| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 356500100 | Of CW phase delay | 34 |
| 20080231831 | RANGING APPARATUS AND RANGING METHOD - A first ranging apparatus includes a synchronizing signal generator for generating a synchronizing signal at a constant interval, a light-emitting unit for emitting an intensity-modulated light in response to the synchronizing signal input thereto, a light-detecting unit for detecting a reflected light from an object irradiated with the modulated light, in response to the synchronizing signal input thereto, a calculating unit for calculating the distance up to the object based on the phase difference between the modulated light and the reflected light, and a synchronizing signal control unit for changing an arrival time of the synchronizing signal from the synchronizing signal generator at the light-detecting unit, depending on the number of times that the synchronizing signal is generated. The light-detecting unit samples the amount of the reflected light in exposure periods established at a constant cycle length with reference to a time at which the synchronizing signal is input thereto. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080231832 | RANGING APPARATUS AND RANGING METHOD - A first ranging apparatus includes a light emitter for emitting a modulated light which is intensity-modulated, a light detector for detecting a reflected light from an object that is irradiated with the modulated light, a distance calculator for calculating the distance up to the object based on the phase difference between the modulated light and the reflected light, and a gate controller. The gate controller outputs gate pulses to control a light emission controller to intermittently emit the modulated light to the object and also control an electrooptical shutter or an electronic shutter of an image capturing device to intermittently detect the reflected light from the object based on the intermittent emission of the modulated light. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080239280 | Method and Device for 3D Imaging - “A method for 3D imaging of an actively illuminated target region includes emitting intensity-modulated light at a variable modulation frequency into the target region, the emitted light is scattered/reflected in the target region depending on the optical properties of the objects or beings present therein, a scattered and/or reflected fraction of the light is detected during an integration time interval by phase-sensitive integration in each pixel of an imaging sensor, the modulation phase between the emitted and the detected light is determined and spatially resolved, and distance information is calculated based on the spatially resolved modulation phase and an average frequency of the modulation frequency.” | 10-02-2008 |
| 20090046271 | FIBER OPTICALLY COUPLED, MULTIPLEXED, AND CHOPPED LASER RANGEFINDER - A CW phase-delay distance measuring device is described. The device fiber-optically couples an amplitude modulated laser and a detector though MEMS fiber optic switches to provide chopping and multiplexing capability, and to allow measurement of transmit and receive coupling. Phase continuous direct digital synthesizers are used to generate transmit and local oscillator frequencies in an agile frequency diverse way to disambiguate range. Fiber-optic coupling mitigates systematic errors such as variable detector group delay and provides for multiplexing multiple transmit and receive optics onto a single electro-optical system. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090079959 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MEASURING DISTANCE - Erroneous measurement in distance measurement using a TOF technique is prevented. Intensity-modulated light being modulated with a constant cycle is emitted toward a subject. Reflected modulated light from the subject is received by a light receiving unit, and four types of (first to fourth) detection signals with different phases are obtained. Then, whether a difference between a first sum of the first and third detection signals and a second sum of the second and fourth detection signals is smaller than a set value is determined. If it is the case, a phase difference between the modulated light and the reflected modulated light is detected using the four detection signals. Then, a distance to the subject is calculated using the phase difference. In contrast, for any block in which the difference is not less than the set value, the phase difference is not detected and the distance is not calculated. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090135403 | Electro-Optical Method for Measuring Distance and Detecting a Non-Ideal Chirp Profile - The invention relates to an electro-optical distance measuring method wherein frequency-modulated optical radiation is emitted onto at least one target to be measured. Once the radiation back-scattered to the target is received, the chirp of radiation is modeled by means of a phase function Φ(t) having parameters c | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090279069 | ELECTRO-OPTICAL RANGE FINDER - An electro-optical range finder ( | 11-12-2009 |
| 20100066994 | BINARY MODULATION RANGEFINDER - A method for evaluating distance from a first point to a second point. The method includes the steps of generating a periodic binary sequence, generating a harmonic modulation signal, generating a modulated light signal at a range finding device, wherein the modulated light signal is generated based upon the periodic binary sequence and the harmonic modulation signal, transmitting the modulated light signal from the first point toward an object at the second point, receiving a reflected light signal from the object, and determining a distance between the first point and the second point based upon a phase evaluation of periodic binary sequence and harmonic modulation signal of both the transmitted light signal and the received light signal. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100091264 | DISTANCE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD - Emitting stripe pattern light, whose intensity changes periodically, onto a subject while shifting the phase of the pattern by π/2 from a reference phase of 0 until the phase is shifted one cycle to receive reflected light by an image sensor at each of phases 0, π/2, π, and 3π/2. From received light signals obtained at four phases, calculating a phase difference between the stripe pattern light and reflected light thereof with respect to each light receiving element to calculate distance information representing a distance to the subject based on the phase difference. In this case, the distance information is calculated only from a light receiving element having an absolute value of the difference between a first added signal of received light signals at 0 and π and a second added signal of received light signals at π/2 and 3π/2 smaller than a specific value. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100265489 | METHOD FOR MULTI-TARGET-ENABLED RESOLUTION OF PHASE AMBIGUITY - In order to derive distance information according to the phase measuring principle, a periodic signal with at least two, in particular modulated, wavelengths λ | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100283990 | Optoelectronic distance measuring device - The optoelectronic distance measuring device of the present invention comprises a signal generator for generating a high frequency signal, an emitter for emitting an optical beam signal towards an object to be measured, a photoelectric receiving and transforming device for receiving the reflected measuring optical and for generating a corresponding high frequency reflected measuring signal. The present invention further comprises a phase detector for performing a frequency mixing of signals and a signal processing device connected with the phase detector for determining the measured distance. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100296078 | OPTICAL-ELECTRONIC DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE - The invention relates to an optical-electronic distance measuring method according to the phase measurement principle by emitting of optical measuring radiation, which is modulated according to the burst modulation principle, having a burst period duration made of an active burst time and a dead time, receiving at least a part of the measuring radiation ( | 11-25-2010 |
| 20110051119 | DELAY COMPENSATION IN MODULATED OPTICAL TIME-OF-FLIGHT PHASE ESTIMATION - A distance measurement method includes measuring a plurality of integrated signals at a plurality of modulation phase offsets; estimating at least one integrated signal for at least one of the plurality of modulation phase offsets, respectively, to adjust its reception time relative to an integrated signal for another of the plurality of modulation phase offsets; and determining a distance between the target and receiver in accordance with the estimated at least one signal. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110157578 | SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS USED FOR OPTICAL SIGNAL OUTPUT DEVICE AND OPTICAL DISPLACEMENT DETECTION SYSTEM - A signal processing apparatus includes a phase shift unit and a signal processing unit. The phase shift unit shifts phases of at least one set of first periodic signals and second periodic signals. The first periodic signals are output from an optical signal output device connected to a displacement detection target and have amplitude gradually increasing with a displacement in a predetermined direction of the displacement detection target. The second periodic signals are output from the optical signal output device connected to the displacement detection target and have amplitude gradually decreasing with the displacement in the predetermined direction of the displacement detection target. The signal processing unit executes a predetermined operation with respect to the first and second periodic signals output from the phase shift unit to obtain a displacement of the displacement detection target. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20120250000 | NANOMETER-SCALE OPTICAL IMAGING BY THE MODULATION TRACKING (MT) METHOD - An optical imaging method based on a feedback principle in which the specific scan pattern is adapted according to the shape of the sample. The feedback approach produces nanometer-resolved three dimensional images of very small and moving features in live cells and in a matter of seconds. Images of microvilli in live cultured opossum kidney cells expressing NaPi co-transporter proteins with different GFP constructs and images of cell protrusions in a collagen matrix are produced with a resolution of about 20 nm. Along cell protrusions in three dimensional cellular adhesions could be identified to the extracellular matrix. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120307229 | RESONANT MODULATION FOR LOW POWER RANGE IMAGING CAMERAS - An amplitude modulated continuous wave range imaging device has a signaling device configured to emit an intensity modulated illumination signal. An image sensor is configured to capture a plurality of images of a reflection of the modulated illumination signal. The captured images include intensity and/or phase components for a plurality of pixels of the image sensor. Each pixel includes a first modulation terminal having a first capacitive component. A first driver is configured to charge a first set of modulation terminals of the plurality of pixels. A second driver is configured to charge a second set of modulation terminals of the plurality of pixels. A charge transfer circuit is connected between the first set of modulation terminals and the second set of modulation terminals. The charge transfer circuit is configured to transfer charge between the first set of modulation terminals and the second set of modulation terminals. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120307230 | SELECTIVE DISTANCE RANGE IMAGING - A method for determining a distance to an object using an amplitude modulated continuous wave range imaging device includes emitting a modulated illumination signal. The modulated illumination signal is modulated with a pseudo random code. An image sensor is modulated based on the pseudo random code to capture a plurality of samples of the modulated illumination signal reflected from the object. A phase shift between the plurality of samples and the modulated illumination signal is determined. