US 12,405,379 B2
Time measurement apparatus
Tatsuki Nishino, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, Kanagawa (JP)
Appl. No. 17/056,525
Filed by SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, Kanagawa (JP)
PCT Filed Apr. 16, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/016254
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 18, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/225224, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 28, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2018-099515 (JP), filed on May 24, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0208280 A1, Jul. 8, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 17/88 (2006.01); G01S 7/484 (2006.01); G01S 7/486 (2020.01); G01S 7/4865 (2020.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 17/88 (2013.01) [G01S 7/484 (2013.01); G01S 7/4865 (2013.01); G01S 7/4868 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A time measurement apparatus, comprising:
a pixel that includes a light receiving element, wherein
the light receiving element is configured to:
receive a reflected light pulse reflected by a measurement target; and
output a light reception result based on the reception of the reflected light pulse,
the pixel is configured to generate a pulse signal based on the light reception result of the light receiving element, and
the pulse signal includes a logic pulse that corresponds to the reflected light pulse;
a timing detector configured to detect, based on the pulse signal, a light reception timing of the reception of the reflected light pulse;
a histogram generator configured to generate, based on the light reception timing, a histogram for the light reception timing;
a pulse number detector configured to detect a pulse number of the logic pulse included in the pulse signal; and
a controller configured to:
control, based on the histogram, an operation of a light source which outputs a plurality of light pulses, wherein the plurality of light pulses is incident on the measurement target;
stop the operation of the light source in a case where a peak value of the histogram reaches a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on the pulse number; and
control a light intensity of each of the plurality of light pulses based on the pulse number.