Beam deflector, method for operating the beam deflector and eye tracking device based on the beam deflector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12147144-B2
Application number	US-202117556490-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2021
Priority date	Jun 21, 2021
Publication date	Nov 19, 2024
Grant date	Nov 19, 2024

Abstract

Provided is a beam deflector including: a first electrode layer including a plurality of electrode patterns that are arranged in a first direction; a second electrode layer provided to oppose the first electrode layer; a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and including a plurality of liquid crystal molecules; an input channel unit including a plurality of input channels; a demultiplexer configured to divide each of the input channels into a preset number of divided channels, and connect the divided channels to the electrode patterns; and a control circuit connected to the demultiplexer, and configured to control an output signal output from the divided channels to the first electrode layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A beam deflector comprising:
a first electrode layer comprising a plurality of electrode patterns that are arranged in a first direction;
a second electrode layer provided to oppose the first electrode layer;
a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the liquid crystal layer comprising a plurality of liquid crystal molecules;
an input channel unit comprising a plurality of input channels;
a demultiplexer configured to divide each of the input channels into a preset number of divided channels, and connect the divided channels to the electrode patterns;
a control circuit connected to the demultiplexer, and configured to control an output signal output from the divided channels to the first electrode layer; and
a channel sequence change circuit configured to change a sequence of the divided channels included in the demultiplexer for a preset period.

2. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of liquid crystal molecules comprise positive liquid crystal molecules that move in the second direction according to a voltage applied to the electrode patterns.

3. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein a number of the demultiplexer is identical to a number of the input channels.

4. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein the demultiplexer comprises a same number of switches as a number of the divided channels.

5. The beam deflector of claim 4 , wherein each of the switches is a thin-film transistor (TFT).

6. The beam deflector of claim 5 , wherein the TFT is a P-type TFT.

7. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to control output times of output signals output from the divided channels, to avoid an overlap of the output times.

8. The beam deflector of claim 7 , wherein the control circuit is configured to control output signals from the respective divided channels, by controlling on and off states of switches provided in each of the divided channels.

9. The beam deflector of claim 7 , wherein the control circuit comprises a plurality of control channels, and a number of the plurality of control channels is identical to a number of the divided channels.

10. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein the channel sequence change circuit is configured to randomly change the sequence of the divided channels.

11. The beam deflector of claim 1 , wherein the channel sequence change circuit is configured to randomly change the sequence of the divided channels, excluding preset sequences.

12. An eye-tracking device comprising two of the beam deflector of claim 1 .

13. The eye-tracking device of claim 12 , wherein the eye-tracking device is not provided with a component that provides steering in a Z-axis direction, and is implemented with the two beam deflectors overlapping in the Z-axis direction.

14. The eye-tracking device of claim 12 , wherein the eye-tracking device is not provided with a lens that concentrates light deflected by the two beam deflectors to provide the concentrated light to a user, and is implemented with the two beam deflectors overlapping.

15. An operating method of a beam deflector, the operating method comprising:
receiving, by an input channel unit including a plurality of input channels, a deflection control signal and a channel control signal;
dividing, by the input channel unit, the deflection control signal for each demultiplexer dividing the plurality of input channels into a plurality of divided channels;
controlling, by a control circuit, output times of output signals output from the plurality of divided channels based on the channel control signal, to avoid an overlap of the output times; and
deflecting an incident light by liquid crystal molecules that move according to a voltage is applied an electrode layer,
wherein the operating method further comprises changing, by a channel sequence change circuit, a sequence of the divided channels included in the demultiplexer for a preset period.

16. The operating method of claim 15 , wherein the deflection control signal and the channel control signal are included in one video image of a preset resolution.

17. The operating method of claim 15 , wherein the deflecting by the liquid crystal molecules comprises, when an optical path conversion surface is formed by movement of the liquid crystal molecules, a refractive index of the incident light is changed at the optical path conversion surface.

18. An electronic device comprising:
a plurality of input channels;
a plurality of demultiplexers connected to the plurality of input channels in a one-to-one correspondence, and configured to receive a plurality of input signals from the plurality of input channels, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of demultiplexers is configured to receive one of the plurality of input signals, and is connected to a plurality of different selection lines to obtain a plurality of output signals by processing the one of the plurality of input signals in a plurality of different manners according to the plurality of different selection lines, and is configured to divide each of the input channels into a preset number of divided channels;
a beam deflector comprising a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, and configure to deflect a light incident onto the beam deflector by applying a voltage between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer based on the plurality of output signals from the plurality of demultiplexers, a control circuit connected to the demultiplexer, and configure to control the output signal output from the divided channels to the first electrode layer, and a channel sequence change circuit configured to change a sequence of the divided channels included in the demultiplexer for a preset period; and
a display configured to generate an image based on the deflected light.

19. The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein each of the plurality of demultiplexers comprises a plurality of switches connected to the plurality of different selection lines, and configured to turn on according to control signals from the plurality of different selection lines, respectively.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Young
• Song Byonggwon
• Kim Hongsuk
• Song Hoon
• Won Kanghee
• Lee Hongseok
• Jung Sunghee

Classifications

• G06F3/013

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02F1/29 Primary

  for the control of the position or the direction of light beams, i.e. deflection · CPC title

• G02B30/22

  of the stereoscopic type · CPC title

• G02B30/00

  Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images (in microscopes G02B21/22) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0174

  holographic · CPC title