Patents Examined by Mark T Monk
  • Patent number: 11871122
    Abstract: A computational pixel imaging device can include multiple counters per pixel that can be used to acquire in-pixel histogram data representative of a signal detected by a pixels detector. Multiple pixel counters can also be used to execute simultaneous signal-processing threads on acquired image data. The imaging device can also include infinite dynamic range sensing and perform signal down-sampling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Anduril Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael W. Kelly, Curtis Colonero, Christopher David
  • Patent number: 11863876
    Abstract: A computational pixel imaging device that includes an array of pixel integrated circuits for event-based detection and imaging. Each pixel may include a digital counter that accumulates a digital number, which indicates whether a change is detected by the pixel. The counter may count in one direction for a portion of an exposure and count in an opposite direction for another portion of the exposure. The imaging device may be configured to collect and transmit key frames at a lower rate, and collect and transmit delta or event frames at a higher rate. The key frames may include a full image of a scene, captured by the pixel array. The delta frames may include sparse data, captured by pixels that have detected meaningful changes in received light intensity. High speed, low transmission bandwidth motion image video can be reconstructed using the key frames and the delta frames.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Anduril Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Michael W. Kelly, Curtis Colonero, Christopher David, Justin Baker, William Ross
  • Patent number: 11846729
    Abstract: A virtual reality positioning device including a casing, a plurality of lenses, and a plurality of optical positioning components is provided. The casing has a plurality of holes. The lenses are installed in the holes, respectively, where a field angle of each of the lenses is greater than or equal to 120 degrees and less than or equal to 160 degrees, and the lenses include convex lenses or Fresnel lenses. The optical positioning components are installed in the casing and aligned to the lenses, respectively. In addition, a virtual reality positioning system and manufacturing method of a virtual reality positioning device are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Acer Incorporated
    Inventors: Li Lin, Ker-Wei Lin, Chun-Ta Chen, Chun-Yu Chen, Hao-Ming Chang, Chun-Hsien Chen, Shih-Ting Huang, Hui-Yen Wang
  • Patent number: 11849232
    Abstract: An integrated image sensor includes a pixel array; an analog circuit configured to control the pixel array and read out image data based on an output signal of the pixel array; a processor configured to generate a control signal for controlling the analog circuit based on the image data and to feed back the control signal to the analog circuit; and a memory storing the image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Woo-Shik Kim
  • Patent number: 11843891
    Abstract: An AD conversion device includes a comparison circuit, an upper-level DA conversion circuit, a level shift circuit, a lower-level DA conversion circuit, and a correction device. The comparison circuit includes a first terminal and a second terminal. The comparison circuit is configured to compare a first voltage level of a signal input to the first terminal with a second voltage level of a signal input to the second terminal. The upper-level DA conversion circuit includes a plurality of capacitance elements electrically connected to the second terminal. Capacitive values of the plurality of capacitance elements are weighted by binary numbers. The level shift circuit includes one or more capacitance elements electrically connected to the second terminal. The lower-level DA conversion circuit includes a plurality of capacitance elements electrically connected to the second terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yoshio Hagihara
  • Patent number: 11843892
    Abstract: Provided is an imaging device that includes a plurality of pixels, where each of the plurality of pixels includes a light receiving element that generates an electric charge in response to received light, a pixel circuit that outputs an analog signal in accordance with the electric charge generated by the light receiving element, and a conversion circuit that converts the analog signal output from the pixel circuit into a digital signal on the basis of a reference signal whose voltage changes stepwise. The imaging device further includes a generation unit that generates, as reference signals, a first reference signal and a second reference signal, where the first reference signal is supplied to a first pixel of the plurality of pixels via a first wiring, and the second reference signal is supplied to a second pixel of the plurality of pixels different from the first pixel via a second wiring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ryohei Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 11838670
    Abstract: An imaging element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of sensor pixels and a voltage control section. The sensor pixels each include a photoelectric conversion section, and a readout circuit that outputs a pixel signal based on charges outputted from the photoelectric conversion section. The voltage control section applies a control voltage based on the pixel signal to a plurality of the photoelectric conversion sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Misao Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11827098
