Abstract: The disclosure relates to a light propagation time pixel, comprising modulation gates and integration nodes which are arranged on the upper face of a photosensitive semiconductor region. The photosensitive semiconductor region is designed as an N-epitaxy and is delimited laterally and/or at the corners by p-doped vertical p-structures. A buried layer with a p-doping adjoins the lower face of the photosensitive semiconductor region, and the vertical p-structures are in electric contact with the buried layer.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a time-of-flight camera comprising: a time-of-flight sensor having several time-of-flight pixels for determining a phase shift of emitted and captured light, distance values being determined in accordance with the detected phase shifts, characterised in that the time-of-flight camera has a memory in which parameters of a point spread function, which characterise the time-of-flight camera and the time-of-flight sensor, are stored; an evaluation unit which is designed to deploy a detected complex-valued image in Fourier space, in accordance with the stored point-spread function, and a complex-valued image corrected by diffused light is determined and the phase shifts or distance values are determined using the corrected complex-valued image.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a pixel array for a camera, in particular for a light propagation time camera, having: a plurality of pixel elements arranged in a matrix arrangement, wherein each individual pixel element has a photoelectric region and at least one other region which is non-sensitive to light; and a plurality of routing paths which are arranged in a grid-like manner and which divide the pixel array into fields. A group of first fields and a group of second fields are created, in which each of the first fields is provided by a photoelectric region of one of the pixel elements and each of the second fields is provided by the other regions, wherein the first fields and the second fields are arranged in an alternating manner similar to a chessboard. The disclosure further relates to a corresponding camera, in particular a light propagation time camera for a light propagation time camera system, and to a corresponding light propagation time camera system.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method for calibrating and/or evaluating a light propagation time camera by means of a reference surface, wherein the light propagation time camera has a light propagation time sensor consisting of an array of light propagation time pixels, in which method various spacings between the light propagation time camera and the reference surface are set in order to calibrate and/or evaluate the light propagation time camera by means of translational spacing changes. The method has the following steps: determining first distance data for a first spacing, determining second distance data for a second spacing, calculating distance differences from the first and second distance data, determining an orientation of the light propagation time camera with respect to the reference surface on the basis of the calculated distance differences.

Abstract: A monitoring system includes at least one three-dimensional (3D) time-of-flight (TOF) camera configured to monitor a safety-critical area. An evaluation unit is configured to activate a safety function upon an entrance of at least one of an object and a person into the monitored area and to suppress the activation of the safety function where at least one clearance element is recognized as being present on the at least one of the object and the person.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method for calibrating and/or evaluating a light propagation time camera by means of a reference surface, wherein the light propagation time camera has a light propagation time sensor consisting of an array of light propagation time pixels, in which method various spacings between the light propagation time camera and the reference surface are set in order to calibrate and/or evaluate the light propagation time camera by means of translational spacing changes. The method has the following steps: determining first distance data for a first spacing, determining second distance data for a second spacing, calculating distance differences from the first and second distance data, determining an orientation of the light propagation time camera with respect to the reference surface on the basis of the calculated distance differences.

Abstract: A light speed camera system, with a camera module, which has a light speed photo sensor, preferably based on mixed photo detection, having at least one reception pixel, and with an illumination module which has an illumination light source, wherein the illumination module and the camera module each have a transmission circuit which is formed in such a way that a first signal as a differential signal and a second signal as a modulated basic voltage can be transmitted between the camera module and illumination module via a differential signal line is provided.

Abstract: A light transit time camera system and method for operating such a system which can be operated with at least three modulation frequencies, having the steps a) determining a phase shift (?i) of an emitted signal (Sp1) and a received signal (Sp2) for a modulation frequency (f1, f2, f3) in a phase-measuring cycle (PM1, PM2, . . . ), b) carrying out a plurality of phase-measuring cycles (PM1, PM2, . . . ), c) determining a distance value (dn,n+1) on the basis of the phase shifts (?n, ?n+1) determined in two successive phase-measuring cycles (PMn, PMn+1), in a distance-measuring cycle (M1, M2, . . . ), d) carrying out a plurality of distance-measuring cycles (M1, M2, . . . ), e) determining a distance deviation (?d) between the distance values of successive distance-measuring cycles, f) outputting of a distance value (dn,n+1) as a valid distance value if the distance deviation (?d) is within a tolerance limit (?dtol) is provided.

Abstract: A method for operating a time-of-flight camera including a time-of-flight sensor comprising an array of time-of-flight pixels with at least two integration nodes, wherein in a 3D mode the time-of-flight sensor and an illumination means are operated by means of a modulation signal and on the basis of the charges accumulated at the integration nodes distance values are determined, characterized in that in a power saving mode the time-of-flight sensor is operated with a control signal for motion detection, the frequency of which is lower than a lowest frequency of the modulation signal for a distance determination in the 3D mode, wherein an object motion is determined based on a differential value at the integration nodes is provided.