Abstract: Disclosed herein are wearable devices, their configurations, and methods of operation that use self-mixing interferometry signals of a self-mixing interferometry sensor to recognize user inputs. The user inputs may include voiced commands or silent gesture commands. The devices may be wearable on the user's head, with the self-mixing interferometry sensor configured to direct a beam of light toward a location on the user's head. Skin deformations or vibrations at the location may be caused by the user's speech or the user's silent gestures and recognized using the self-mixing interferometry signal. The self-mixing interferometry signals may be used for bioauthentication and/or audio conditioning of received sound or voice inputs to a microphone.

Abstract: A wearable electronic device including a housing that is worn by a user and a SMI sensor contained within the housing. The SMI sensor may include an emitter that outputs coherent light toward the skin of a user when the housing is worn by the user. The SMI sensor may also include a detector that detects a portion of the coherent light reflected towards the sensor and generates electrical signals that indicate displacements of the skin based on the portion of coherent light received at the detector. The housing may include a transmitter that is operatively coupled with the SMI sensor and is configured to transmit physiological data to a receiving device based on electrical signals output from the SMI sensor.

Abstract: A wearable device includes a device housing configured to be worn on a first surface of a user, a set of one or more SMI sensors, and a processor. The set of one or more SMI sensors is mounted within the device housing and configured to emit a set of one or more beams of electromagnetic radiation, with each beam emitted in a different direction extending away from the first surface. The set of one or more SMI sensors is also configured to generate a set of one or more SMI signals containing information about a relationship between the device housing and a second surface. The processor is configured to extract the relationship between the device housing and the second surface from digitized samples of the set of one or more SMI signals.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are wearable devices, their configurations, and methods of operation that use self-mixing interferometry signals of a self-mixing interferometry sensor to recognize user inputs. The user inputs may include voiced commands or silent gesture commands. The devices may be wearable on the user's head, with the self-mixing interferometry sensor configured to direct a beam of light toward a location on the user's head. Skin deformations or vibrations at the location may be caused by the user's speech or the user's silent gestures and recognized using the self-mixing interferometry signal. The self-mixing interferometry signals may be used for bioauthentication and/or audio conditioning of received sound or voice inputs to a microphone.

Abstract: An optical module includes a beam-tilting light source enclosure. The enclosure is coupled to a substrate that includes a light emitter connected thereto. The enclosure has a geometry such that the enclosure has a first surface configured to couple substantially flat to the substrate and a second surface tilted with respect to the first surface and configured to couple substantially flat to a component of an electronic device through which the light is to project. The enclosure is optically transmissive and covers the light source when coupled to the substrate. In this way, the enclosure may be assembled and used in the electronic device by coupling the first surface to the substrate and coupling the second surface to the component.

Abstract: An input device includes an enclosure defining a three-dimensional input space and one or more self-mixing interferometry sensors coupled to the enclosure and configured to produce a self-mixing interferometry signal resulting from reflection of backscatter of emitted light by a body part in the three-dimensional input space. In various examples, movement of the body part may be determined using the self-mixing interferometry signal, which may in turn be used to determine an input. In some examples, a body part displacement or a body part speed and an absolute distance to the body part may be determined using the self-mixing interferometry signal and used to determine an input. In a number of examples, multiple self-mixing interferometry sensors may be used and the movement may be determined by analyzing differences between the respective produced self-mixing interferometry signals.

Abstract: A wearable electronic device including a housing that is worn by a user and a SMI sensor contained within the housing. The SMI sensor may include an emitter that outputs coherent light toward the skin of a user when the housing is worn by the user. The SMI sensor may also include a detector that detects a portion of the coherent light reflected towards the sensor and generates electrical signals that indicate displacements of the skin based on the portion of coherent light received at the detector. The housing may include a transmitter that is operatively coupled with the SMI sensor and is configured to transmit physiological data to a receiving device based on electrical signals output from the SMI sensor.

Abstract: A wearable device includes a device housing configured to be worn on a first surface of a user, a set of one or more SMI sensors, and a processor. The set of one or more SMI sensors is mounted within the device housing and configured to emit a set of one or more beams of electromagnetic radiation, with each beam emitted in a different direction extending away from the first surface. The set of one or more SMI sensors is also configured to generate a set of one or more SMI signals containing information about a relationship between the device housing and a second surface. The processor is configured to extract the relationship between the device housing and the second surface from digitized samples of the set of one or more SMI signals.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are structures, devices, and systems for detecting touch and force inputs at multiple sensing locations on a surface of an electronic device using waveguide-based interferometry. A laser light source, such as a VCSEL, inserts light into a waveguide positioned adjacent to the sensing locations, and an input at a sensing location alters the inserted light in the waveguide allowing for determination of the input's touch or force at the sensing location. Wavelength modulation of the inserted light allows isolation in frequency of the signals from each sensing location. Optical phase locking can be used to lock an absolute distance beat frequency corresponding to a stationary reference point in the waveguide.

Abstract: An optical module includes a beam-tilting light source enclosure. The enclosure is coupled to a substrate that includes a light emitter connected thereto. The enclosure has a geometry such that the enclosure has a first surface configured to couple substantially flat to the substrate and a second surface tilted with respect to the first surface and configured to couple substantially flat to a component of an electronic device through which the light is to project. The enclosure is optically transmissive and covers the light source when coupled to the substrate. In this way, the enclosure may be assembled and used in the electronic device by coupling the first surface to the substrate and coupling the second surface to the component.