    Abstract: A camera monitor system for responding to an amount of light includes: a sensor unit configured to measure an amount of external light of a vehicle; a camera unit configured to capture an image of an outside of the vehicle; a display unit comprising a first display layer configured to display the image of the outside, captured by the camera unit, and a second display layer configured to display at least one icon at least partially overlapping the first display layer; and a controller configured to set luminance of the first display layer in response to the amount of external light received from the sensor unit and to change transparency of the icon of the second display layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION, SL MIRRORTECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chang Woo Sohn, Ill Soo Kim, Choon Gi Jung, Young Nam Shin, Dong Gun Yeo, Hyung Sik Yoon, Young Hoon Lee, Dae Man Son, Jin Woo Kim, Yong Hwan Kim, Hyun Seok Song
  • Patent number: 11832014
    Abstract: A solid-state image pickup device includes: comparators; counters; and a control portion for carrying out control in such a way that in a phase of an addition mode, the two comparators and the two counters corresponding to the two pixel columns, respectively, are set as a unit, 1 is added to a second digit of one counter of the two counters when both the comparison results from the two comparators has a first logic, 1 is added to a first digit of the one counter when one of the comparison results from the two comparators has the first logic, and 1 is added to none of the first digit and the second digit of the one counter when both the comparison results from the two comparators has a second logic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Group Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Iwasa, Satoshi Ogata
  • Patent number: 11832013
    Abstract: To further capture an image in a solid-state image sensor that detects an address event. The solid-state image sensor includes a photoelectric conversion element, a charge accumulation unit, a transfer transistor, a detection unit, and a connection transistor. The photoelectric conversion element generates a charge by photoelectric conversion. The charge accumulation unit accumulates the charge and generates a voltage according to an amount of the charge. The transfer transistor transfers the charge from the photoelectric conversion element to the charge accumulation unit. The detection unit detects whether or not a change amount of a photocurrent according to the amount of the charge exceeds a predetermined threshold. The connection transistor connects the charge accumulation unit and the detection unit to cause the photocurrent to flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hongbo Zhu
  • Patent number: 11825229
    Abstract: A dynamic vision sensor such as an event based vision sensor employs analog to digital converters (ADC), such as ramp ADCs, that analog to digital converts the signals from photoreceptors. Only previous light values need to be stored in the pixels. This is accomplished by generating three ramps. In addition, log compression can be implemented by increasing the count linearly while increasing the reference voltage exponentially, or increasing the count logarithmically while increasing the reference voltage linearly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: SONY ADVANCED VISUAL SENSING AG
    Inventors: Christian Brändli, Raphael Berner
  • Patent number: 11818323
    Abstract: An object is to efficiently generate virtual viewpoint images in different image formats. The image generation system includes a plurality of rendering modules. Then, virtual viewpoint information indicating a virtual viewpoint, for generating a virtual viewpoint image adapted to a predetermined image format, is converted into a plurality of pieces of virtual viewpoint information which indicate a plurality of virtual viewpoints, based on performance of a plurality of rendering modules. Then, based on the plurality of pieces of virtual viewpoint information after being converted, contents of rendering that should be executed are allocated to at least part of the plurality of rendering modules. Then, a virtual viewpoint image adapted to the predetermined image format is generated by using results of rendering processing by the at least part of the rendering modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Eito Sakakima
  • Patent number: 11809613
    Abstract: A high-resolution image sensor suitable for use in an augmented reality (AR) system to provide low latency image analysis with low power consumption. The AR system can be compact, and may be small enough to be packaged within a wearable device such as a set of goggles or mounted on a frame resembling ordinary eyeglasses. The image sensor may receive information about a region of an imaging array associated with a movable object, selectively output imaging information for that region, and synchronously output high-resolution image frames. The region may be updated dynamically as the image sensor and/or the object moves. The image sensor may output the high-resolution image frames less frequently than the region being updated when the image sensor and/or the object moves. Such an image sensor provides a small amount of data from which object information used in rendering an AR scene can be developed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Magic Leap, Inc.
