Measurement device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11523099-B2
Application number	US-201917250462-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2019
Priority date	Aug 1, 2018
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

Provided is a measurement device that includes a pixel including a light receiver, a plurality of storage sections, and an electric charge supplying section. The light receiver generates received-light electric charge by performing photoelectric conversion on the basis of light. The plurality of storage sections stores the received-light electric charge and the plurality of storage sections includes a first storage section and a second storage section. The electric charge supplying section selectively supplies the received-light electric charge generated by the light receiver to the plurality of storage sections. The measurement device includes a processor that generates a first detection value on the basis of an electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the first storage section, and generates a second detection value on the basis of an electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the second storage section. The processor generates a first pixel value on the basis of a difference between the first detection value and the second detection value.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A measurement device, comprising:
a light source configured to emit a light pulse;
a sensor that includes a light reception surface and a plurality of pixels on the light reception surface, wherein
the plurality of pixels includes a pixel,
the pixel includes a light receiver, a plurality of storage sections, and an electric charge supplying section,
the plurality of storage sections includes a first storage section and a second storage section,
the light receiver is configured to:
receive the emitted light pulse and reflected light pulse of the emitted light pulse, wherein
the emitted light pulse includes a first light wave,
the reflected light pulse includes a second light wave, and
the first light wave and the second light wave form a plurality of interference fringes on the light reception surface;

execute photoelectric conversion based on the received emitted light pulse and the received reflected light pulse; and
generate received-light electric charge based on the execution of the photoelectric conversion,

the electric charge supplying section is configured to selectively supply the generated received-light electric charge to the plurality of storage sections, and
the plurality of storage sections is configured to store the supplied received-light electric charge; and

a processor configured to:
generate a first detection value based on a first electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the first storage section;
generate a second detection value based on a second electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the second storage section;
generate a first pixel value based on a difference between the first detection value and the second detection value; and
generate phase information of a phase difference between a phase of the first light wave and a phase of the second light wave based on the first pixel value.

2. The measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein
the light source is further configured to perform a light emission operation to alternate between emission of the light pulse and non-emission of the light pulse in a first period, and
the electric charge supplying section is further configured to selectively supply the generated received-light electric charge to the plurality of storage sections in synchronization with the light emission operation in the first period.

3. The measurement device according to claim 2 , wherein the electric charge supplying section is further configured to:
supply the generated received-light electric charge to the first storage section in a second period, wherein the second period is within a period in which the light pulse is emitted, and
supply the generated received-light electric charge to the second storage section in a third period, wherein the third period is within a period in which the light pulse is not emitted.

4. The measurement device according to claim 2 , wherein
the plurality of storage sections further includes a third storage section configured to store the supplied received-light electric charge, and
the processor is further configured to:
generate a third detection value based on an electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the third storage section, and
a second pixel value based on a difference between the second detection value and the third detection value.

5. The measurement device according to claim 4 , wherein the electric charge supplying section is further configured to supply the generated received-light electric charge to the third storage section in a fourth period, wherein the fourth period is within a period in which the light pulse is not emitted.

6. The measurement device according to claim 4 , wherein
the plurality of storage sections further includes a fourth storage section, and
the electric charge supplying section is further configured to selectively supply the generated received-light electric charge to the fourth storage section, the first storage section, the third storage section, and the second storage section cyclically in this order in the first period.

7. The measurement device according to claim 2 , wherein
the processor is further configured to:
generate a plurality of first pixel values based on the electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the first storage section in each of the plurality of pixels and the electric charge amount of the received-light electric charge stored in the second storage section in each of the plurality of the pixels, wherein the plurality of first pixel values includes the first pixel value; and
generate the phase information based on the plurality of the first pixel values.

8. The measurement device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a depth image based on the generated phase information.

9. The measurement device according to claim 7 , further comprising an optical system configured to cause formation of the interference fringes on the light reception surface.

10. The measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein the
electric charge supplying section includes a plurality of transistors,
each transistor of the plurality of transistors corresponds to a respective storage section of the plurality of storage sections, and
each transistor of the plurality of transistors is configured to supply the generated received-light electric charge to the respective storage section of the plurality of storage sections.

11. The measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein
the light receiver is on a semiconductor substrate,
the electric charge supplying section includes a plurality of voltage applying sections,
each voltage applying section of the plurality of voltage applying sections corresponds to a respective storage section of the plurality of storage sections, and
each voltage applying section of the plurality of voltage applying sections is configured to apply a voltage to the semiconductor substrate, and
the plurality of voltage applying sections is configured to selectively supply the generated received-light electric charge to the plurality of storage sections based on an electric field on the semiconductor substrate.

Assignees

• Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp

Inventors

• Murase Takuro

Classifications

• H04N25/705 Primary

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

• H04N25/771

  comprising storage means other than floating diffusion · CPC title

• G01B11/24

  for measuring contours or curvatures · CPC title

• H04N13/207 Primary

  using a single two-dimensional [2D] image sensor · CPC title

• H04N13/254

  in combination with electromagnetic radiation sources for illuminating objects · CPC title