated with the first subset of pixels and a second plurality of bus drivers associated with the second subset of pixels, the first plurality of bus drivers coupled to the second plurality of TDCs via the second plurality of bus drivers, and the second plurality of bus drivers coupled to the first plurality of TDCs via the first plurality of bus drivers; and
a controller configured to:
when the first subset of pixels is active and the second subset of pixels is not active, control the first plurality of bus drivers to route event signals from half of the pixels of the first subset of pixels to the first plurality of TDCs and control the first and second plurality of bus drivers to route event signals from the other half of the pixels of the first subset of pixels to the second plurality of TDCs, and
when the first subset of pixels is not active and the second subset of pixels is active, control the first plurality of bus drivers to route event signals from the second subset of pixels to the first plurality of TDCs.

2. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein:
the first subset of pixels comprises L pixels, L being a positive integer greater than 1;
the second subset of pixels comprises L pixels; and
the first routing bus comprises L/2 routing lines.

3. The ToF sensor of claim 2 , wherein L is 30.

4. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein each routing line of the first routing bus is configured to receive event signals from two pixels of the first subset of pixels.

5. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein the first and second subsets of pixels are physically disposed between the first and second pluralities of TDCs.

6. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein each pixel of the first subset of pixels comprises a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) coupled to a respective bus driver of the first plurality of bus drivers.

7. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein each bus driver of the first plurality of bus drivers comprises:
a multiplexer;
a first buffer having an input coupled to an output of the multiplexer and an output coupled to a first input of the multiplexer; and
a second buffer having an input coupled to the output of the multiplexer and an output coupled to a second input of the multiplexer.

8. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , wherein the first and second subset of pixels correspond to a first column of pixels of the array of pixels, the ToF sensor further comprising:
a second routing bus associated with a second column of pixels of the array of pixels, wherein the second column of pixels comprises a third subset of pixels; and
third and fourth pluralities of TDCs, wherein, when the third subset of pixels is active, the second routing bus is configured to route event signals from half of the pixels of the third subset of pixels to the third plurality of TDCs and to route event signals from the other half of the pixels of the third subset of pixels to the fourth plurality of TDCs.

9. The ToF sensor of claim 8 , wherein the first and third subset of pixels are configured to be active at the same time.

10. The ToF sensor of claim 1 , further comprising an illumination source configured to generate light pulses, wherein pixels of the array of pixels are configured to generate event signals from light pulses that are based on the generated light pulses.

11. The ToF sensor of claim 10 , further comprising a processor configured to generate ToF histograms based on outputs of the first and second pluralities of TDCs.

12. A method comprising:
activating a first subset of pixels of an array of pixels of a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor, the array of pixels being arranged in rows and columns;
when the first subset of pixels is active, controlling a first plurality of bus drivers of a first routing bus to route event signals from half of the pixels of the first subset of pixels to a first plurality of TDCs and controlling the first plurality of bus drivers and a second plurality of bus drivers to route event signals from the other half of the pixels of the first subset of pixels to a second plurality of TDCs, wherein the first plurality of bus drivers is coupled to the second plurality of TDCs via the second plurality of bus drivers, wherein the second plurality of bus drivers is coupled to the first plurality of TDCs via the first plurality of bus drivers, wherein the first plurality of bus drivers is associated with the first subset of pixels, and wherein the second plurality of bus drivers associated with a second subset of pixels of the array of pixels;
activating the second subset of pixels; and
when the second subset of pixels is active, controlling the first plurality of bus drivers to route event signals from the second subset of pixels to the first plurality of TDCs.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving event signals with a routing line of the first routing bus from two pixels of the first subset of pixels.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
generating a plurality of light pulses; and
receiving reflected light pulses with the array of pixels, wherein the event signals from the pixels of the first subset of pixels are based on the reflected light pulses.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising generating ToF histograms based on outputs from the first and second pluralities of TDCs.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the first subset of pixels comprises L pixels, L being a positive integer greater than 1;
the second subset of pixels comprises L pixels; and
the first routing bus comprises L/2 routing lines.

17. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising:
an array of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each pixel of the array of pixels configured to generate event signals, the array of pixels comprising a subset of pixels;
a routing bus coupled to the subset of pixels, the routing bus comprising J routing lines, wherein J is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein each routing line of the J routing lines is coupled to more than 1 pixels of the subset of pixels;
a plurality of time-capture circuits coupled to the routing bus; and
a controller configured to:
when the subset of pixels is in integration mode, route event signals from a first pixel of the subset of pixels to a first time-capture circuit of the plurality of time-capture circuits via a first routing line of the routing bus, and
when the subset of pixels is in readout mode, route data from the first time-capture circuit to a reading circuit via the first routing line.

18. The IC of claim 17 , wherein each routing line of the J routing lines is coupled to 3 pixels of the subset of pixels.

19. The IC of claim 17 , wherein the array of pixels comprises M columns of pixels and M columns of TDCs in an alternate pattern, wherein M is a positive integer greater than 1.

Assignees

• St Microelectronics Res & Dev Ltd

Inventors

• Dutton Neale
• Moore John Kevin

Classifications

• H04N25/705

  Pixels for depth measurement, e.g. RGBZ · CPC title

• H04N25/70 Primary

  SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith · CPC title

• G01S17/894 Primary

  Three-dimensional [3D] imaging with simultaneous measurement of time-of-flight at a two-dimensional [2D] array of receiver pixels, e.g. time-of-flight cameras or flash lidar · CPC title

• G01S7/4863 Primary

  Detector arrays, e.g. charge-transfer gates · CPC title

• G01S7/486

  Receivers · CPC title