US 12,481,065 B2
Event driven shared memory pixel
Robert Henderson, Edinburgh (GB); and Hod Finkelstein, Berkeley, CA (US)
Assigned to Sense Photonics, Inc., Durham, NC (US)
Appl. No. 17/607,056
Filed by Sense Photonics, Inc., Durham, NC (US)
PCT Filed May 1, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/030920
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 28, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/223589, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/841,315, filed on May 1, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0206158 A1, Jun. 30, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 7/4863 (2020.01); G01S 7/4865 (2020.01); G01S 7/487 (2006.01); G01S 7/4914 (2020.01); G01S 7/493 (2006.01); G06F 13/16 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G01S 7/4915 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 17/894 (2020.01) [G01S 7/4863 (2013.01); G01S 7/4865 (2013.01); G01S 7/4873 (2013.01); G01S 7/4914 (2013.01); G01S 7/493 (2013.01); G06F 13/1605 (2013.01); G01S 7/4815 (2013.01); G01S 7/4816 (2013.01); G01S 7/4915 (2013.01)] 36 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A Time of Flight (TOF) system, comprising:
an incrementing circuit; and
a plurality of pixels, each pixel comprising:
a plurality of detectors configured to output respective detection signals responsive to detection of a plurality of photons incident thereon; and
a shared memory configured to store a respective count of the photons incident on each of the plurality of detectors,
wherein the incrementing circuit is configured to update the respective count for each of the plurality of detectors in the shared memory based on the respective detection signals,
wherein the shared memory comprises a plurality of bins, and
wherein a subset of the plurality of bins is associated with a first detector of the plurality of detectors, and each bin of the subset is configured to store the respective count of the photons incident on the first detector during a time period.