US 2022/0091239 A1 · PHOTON-BASED TARGET DETECTION USING COARSE AND FINE BINNING

Abstract

Exemplary aspects of the present disclosure involve a SPAD receiver having circuitry for photon detection and having a plurality TDCs (time-to-digital converters) to detect multiple photons. Such circuitry may be set to accumulate photon counts over relatively coarse time ranges. In such accumulation of photons in relatively coarse time ranges, photon counts may be binned for each time range. Possible targets may then be identified by examination of the bins. Upon identification of the possible targets, a plurality of TDCs may be used over a more refined time ranges such as the time ranges corresponding to the identified possible target or targets.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

operating a receiver, having SPAD (single-photon avalanche photodiode) circuitry for photon detection, with multiple photon detections using a plurality of TDCs (time-to-digital converters) being set to accumulate detected photon counts over relatively coarse time ranges;
binning and identifying one or more possible target bins associated with the detected photon counts accumulated over the relatively coarse time ranges;
and
using the plurality of TDCs to accumulate detected photon counts over one or more relatively fine time ranges corresponding to the identified one or more possible target bins.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

17/030,733Filed 24 Sep 2020

Published

24 Mar 2022

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G01S 7/4863
Circuits for detection, sampling, integration or read-out: detector arrays, e.g. charge-transfer gates
G01S 7/4865
Receivers: time delay measurement, e.g. time-of-flight measurement, time of arrival measurement or determining the exact position of a peak
G01S 7/487
Receivers: extracting wanted echo signals , e.g. pulse detection
G01S 17/10
For measuring distance only: using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves

Photon-based target detection using coarse and fine binning

Life of this patent

Photon-based target detection using coarse and fine binning

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20