Patents by Inventor Stuart McLeod

Stuart McLeod has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11962900
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a ToF sensor includes an illumination source module, a transmitter lens module, a receiver lens module, and an integrated circuit that includes a ToF imaging array. The ToF imaging array includes a plurality of SPADs and a plurality of ToF channels coupled to the plurality of SPADs. In a first mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a first group of SPADs corresponding to a first FoV. In a second mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a second group of SPADs corresponding to a second FoV different than the first FoV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventors: Neale Dutton, Stuart McLeod, Bruce Rae
  • Publication number: 20240111049
    Abstract: In an embodiments, a method for operating a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging array includes: illuminating a field-of-view (FoV) of the ToF ranging array with radiation pulses; receiving reflected radiation pulses with a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in a region of interest (ROI) of the ToF ranging array, the plurality of SPADs arranged in a plurality of SPAD clusters; determining an ambient count of ambient light events generated by SPADs of a first SPAD cluster of the plurality of SPAD clusters; and gating an output of the first SPAD cluster based on the ambient count.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Patent number: 11885878
    Abstract: In an embodiments, a method for operating a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging array includes: illuminating a field-of-view (FoV) of the ToF ranging array with radiation pulses; receiving reflected radiation pulses with a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in a region of interest (ROI) of the ToF ranging array, the plurality of SPADs arranged in a plurality of SPAD clusters; determining an ambient count of ambient light events generated by SPADs of a first SPAD cluster of the plurality of SPAD clusters; and gating an output of the first SPAD cluster based on the ambient count.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Publication number: 20240028667
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a histogram output from a detector sensor, and calculating a median point of a pulse waveform within the histogram. The pulse waveform has an even probability distribution over at least one quantization step of the histogram around the median point. A corresponding apparatus can include a detector sensor and a co-processor coupled to the detector sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: John Kevin Moore, Sam Lee, Pascal Mellot, Donald Baxter, Stuart McLeod, Kenneth Dargan
  • Patent number: 11808895
    Abstract: A method includes measuring a first set of photon-event data collected from a first crosstalk-monitoring zone of an optical receiver during a first period of time of flight ranging, measuring a second set of photon-event data collected from a second crosstalk-monitoring zone of the optical receiver during the first period of time of flight ranging, and generating a first dynamic crosstalk compensation value for a first histogram region of the optical receiver using the first set of photon-event data, the second set of photon-event data, and a native crosstalk compensation value for the first histogram region of the optical receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventors: Stuart McLeod, Ed Hawkins
  • Patent number: 11797645
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a histogram output from a detector sensor, and calculating a median point of a pulse waveform within the histogram. The pulse waveform has an even probability distribution over at least one quantization step of the histogram around the median point. A corresponding apparatus can include a detector sensor and a co-processor coupled to the detector sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited, STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventors: John Kevin Moore, Sam Lee, Pascal Mellot, Donald Baxter, Stuart McLeod, Kenneth Dargan
  • Publication number: 20230009376
    Abstract: In an embodiments, a method for operating a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging array includes: illuminating a field-of-view (FoV) of the ToF ranging array with radiation pulses; receiving reflected radiation pulses with a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in a region of interest (ROI) of the ToF ranging array, the plurality of SPADs arranged in a plurality of SPAD clusters; determining an ambient count of ambient light events generated by SPADs of a first SPAD cluster of the plurality of SPAD clusters; and gating an output of the first SPAD cluster based on the ambient count.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2022
    Publication date: January 12, 2023
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Patent number: 11500092
    Abstract: In an embodiments, a method for operating a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging array includes: illuminating a field-of-view (FoV) of the ToF ranging array with radiation pulses; receiving reflected radiation pulses with a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in a region of interest (ROI) of the ToF ranging array, the plurality of SPADs arranged in a plurality of SPAD clusters; determining an ambient count of ambient light events generated by SPADs of a first SPAD cluster of the plurality of SPAD clusters; and gating an output of the first SPAD cluster based on the ambient count.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Publication number: 20220187431
    Abstract: A method includes measuring a first set of photon-event data collected from a first crosstalk-monitoring zone of an optical receiver during a first period of time of flight ranging, measuring a second set of photon-event data collected from a second crosstalk-monitoring zone of the optical receiver during the first period of time of flight ranging, and generating a first dynamic crosstalk compensation value for a first histogram region of the optical receiver using the first set of photon-event data, the second set of photon-event data, and a native crosstalk compensation value for the first histogram region of the optical receiver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Inventors: Stuart MCLEOD, Ed HAWKINS
  • Publication number: 20210382964
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a histogram output from a detector sensor, and calculating a median point of a pulse waveform within the histogram. The pulse waveform has an even probability distribution over at least one quantization step of the histogram around the median point. A corresponding apparatus can include a detector sensor and a co-processor coupled to the detector sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: December 9, 2021
    Inventors: John Kevin Moore, Sam Lee, Pascal Mellot, Donald Baxter, Stuart McLeod, Kenneth Dargan
  • Patent number: 11120104
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a histogram output from a detector sensor, and calculating a median point of a pulse waveform within the histogram. The pulse waveform has an even probability distribution over at least one quantization step of the histogram around the median point. A corresponding apparatus can include a detector sensor and a co-processor coupled to the detector sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignees: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED, STMICROELECTRONICS (GRENOBLE 2) SAS
