US 11,678,076 B1
Systems and methods for binning light detectors
Nirav Dharia, Mountain View, CA (US); and Vlad Cardei, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Jun. 16, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/349,377.
Application 17/349,377 is a continuation of application No. 16/689,936, filed on Nov. 20, 2019, granted, now 11,082,643.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04N 25/46 (2023.01); H04N 25/42 (2023.01); H04N 25/75 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 25/46 (2023.01) [H04N 25/42 (2023.01); H04N 25/75 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
an array of light detectors, wherein the array of light detectors comprises a plurality of sets of adjacent light detectors, and wherein each set of adjacent light detectors comprises at least two adjacent light detectors;
a light detector sampling circuit connected to the array of light detectors;
a plurality of capacitors connected in parallel to an output of the light detector sampling circuit via a common node; and
a controller, wherein the controller is configured to perform a set of functions comprising:
selecting a first set of capacitors from the plurality of capacitors for charging at a first time;
selecting a second set of capacitors from the plurality of capacitors for discharging at a second time, wherein the second set of capacitors is different from the first set of capacitors;
sampling an output of the second set of capacitors as they discharge, wherein the output of the second set of capacitors corresponds to a first set of adjacent light detectors; and
determining, based on sampling the output of the second set of capacitors, a collective intensity of light received by the first set of adjacent light detectors.