Method of Ambient Luminosity Level Detection, and Corresponding Sensor
AssigneesSTMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS, STMicroelectronics (Alps) SAS
InventorsPascal Mellot, Jean-Jacques Rouger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of detecting ambient luminous radiation includes resetting and triggering a counter each time a photodiode illuminated by the ambient luminous radiation reaches a discharge threshold. The counter is then being clocked by a clock signal having a first frequency and delivering a counter output signal. The method further includes generating an AC signal representative of the ambient luminous radiation by converting, from digital to analog, a digital signal obtained from the counter output signal.
Claims21
A method of detecting ambient luminous radiation, the method comprising:
- resetting and triggering a counter each time a photodiode illuminated by the ambient luminous radiation reaches a discharge threshold, the counter then being clocked by a clock signal having a first frequency and delivering a counter output signal;
- and
- generating an AC signal representative of a level of the ambient luminous radiation by converting, from digital to analog, a digital signal obtained from the counter output signal.
An electronic circuit comprising:
- a photodiode;
- a counter that is configured to be clocked by a clock signal having a first frequency and configured to deliver a counter output signal;
- a control module that is configured to reset and trigger the counter when the photodiode illuminated by ambient luminous radiation reaches a discharge threshold;
- and
- a processing stage including a converting module configured to perform a digital-to-analog conversion of a digital signal obtained from the counter output signal so as to generate an AC signal representative of a level of the ambient luminous radiation.
A detector of ambient light level comprising:
- an electronic circuit that comprises
- a photodiode;
- a counter that is configured to be clocked by a clock signal having a first frequency and configured to deliver a counter output signal;
- a control module that is configured to reset and trigger the counter when the photodiode illuminated by ambient luminous radiation reaches a discharge threshold;
- and
- a processing stage including a converting module configured to perform a digital-to-analog conversion of a digital signal obtained from the counter output signal so as to generate an AC signal representative of a level of the ambient luminous radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.