Light sensor and ranging method
AssigneeGuangzhou Tyrafos Semiconductor Technologies Co., LTD
InventorsPing-Hung Yin, Jia-Shyang Wang
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Abstract
A light sensor and a ranging method are provided. The light sensor includes a light source, a sensing sub-pixel, and a control circuit. The sensing sub-pixel includes a diode. The control circuit operates the diode in a Geiger mode or an avalanche linear mode. The control circuit includes a time-to-digital converter, and the time-to-digital converter includes a counting circuit. The counting circuit includes a plurality of counting units. When the time-to-digital converter receives a sensing signal provided by the sensing sub-pixel, the control circuit generates a plurality of count values according to the sensing signal through the counting units of the counting circuit, where the count values are histogram data corresponding to a distance sensing result.
Claims20
A light sensor, comprising:
- a light source;
- a sensing sub-pixel, comprising a diode;
- and
- a control circuit, coupled to the light source and the sensing sub-pixel, and configured to operate the diode in a Geiger mode or an avalanche linear mode,
- wherein the control circuit comprises a time-to-digital converter coupled to the sensing sub-pixel, and the time-to-digital converter comprises:
- a counting circuit, coupled to the sensing sub-pixel, and comprising a plurality of counting units,
- wherein when the time-to-digital converter receives a sensing signal provided by the sensing sub-pixel, the time-to-digital converter generates a plurality of counting values according to the sensing signal through the counting units of the counting circuit, wherein the counting values are histogram data corresponding to a distance sensing result.
A ranging method, comprising:
- operating a diode of a sensing sub-pixel in a Geiger mode or an avalanche linear mode;
- emitting ranging light by a light source;
- sensing reflected light corresponding to the ranging light through the sensing sub-pixel;
- and
- when a time-to-digital converter receives a sensing signal provided by the sensing sub-pixel, generating a plurality of counting values according to the sensing signal through a plurality of counting units of a counting circuit, wherein the counting values are histogram data corresponding to a distance sensing result.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.