# US 12,192,647 B2 · Signal processing device, signal processing method, and detection sensor > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,192,647 B2 - Document ID: US12192647B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/927,791 - Filed: 2021-05-21 - Published: 2023-07-06 - Granted: 2025-01-07 - Earliest claimed: 2020-06-04 - Assignees: Sony Group Corporation - Applicants: Sony Group Corporation - Inventors: Shun Kaizu; Takahiro Miyazaki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12192647B2 ## CPC - H04N 23/745: Detection of flicker frequency or suppression of flicker wherein the flicker is caused by illumination, e.g. due to fluorescent tube illumination or pulsed LED illumination - H04N 23/71: Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation - H04N 25/47: Image sensors with pixel address output; Event-driven image sensors; Selection of pixels to be read out based on image data - H04N 25/60: Noise processing, e.g. detecting, correcting, reducing or removing noise - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract There is provided a signal processing device, a signal processing method, and a detection sensor that enable detection of flicker information from an output indicating a luminance change. The signal processing device includes: a count unit that counts a first count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a first luminance change in a positive direction is detected, and a second count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a second luminance change in a negative direction is detected, in an image output from alight receiving unit at a predetermined frame rate and indicating a luminance change; a coefficient generation unit that generates a coefficient corresponding to a time at which the luminance change is detected; and an integrating unit that integrates a multiplication result of the count number of the pixels and the coefficient. The present technology can be applied to, for example, an event detection sensor or the like. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A signal processing device comprising: a count unit that counts a first count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a first luminance change in a positive direction is detected, and a second count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a second luminance change in a negative direction is detected, in an image output from a light receiving unit at a predetermined frame rate and indicating a luminance change; a coefficient generation unit that generates a coefficient corresponding to a time at which the luminance change is detected; and an integrating unit that integrates a multiplication result of the count number of the pixels and the coefficient, wherein the count unit, the coefficient generation unit, and the integrating unit are each implemented via at least one processor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The signal processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a subtraction unit that subtracts the second count number from the first count number, wherein the integrating unit integrates a multiplication result of a subtraction result of the subtraction unit and the coefficient, and the subtraction unit is implemented via at least one processor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The signal processing device according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient generation unit generates a coefficient corresponding to the time based on the predetermined frame rate. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The signal processing device according to claim 1, wherein the integrating unit integrates the multiplication result by an integral multiple of the number of frames corresponding to a cycle to be detected. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The signal processing device according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient generation unit generates, as the coefficients, values of a sin function and a cos function corresponding to the time. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The signal processing device according to claim 5, wherein the integrating unit multiplies each of the values of the sin function and the cos function by the count number of the pixels to calculate the multiplication result. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The signal processing device according to claim 5, wherein the coefficient generation unit generates, as the coefficients, values of the sin function and the cos function corresponding to a cycle to be detected. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The signal processing device according to claim 5, wherein the coefficient generation unit generates, as the coefficients, values of a sin approximation function and a cos approximation function obtained by approximating the sin function and the cos function. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The signal processing device according to claim 8, wherein the sin approximation function and the cos approximation function are functions obtained by approximating the sin function and the cos function to signals having binary values of 1 and −1. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The signal processing device according to claim 9, wherein the coefficient generation unit outputs 1 or −1 on a basis of a table in which 1 or −1 is associated with the time. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The signal processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a flicker amount estimation unit that estimates a flicker amount in which the luminance change occurs at a specific frequency on a basis of an integration result of the integrating unit, wherein the flicker amount estimation unit is implemented via at least one processor. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The signal processing device according to claim 11, further comprising: a control unit that controls a sensitivity parameter of the light receiving unit on a basis of an estimation result of the flicker amount estimation unit, wherein the control unit is implemented via at least one processor. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The signal processing device according to claim 12, wherein the control unit separately controls the first luminance change and the second luminance change in the sensitivity parameter of the light receiving unit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The signal processing device according to claim 12, wherein the control unit controls the sensitivity parameter of the light receiving unit for every phase of a cycle to be detected. ### Claim 15 A signal processing method performed by a signal processing device, the method comprising: counting a first count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a first luminance change in a positive direction is detected, and a second count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a second luminance change in a negative direction is detected, in an image output from a light receiving unit at a predetermined frame rate and indicating a luminance change; generating a coefficient corresponding to a time at which the luminance change is detected; and integrating a multiplication result of the count number of the pixels and the coefficient. ### Claim 16 A detection sensor comprising: a light receiving unit in which pixels that perform photoelectric conversion of incident light and generate electric signals are arranged in a lattice pattern; a count unit that counts a first count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a first luminance change in a positive direction is detected, and a second count number, which is a count number of pixels in which a second luminance change in a negative direction is detected, in an image output from the light receiving unit at a predetermined frame rate and indicating a luminance change; a coefficient generation unit that generates a coefficient corresponding to a time at which the luminance change is detected; and an integrating unit that integrates a multiplication result of the count number of the pixels and the coefficient, wherein the count unit, the coefficient generation unit, and the integrating unit are each implemented via at least one processor.