Abstract: A portable communication device includes one or more optical detectors to generate an analog signal in response to a change in an intra-cavity or an emitted optical power of a light source due to light backscattered from a particle and an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The particle is illuminated via a light source. The ASIC includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit, a digital delay circuit, a particle detector module and a processor. The ADC converts the analog signal to a digital signal. The digital delay circuit can store the digital signal for a predetermined or dynamically variable time interval. The particle detector module can analyze the digital signal and can generate an enable signal upon detecting a particle signature in the digital signal. The processor is coupled to the digital delay circuit and can start processing the digital signal in response to the enable signal.

Abstract: A sensor system includes a self-mixing interferometry sensor; a drive circuit configured to apply a modulated drive signal to an input of the self-mixing interferometry sensor; a mixer circuit configured to mix a modulated output of the self-mixing interferometry sensor with a local oscillator signal that is orthogonal to the modulated drive signal over a period of time; an integrator circuit configured to integrate an output of the mixer circuit over the period of time; and a processor configured to determine, using an output of the integrator circuit, at least one of a round-trip propagation time of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the self-mixing interferometry sensor and reflected back into the self-mixing interferometry sensor by an object or medium, or a velocity of the object or medium.

Abstract: An optical module includes a beam-tilting light source enclosure. The enclosure is coupled to a substrate that includes a light emitter connected thereto. The enclosure has a geometry such that the enclosure has a first surface configured to couple substantially flat to the substrate and a second surface tilted with respect to the first surface and configured to couple substantially flat to a component of an electronic device through which the light is to project. The enclosure is optically transmissive and covers the light source when coupled to the substrate. In this way, the enclosure may be assembled and used in the electronic device by coupling the first surface to the substrate and coupling the second surface to the component.

Abstract: An apparatus for particulate matter (PM) measurement includes a first light source to generate a first light beam and a second light source disposed at a first distance from the first light source to generate a second light beam in parallel to the first light beam to illuminate a PM. The apparatus further includes a first light detector to measure a first timing corresponding to a first self-mixing signal resulting from a reflection and/or back-scattering of the first light beam from a PM, and a second light detector to measure a second timing corresponding to a second self-mixing signal resulting from a reflection and/or back-scattering of the second light beam from the PM. A processor can determine a first velocity of the PM based on a spatial separation between centers of the first light beam and the second light beam and a temporal separation between the first timing and the second timing.

Abstract: A sensor system includes a self-mixing interferometry sensor; a drive circuit configured to apply a modulated drive signal to an input of the self-mixing interferometry sensor; a mixer circuit configured to mix a modulated output of the self-mixing interferometry sensor with a local oscillator signal that is orthogonal to the modulated drive signal over a period of time; an integrator circuit configured to integrate an output of the mixer circuit over the period of time; and a processor configured to determine, using an output of the integrator circuit, at least one of a round-trip propagation time of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the self-mixing interferometry sensor and reflected back into the self-mixing interferometry sensor by an object or medium, or a velocity of the object or medium.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.

Abstract: An optical sensing system can be integrated into a camera module. In particular, an optical element of an optical sensing system can be disposed entirely or partly within a barrel of a camera module. The optical element can be oriented toward a reflective surface, such as an infrared cut filter, such that an optical path is defined between free space and the optical element via at least one reflection off the reflective surface.

Abstract: An electronic watch includes a housing, a user-operable watch crown mounted to the housing, an electromagnetic radiation source emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation toward a watch crown surface, and a sensor. The beam of electromagnetic radiation depends on a coherent mixing of electromagnetic radiation within a resonant cavity of the electromagnetic radiation source. The coherent mixing includes a mixing of a first amount of electromagnetic radiation generated by the electromagnetic radiation source and a second amount of electromagnetic radiation redirected into the resonant cavity by the watch crown surface. The sensor measures a first parameter of the beam of electromagnetic radiation and determines, using the measurement of the first parameter, a value of a second parameter characterizing movement of the watch crown. The second parameter may include a direction of rotation or speed of rotation of the watch crown, or other parameters.

Abstract: A portable electronic device is operable in a particulate matter concentration mode where the portable electronic device uses a self-mixing interferometry sensor to emit a beam of coherent light from an optical resonant cavity, receive a reflection or backscatter of the beam into the optical resonant cavity, produce a self-mixing signal resulting from a reflection or backscatter of the beam of coherent light, and determine a particle velocity and/or particulate matter concentration using the self-mixing signal. The portable electronic device is also operable in an absolute distance mode where the portable electronic device determines whether or not an absolute distance determined using the self-mixing signal is outside or within a particulate sensing volume associated with the beam of coherent light. If not, the portable electronic device may determine a contamination and/or obstruction is present that may result in inaccurate particle velocity and/or particulate matter concentration determination.

Abstract: An optical sensing system can be integrated into a camera module. In particular, an optical element of an optical sensing system can be disposed entirely or partly within a barrel of a camera module. The optical element can be oriented toward a reflective surface, such as an infrared cut filter, such that an optical path is defined between free space and the optical element via at least one reflection off the reflective surface.