    Inventors: John Kevin Moore, Sam Lee, Pascal Mellot, Donald Baxter, Stuart McLeod, Kenneth Dargan
  • Publication number: 20210190950
    Abstract: In an embodiments, a method for operating a time-of-flight (ToF) raging array includes: illuminating a field-of-view (FoV) of the ToF ranging array with radiation pulses; receiving reflected radiation pulses with a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in a region of interest (ROI) of the ToF ranging array, the plurality of SPADs arranged in a plurality of SPAD clusters; determining an ambient count of ambient light events generated by SPADs of a first SPAD cluster of the plurality of SPAD clusters; and gating an output of the first SPAD cluster based on the ambient count.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Publication number: 20200382694
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a ToF sensor includes an illumination source module, a transmitter lens module, a receiver lens module, and an integrated circuit that includes a ToF imaging array. The ToF imaging array includes a plurality of SPADs and a plurality of ToF channels coupled to the plurality of SPADs. In a first mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a first group of SPADs corresponding to a first FoV. In a second mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a second group of SPADs corresponding to a second FoV different than the first FoV.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2020
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Inventors: Neale Dutton, Stuart McLeod, Bruce Rae
  • Patent number: 10796191
    Abstract: An example device has optical emitters for emitting incident radiation within a field of view and optical detectors for receiving reflected radiation. Based on the incident radiation and the reflected radiation, a histogram indicative of a number of photon events that are detected by the optical detectors over time bins is generated. The time bins is indicative of time differences between emission of the incident radiation and reception of the reflected radiation. The device further includes; a processor programmed to iteratively process the histogram by executing an expectation-maximization algorithm to detect a presence of objects located in the field of view of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics SA, STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventors: Francois De Salivet de Fouchecour, Stuart McLeod, Donald Baxter, Olivier Pothier, Thierry Lebihen
  • Patent number: 10785400
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a ToF sensor includes an illumination source module, a transmitter lens module, a receiver lens module, and an integrated circuit that includes a ToF imaging array. The ToF imaging array includes a plurality of SPADs and a plurality of ToF channels coupled to the plurality of SPADs. In a first mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a first group of SPADs corresponding to a first FoV. In a second mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a second group of SPADs corresponding to a second FoV different than the first FoV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
    Inventors: Neale Dutton, Stuart McLeod, Bruce Rae
  • Publication number: 20200097752
    Abstract: An embodiment device includes: a plurality of optical emitters configured to emit incident radiation within a field of view of the device; a plurality of optical detectors configured to receive reflected radiation and to generate a histogram based on the incident radiation and the reflected radiation, the histogram being indicative of a number of photon events detected by the plurality of optical detectors over a plurality of time bins, the plurality of time bins being indicative of a plurality of time differences between emission of the incident radiation and reception of the reflected radiation; and a processor configured to iteratively process the histogram by executing an expectation-maximization algorithm to detect a presence of objects located in the field of view of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Inventors: Francois De Salivet de Fouchecour, Stuart McLeod, Donald Baxter, Olivier Pothier, Thierry Lebihen
  • Patent number: 10416294
    Abstract: A ranging device includes an array of photon detection devices that receive an optical signal reflected by an object in an image scene and first and second logic devices to respectively combine the outputs of first and second pluralities of the photon detection devices. First and second counter circuits are respectively coupled an output of the first and second logic devices and generate first and second count values respectively by counting the photon detection events generated by the first and second pluralities of photon detection devices. A range estimation circuit estimates the range of the object by estimating the timing of one or more pulses of said optical signal based on the first and second count values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited, STMicroelectronics (Genoble 2) SAS
    Inventors: Pascal Mellot, Stuart McLeod, Marc Drader
  • Patent number: 10382337
    Abstract: Load balancing in a multimedia conference is disclosed, involving one or more internal terminals and one or more internal nodes separated from one or more external terminals and one or more external nodes by a firewall. Media data is forwarded through the firewall to at least a second one of the nodes, and received media data at the at least a second one of said nodes are processed. At a first event, reconfiguration is performed of said first one of said nodes to process received media data and of said second one of said nodes to forward received media data to said first one of said nodes. At a second event, loading is done of at least a part of said received media data being processed at the first one or second one of said nodes to at least a third one of said nodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Pexip AS
    Inventors: Gregory Adams, John Robert Bassett, Nicolas Cormier, HÃ¥vard Graff, Eoin Stuart McLeod
  • Patent number: 10304877
    Abstract: A circuit may include an array of single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) cells, each SPAD cell configured to be selectively enabled by an activation signal. The circuit may include a control circuit configured to selectively enable a subset of the array of SPAD cells based on a measured count rate of the array of SPAD cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited, STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventors: Pascal Mellot, Stuart McLeod, Bruce Rae, Marc Drader
  • Publication number: 20190109977
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a ToF sensor includes an illumination source module, a transmitter lens module, a receiver lens module, and an integrated circuit that includes a ToF imaging array. The ToF imaging array includes a plurality of SPADs and a plurality of ToF channels coupled to the plurality of SPADs. In a first mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a first group of SPADs corresponding to a first FoV. In a second mode, the ToF imaging array is configured to select a second group of SPADs corresponding to a second FoV different than the first FoV.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventors: Neale Dutton, Stuart McLeod, Bruce Rae