Time-to-digital conversion device, ranging device, and movable body
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYuji Nakajima
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A time-to-digital conversion device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a time-to-digital conversion device configured to output time digital data according to a time from a first timing to a second timing, including a first circuit that includes an upper counter configured to start counting a clock signal according to the first timing, and generates upper bits of the time digital data; a second circuit that includes a delay element configured to start operation according to the second timing and a lower counter configured to count an oscillation cycle of the delay element, and generates lower bits of the time digital data; and a control circuit that controls a phase of an output signal of the delay element based on the clock signal.
Claims19
A time-to-digital conversion device configured to output time digital data according to a time from a first timing to a second timing, comprising:
- a first circuit that includes an upper counter configured to start counting a clock signal according to the first timing, and generates upper bits of the time digital data;
- a second circuit that includes a delay element configured to start operation according to the second timing and a lower counter configured to count an oscillation cycle of the delay element, and generates lower bits of the time digital data;
- and
- a control circuit that controls a phase of an output signal of the delay element based on the clock signal,
- wherein the delay element is a voltage-controlled oscillator.
A time-to-digital conversion device, configured to output time digital data according to a time from a first timing to a second timing, comprising:
- a first circuit that includes an upper counter configured to start counting a clock signal according to the first timing, and generates upper bits of the time digital data;
- a second circuit that includes a delay element configured to start operation according to the second timing and a lower counter configured to count an oscillation cycle of the delay element, and generates lower bits of the time digital data;
- a control circuit that controls a phase of an output signal of the delay element based on the clock signal,
- wherein the control circuit includes:
- a replica circuit of the delay element of the second circuit;
- and
- a phase synchronization circuit that feeds back to the replica circuit a control voltage based on a comparison between a phase of a divided signal of an output signal of the replica circuit and a phase of the clock signal and,
- wherein the control circuit further supplies the control voltage to the delay element of the second circuit.
A ranging device comprising:
- a time-to-digital conversion device configured to output time digital data according to a time from a first timing to a second timing, the time-to-digital conversion device comprising:
- a first circuit that includes an upper counter configured to start counting a clock signal according to the first timing, and generates upper bits of the time digital data;
- a second circuit that includes a delay element configured to start operation according to the second timing and a lower counter configured to count an oscillation cycle of the delay element, and generates lower bits of the time digital data;
- and
- a control circuit that controls a phase of an output signal of the delay element based on the clock signal;
- and
- a light receiving unit that receives pulse light emitted toward an object and reflected by the object,
- wherein the time-to-digital conversion device acquires distance information to the object based on the time digital data corresponding to a time from the first timing to the second timing using an emission timing of the pulse light as the first timing and a reception timing of the pulse light as the second timing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.