High resolution time-of-flight measurements

A system comprising:

• a sensor module comprising a light source and a photodetector;
• and
• an electronic control device,
• wherein the sensor module is operable to:
• generate modulated light using the light source, and
• measure, using the photodetector, an intensity of modulated light reflected from an object towards the photodetector over a period of time, and
• wherein the electronic control device is operable to:
• bin the measured intensity of the reflected modulated light according to a plurality of temporal bins,
• determine a first temporal bin having the greatest intensity among the plurality of temporal bins, and
• estimate a distance between the sensor module and the object based on a first temporal bin, and one or more additional temporal bins of the plurality of temporal bins.

A method comprising:

• positioning an object at each of a plurality of distances from a sensor module;
• generating, for each distance, a corresponding set of measurements, wherein generating each set of measurements comprises:
• generating modulated light using a light source of the sensor module,
• measuring, using a photodetector of the sensor module, an intensity of modulated light reflected from an object towards the photodetector over a period of time, and
• binning, using an electronic control device, the measured intensity of the reflected modulated light according to a plurality of temporal bins;
• and
• determining, based on the sets of measurement, a first signal waveform representing a physical structure of the object.

A system comprising:

• a sensor module comprising a light source and a photodetector;
• and
• an electronic control device,
• wherein the sensor module is operable, with respect to an object positioned at each of a plurality of distances from the sensor module, to generate, for each distance, a corresponding set of measurements, wherein generating each set of measurements comprises:
• generating modulated light using the light source, and
• measuring, using the photodetector, an intensity of modulated light reflected from an object towards the photodetector over a period of time, and
• wherein the electronic control device is operable to:
• bin the measured intensity of the reflected modulated light according to a plurality of temporal bins, and
• determine, based on the sets of measurement, a first signal waveform representing a physical structure of the object.