    Inventors: Martin Georg Zahnert, Alexander Ilic
  • Patent number: 11812174
    Abstract: Row-by-row pixel read-out is executed concurrently within respective clusters of pixels of a pixel array, alternating the between descending and ascending progressions in the intra-cluster row readout sequence to reduce temporal skew between neighboring pixel rows in adjacent clusters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Gigajot Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Jiaju Ma
  • Patent number: 11812169
    Abstract: A dynamic vision sensor such as an event based vision sensor employs analog to digital converters (ADC), such as ramp ADCs, that analog to digital converts the signals from photoreceptors. Current and previous light values are then stored and compared digitally. In addition, log compression can be implemented by increasing the count linearly while increasing the reference voltage exponentially, or increasing the count logarithmically while increasing the reference voltage linearly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Advanced Visual Sensing AG
    Inventors: Christian Brändli, Raphael Berner
  • Patent number: 11800042
    Abstract: A video processing method, an electronic device and a storage medium, which relates to the field of video recognition and understanding and deep learning, are disclosed. The method may include: during video play, for to-be-processed audio data, which has not been played, determined according to a predetermined policy, performing the following processing: extracting a word/phrase meeting a predetermined requirement from text content corresponding to the audio data, as a tag of the audio data; determining a special effect animation corresponding to the audio data according to the tag; and superimposing the special effect animation on a corresponding video picture for display when the audio data begins to be played.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: BAIDU ONLINE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Dexi Zhao
  • Patent number: 11792541
    Abstract: A solid-state imaging device according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a voltage applier. The first electrode includes a plurality of electrodes independent from each other. The second electrode is disposed opposite to the first electrode. The photoelectric conversion layer is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The voltage applier applies different voltages to at least one of the first electrode or the second electrode during a charge accumulation period and a charge non-accumulation period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taiichiro Watanabe, Tetsuji Yamaguchi, Yusuke Sato, Fumihiko Koga
  • Patent number: 11792507
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a primary camera sensor configured to capture images having a first resolution, a primary processing circuit configured to process images captured by the primary camera sensor, a secondary camera sensor configured to capture images having a second resolution, and a secondary processing circuit configured to process images captured by the secondary camera sensor. In response to a determination that a particular object of interest is included in a particular image, the secondary processing circuit may be further configured to cause the primary processing circuit and the primary camera sensor to exit a reduced power mode. The primary camera sensor may be further configured, in response to the exiting, to capture a different image. The primary processing circuit may also be configured to process the different image to validate the particular object of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Paolo Di Febbo, Chaminda N. Vidanagamachchi, Yohan Rajan, Anselm Grundhoefer
  • Patent number: 11785358
    Abstract: A method and a system for reducing column noise of an image sensor are provided. The method includes: reading dark pixel data in each image frame and reading initial effective pixel data in each image frame, where dark pixels and initial effective pixels are both arranged in N columns; sequentially calculating the dark pixel data to obtain an average value of each column of dark pixels and an entire average value of the dark pixels in each image frame; obtaining a corrected value of each column according to the average value of each column of dark pixels and the entire average value of the dark pixels; and calculating the corrected value of each column and the corresponding initial effective pixel data in each image frame to obtain target effective pixel data. In the method, the dark pixel data is pre-processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Chengdu Image Design Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hua Cai, Yong Wang, Zheng Chen, Fei Chen, Tian Xia
  • Patent number: 11778348
    Abstract: A circuit includes a comparator configured to compare an input signal and another signal and output a signal indicating a result of a comparison, and an element configured to limit an amplitude of the signal indicating the result of the comparison. In a case where a current flowing through the circuit is changed, the element is able to make an adjustment of a range of a change in the amplitude due to the change in the current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: So Hasegawa, Hideo Kobayashi