Camera module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11863735-B2
Application number	US-202017607741-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2020
Priority date	Apr 29, 2019
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, disclosed is a camera module comprising: an optical output unit for outputting an optical signal to an object; an optical unit for transmitting the optical signal reflected from the object; a sensor for receiving the optical signal transmitted through the optical unit; and a control unit for acquiring the depth map of the object by using the optical signal received by the sensor, wherein the sensor includes an effective area in which a light receiving element is arranged and a non-effective area excluding the effective area, and includes a first row area in which the effective area and the non-effective area are alternately arranged in a row direction, and a second row area in which the effective area and the non-effective area are alternately arranged in the row direction, and in which the effective area is arranged in a column direction at a position not overlapping with the effective area of the first row area, light reaching the effective area of the first row area is controlled by means of first shifting control so as to reach the non-effective area of the first row area or the non-effective area of the second row area, and light reaching the effective area of the second row area is controlled by means of the first shifting control so as to reach the non-effective area of the second row area or the non-effective area of the first row area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A camera module comprising:
an optical output unit configured to output an optical signal to an object;
a filter configured to allow an optical signal reflected by the object to pass therethrough;
a sensor configured to receive the passed optical signal; and
a control unit configured to acquire depth information of the object and color information of the object adjacent to the depth information of the object using the optical signal received by the sensor,
wherein the filter includes a first filter area through which a first wavelength band as a pass band passes and a second filter area through which a second wavelength band different from the first wavelength band as a pass band passes,
wherein the sensor includes a first sensing area for receiving a first signal and a second sensing area for receiving a second signal,
wherein the control unit acquires the color information of the object from the first sensing area and acquires the depth information of the object from the second sensing area,
wherein the first signal is an optical signal that passes through the first filter area, and
wherein the second signal is an optical signal that passes through the second filter area.

2. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the first filter area surrounds the second filter area.

3. The camera module of claim 2 , wherein the first sensing area surrounds the second sensing area.

4. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the second sensing area is provided as a plurality of second sensing areas spaced apart from each other.

5. The camera module of claim 4 , wherein the adjacent second sensing areas have the same distance in a row direction or a column direction.

6. The camera module of claim 4 , wherein each of the second sensing areas includes a plurality of pixels of which at least portions are disposed in contact with each other.

7. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the optical output unit includes a light collection unit configured to output the optical signal in a form of a plurality of arrays.

8. The camera module of claim 1 , further comprising a calculation unit configured to output three-dimensional content for the object using the acquired color information of the object and the acquired depth information of the object.

9. The camera module of claim 8 , wherein the calculation unit includes:
an image generator configured to generate a plurality of images using the acquired color information of the object and the acquired depth information of the object;
an extractor configured to extract a feature point of each of the plurality of images;
a map generator configured to generate a depth map using the feature point; and
a content generator configured to generate the three-dimensional content by applying the depth map to the plurality of images.

10. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the feature point corresponds to a position of the acquired depth information of the object.

11. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes an effective area in which a light-receiving element is disposed and a non-effective area other than the effective area.

12. The camera module of claim 11 , wherein the sensor includes a first row area in which the effective area and the non-effective area are alternately disposed in a row direction, and
wherein a second row area in which the effective area and the non-effective area are alternately disposed in the row direction and the effective area is disposed at a position that does not overlap the effective area of the first row area in a column direction.

13. The camera module of claim 11 , wherein the first sensing area and the second sensing area may overlap the effective area.

14. The camera module of claim 11 , wherein a width of the second sensing area may be changed according to a distance between the object and the optical output unit.

15. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the first sensing area corresponds to the first filter area.

16. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the first sensing area is an area in which an optical signal passing through the first filter area arrives at the sensor.

17. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the second sensing area corresponds to the second filter area.

18. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the second sensing area is an area in which an optical signal passing through the second filter area arrives at the sensor.

19. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein each pixel corresponding to the second sensing area is surrounded by each pixel corresponding to the first sensing area.

20. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein a width of the second filter area is different from a width of the second sensing area.

Assignees

• Lg Innotek Co Ltd

Inventors

• Joo Yang Hyun
• Lee Chang Hyuck

Classifications

• H04N23/11

  for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths · CPC title

• H04N13/271 Primary

  wherein the generated image signals comprise depth maps or disparity maps · CPC title

• H04N13/32

  using arrays of controllable light sources; using moving apertures or moving light sources · CPC title

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · 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