Abstract: A system and method that compensates for the effects of ambient light in a time of flight (TOF) sensor front end is provided. Moreover, a direct current (DC) correction loop is utilized at the front end, which removes a DC component from a current generated by the TOF sensor and accordingly prevents saturating the front end. The DC correction loop attenuates the DC component without adding significant thermal noise at a modulation frequency and provides a corrected signal to the front end circuitry. The corrected signal is processed and utilized to detect a position of an object within the optical field of the sensor.

Abstract: A system and method for automatically calibrating a Time-of-Flight (TOF) transceiver system for proximity/motion detection, is provided. Moreover, the system comprises a component that senses a signal (e.g., current or voltage) at an light emitting diode (LED), an attenuator, a signal injector at a sensor and a switching circuit that toggles between a normal mode (e.g., when signal from the sensor is input to the sensor front end) and a calibration mode (e.g., when signal from the attenuator is input to the sensor front end). During the calibration mode, the sensor front end identifies the phase delay error within the signal path, including board and/or package parasitic, and accounts for the phase delay error during proximity/motion detection in the normal mode.

Abstract: An imaging system, semiconductor device, and method of manufacture of a photo-detector device are disclosed. For example, an imaging system is disclosed, which includes a photo-detector unit including a plurality of conductive trenches formed within the photo-detector unit, and a plurality of electrical contacts, each electrical contact connected to a respective conductive trench. The imaging system further includes a light data processor unit coupled to an output of the photo-detector unit to convert an analog signal received from the photo-detector unit to a digital signal, a processing unit coupled to an output of the light data processor unit to generate a control signal in response to the digital signal, and a display unit coupled to an output of the processing unit to vary the intensity of an image displayed in response to the control signal.

Abstract: A system and method for identifying a position of a moving object, utilizing sensors arranged in any arbitrary configuration, is provided. A pre-processing method is applied to permit implementation on a low power computing device, such as a microcontroller. The preprocessing creates a set of training data corresponding to different gestures, based on different positions of moving objects. Accordingly, utilizing the training data, different types of gestures can be classified by comparing a sensed signal to the set of training gestures.

Abstract: A system and method that compensates for the effects of ambient light in a time of flight (TOF) sensor front end is provided. Moreover, a direct current (DC) correction loop is utilized at the front end, which removes a DC component from a current generated by the TOF sensor and accordingly prevents saturating the front end. The DC correction loop attenuates the DC component without adding significant thermal noise at a modulation frequency and provides a corrected signal to the front end circuitry. The corrected signal is processed and utilized to detect a position of an object within the optical field of the sensor.

Abstract: An area effective system and method for improving power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) in an optical sensor front end, is provided. Moreover, low pass filter (LPF) that enables the reference voltage in the front end of the optical sensor, to be referred to the same substrate as that employed by the sensor. In one example, the LPF includes a capacitor, implemented using a Deep-N-Well (DNW) depletion capacitor, which is utilized to connect the reference voltage to the same substrate. Additionally, the DNW allows an area efficient realization of the LPF. The system and method disclosed herein improves the PSRR by a factor of around 40 dB for 5 MHz modulation.

Abstract: A system and method for identifying a position of a moving object, utilizing a serial chain of sensors is provided. The serial chain reduces the power needed for the motion detection system, allowing implementation of the motion detection system on a low-power computing device, such as a microcontroller. The serial chain can provide automatic address assignment without dedicated pins. The serial chain can also provide automatic sequencing of access to a shared LED. The serial chain can also provide automatic time correlation of data from multiple sensors in the motion detection system.

Abstract: A system and method for automatically calibrating a Time-of-Flight (TOF) transceiver system for proximity/motion detection, is provided. Moreover, the system comprises a component that senses a signal (e.g., current or voltage) at an light emitting diode (LED), an attenuator, a signal injector at a sensor and a switching circuit that toggles between a normal mode (e.g., when signal from the sensor is input to the sensor front end) and a calibration mode (e.g., when signal from the attenuator is input to the sensor front end). During the calibration mode, the sensor front end identifies the phase delay error within the signal path, including board and/or package parasitic, and accounts for the phase delay error during proximity/motion detection in the normal mode.

Abstract: An embodiment of an amplifier includes an amplifier output node operable to provide an output signal, and an output stage. The output stage includes a drive buffer having an input node and an output node, a drive transistor, and a compensation capacitor. The drive transistor has a control node coupled to the output node of the drive buffer, a first drive node, and a second drive node coupled to the amplifier output node. And the compensation capacitor has a first node isolated from the control node of the drive transistor by the drive buffer, and has a second node coupled to the amplifier output node. By buffering the control node of the drive transistor, one may reduce the level of nonlinear current referred back to the amplifier input as a nonlinear offset voltage, and thus may reduce the level of nonlinear distortion that his nonlinear offset voltage generates at the amplifier output.

Abstract: An embodiment of an amplifier includes an amplifier output node operable to provide an output signal, and an output stage. The output stage includes a drive buffer having an input node and an output node, a drive transistor, and a compensation capacitor. The drive transistor has a control node coupled to the output node of the drive buffer, a first drive node, and a second drive node coupled to the amplifier output node. And the compensation capacitor has a first node isolated from the control node of the drive transistor by the drive buffer, and has a second node coupled to the amplifier output node. By buffering the control node of the drive transistor, one may reduce the level of nonlinear current referred back to the amplifier input as a nonlinear offset voltage, and thus may reduce the level of nonlinear distortion that his nonlinear offset voltage generates at the amplifier output.