Dual system on a chip eyewear

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12174379-B2
Application number	US-202117501545-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 14, 2021
Priority date	Oct 14, 2021
Publication date	Dec 24, 2024
Grant date	Dec 24, 2024

Abstract

Eyewear device that includes two SoCs that share processing workload. Instead of using a single SoC located either on the left or right side of the eyewear device, the two SoCs have different assigned responsibilities to operate different devices and perform different processes to balance workload. In one example, the eyewear device utilizes a first SoC to operate all peripheral components, and a second SoC performing computational tasks. This is a low-risk architecture since the second SoC is not required to operate any of the peripherals, and it has low standby power since the second SoC can be fully shutdown in a low-power mode. The second SoC does not have any direct access to camera data, so an interprocessor communication bus continuously transmits camera buffer data for most augmented reality (AR) compute tasks. This configuration provides organized logistics to efficiently operate various features, and balanced power consumption.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. Eyewear, comprising:
a frame having a first side and a second side;
a plurality of electronic components;
a first system on a chip (SoC) adjacent the first side of the frame, the first SoC coupled to the plurality of electronic components; and
a second SoC adjacent the second side, the second SoC coupled to the first SoC and is configured to perform computational tasks, wherein only the first SoC is configured to support the plurality of electronic components;
wherein the plurality of electronic components comprises a first and second color camera, a first and second computer vision (CV) camera, and a first and second display, and the second SoC is not configured to control any peripherals and does not have any direct access to camera data.

2. The eyewear of claim 1 , further comprising a third SoC coupled to the second SoC and also configured to perform computational tasks.

3. The eyewear of claim 1 , further comprising load balancing instructions for execution on the first and second SoCs, the load balancing instructions, when executed by the first and second SoCs, shift processing workload between the first and second SoCs.

4. The eyewear of claim 3 , further comprising:
a first temperature sensor adjacent the first SoC, the first temperature sensor generating a first temperature value;
a second temperature sensor adjacent the second SoC, the second temperature sensor generating a second temperature value; and
wherein the load balancing instructions configure the first and second SoCs to shift the processing workload responsive the first and second temperature values.

5. The eyewear of claim 1 , wherein:
the first SoC is configured to render three-dimensional (3D) graphics and perform rendering functions.

6. The eyewear of claim 1 , wherein the first SoC comprises an operating system (OS).

7. The eyewear of claim 1 , wherein the first SoC is configured to perform visual odometry (VIO).

8. The eyewear of claim 1 , wherein the first SoC is configured to perform machine learning and video encoding, run application logic, and manage communications.

9. The eyewear of claim 1 , wherein the eyewear further comprises a passive thermal cooling capacity of approximately 2 to 3 Watts adjacent each of the first and second sides and wherein each of the first and second SoCs operates at approximately 1.5 Watts or less and each of the first and second displays operate at approximately 1 to 2 Watts.

10. A method for use of eyewear including a frame having a first side and a second side and a plurality of electronic components, the method comprising:
performing a first set of operations with a first system on a chip (SoC) positioned adjacent the first side of the frame, the first SoC coupled to and operating a set of the plurality of electronic components; and
performing a second set of operations with a second SoC positioned adjacent the second side of the frame, the second SoC performing computational tasks, wherein only the first SoC supports the plurality of electronic components;
wherein the plurality of electronic components comprises a first and second color camera, a first and second computer vision (CV) camera, and a first and second display, and the second SoC does not control any peripherals and does not have any direct access to camera data.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
a first temperature sensor adjacent the first SoC, the first temperature sensor generating a first temperature value;
a second temperature sensor adjacent the second SoC, the second temperature sensor generating a second temperature value; and
performing load balancing by shifting a processing workload between the first and second SoCs responsive the first and second temperature values.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the first SoC renders three-dimensional (3D) graphics and perform rendering functions.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first SoC comprises an operating system (OS).

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first SoC performs visual odometry (VIO).

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first SoC performs machine learning and video encoding, runs application logic, and manages communications.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for operating an eyewear device including a frame having a first side and a second side and a plurality of electronic components, the instructions when executed by the eyewear device configures the eyewear device to:
perform a first set of operations with a first system on a chip (SoC) positioned adjacent the first side of the frame, the first SoC coupled to and operating a set of the plurality of electronic components; and
perform a second set of operations with a second SoC positioned adjacent the second side of the frame, the second SoC performing computational tasks, wherein only the first SoC supports the plurality of electronic components;
wherein the plurality of electronic components comprises a first and second color camera, a first and second computer vision (CV) camera, and a first and second display, and the second SoC does not control any peripherals and does not have any direct access to camera data.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the first SoC is configured to render three-dimensional (3D) graphics and perform rendering functions, perform visual odometry (VIO), and the first SoC comprises an operating system (OS).

Assignees

• Heger Jason
• Nilles Gerald
• Simons Patrick Timothy Mcsweeney
• Snap Inc

Inventors

• Heger Jason
• Nilles Gerald
• Simons Patrick Timothy Mcsweeney

Classifications

• G06F1/203

  for portable computers, e.g. for laptops · CPC title

• G06F1/1613

  for portable computers (cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202) · CPC title

• H04N23/45

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• H04N23/57

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• H04N23/80

  Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof · CPC title