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20130335725 | COLOR SENSOR INSENSITIVE TO DISTANCE VARIATIONS - A system for calibrating a color sensing pixel based upon the distance between the color sensing pixel and an object. The distance is determined by measuring the phase shift of electromagnetic radiation as reflected from the surface of the object compared with the wave profile of the electromagnetic radiation incident on the object surface. The color sensing pixel is associated with a Time-of-Flight (ToF) pixel which is employed to determine the distance of the color sensing pixel. The electromagnetic radiation can be from any part of the electromagnetic spectrum, in particular the infrared and visible light portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The color sensing pixel and the ToF pixel can reside on the same semiconductor or on disparate semiconductors. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20140043598 | SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE DESIGN FOR TIME-OF-FLIGHT SYSTEM HAVING REDUCED DIFFERENTIAL PIXEL SIZE, AND TIME-OF-FLIGHT SYSTEMS SO DESIGNED - Embodiments of the present invention provide methods to produce a high performance, feature rich TOF system, phase-based or otherwise using small TOF pixels, single-ended or preferably differential, as well as TOF systems so designed. IC chip area required for pixels is reduced by intelligently off-loading or removing from within the pixel certain components and/or functionality. In some embodiments during a single TOF system capture period, analog values from each pixel are repeatedly sampled and converted to digital values, which are combined and manipulated on the sensor chip. Combining this plurality of values enables appropriately compact data from the sensor chip. Embodiments of the present invention implement a TOF system with high ambient light resilience, high dynamic range, low motion blur and dealiasing support, while advantageously reducing pixel area size relative to prior art TOF pixels. | 02-13-2014 |
| 20140049767 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GEOMETRIC PHASE UNWRAPPING IN TIME OF FLIGHT SYSTEMS - A phase-based TOF system is operated with N≧3 modulation frequencies f | 02-20-2014 |
| 20150369919 | METHOD FOR ASCERTAINING A DISTANCE OF AN OBJECT FROM A MOTOR VEHICLE USING A PMD SENSOR - A method to determine a distance of an object to a motor vehicle using a PMD sensor, includes the steps of measuring in a measurement cycle a phase shift of a measurement signal reflected on the object for at least one modulation frequency, wherein the modulation frequency is selected so that in a detection range beginning at the motor vehicle a distance is unambiguously determinable from the phase shift; performing a runtime measurement for an individual signal reflected on the object during a time interval beginning at a first time point at which the individual signal is emitted and ending at a second time point corresponding to a time required by the individual signal to travel twice the detection range; when the reflected individual signal is measured during the time interval, determining a distance from the phase shift; and when the reflected individual signal is not measured during the time interval, discarding the phase shift without determining a distance. | 12-24-2015 |
| 20160116594 | TIME OF FLIGHT CAMERA - A CW-TOF camera that uses a piecewise constant or linear discretized indicator function of first and second modulation frequencies of light that the camera transmits to illuminate a scene and a round trip time t | 04-28-2016 |
| 20160124078 | CALIBRATION METHOD BASED ON DUAL-TRANSMITTING DUAL-RECEIVING PHASE MEASUREMENT AND DISTANCE-MEASURING DEVICE THEREOF - Provided are a calibration method based on dual-transmitting dual-receiving phase measurement and distance-measuring device, the calibration method comprising: step 1, forming an external optical path; step 2, forming an internal optical path; IN step 3, conducting a phase comparison between the second part of signals of the internal and external optical paths sequentially received by a second receiving device and the first part of signals of the internal and external optical paths sequentially received by a first receiving device, outputting two-way phase signals with part of a base reference being eliminated, conducting phase comparison again between the two-way signals with part of the base reference being eliminated, and outputting the final phase signal with the base reference being eliminated. The distance-measuring device comprises a transmitting device (1, 301, 403, 502), a first reflective surface (2, 302, 402, 503), a first receiving device (3, 506), a first filter (4, 304, 405, 504), a second filter (5, 305, 406, 505), a second receiving device (8, 507), and a phase detector (307, 411, 509). The calibration method and distance-measuring device realizes phase compensation and calibration, avoids introducing uncertain phase noise into a circuit due to environmental changes, improves distance-measurement precision, and reduces system costs. | 05-05-2016 |
| 20160161601 | System and Method for Increasing Coherence Length in Lidar Systems - Various implementations of the invention compensate for “phase wandering” in tunable laser sources. Phase wandering may negatively impact a performance of a lidar system that employ such laser sources, typically by reducing a coherence length/range of the lidar system, an effective bandwidth of the lidar system, a sensitivity of the lidar system, etc. Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering near the laser source and before the output of the laser is directed toward a target. Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering in the target signal (i.e., the output of the laser that is incident on and reflected back from the target). Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering at the laser source and in the target signal. | 06-09-2016 |
| 20160178737 | SCATTERED LIGHT REFERENCE PIXEL | 06-23-2016 |
| 20170234984 | Hybrid Transmitter Receiver Optical Imaging System | 08-17-2017 |
| 356500110 | Having multiple carrier or modulation frequencies | 4 |
| 20100045966 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING A 3-D IMAGE OF A SCENE - For acquiring a 3-D image of a scene, the scene is illuminated with modulated light emitted by an illumination unit and imaged onto an array of lock-in pixel sensor cells, which detect the previously emitted light after it has been scattered or reflected by an object or a living being in the scene. One determines the modulation phase of the light detected at the lock-in pixel sensor cells and provides a reference modulation phase that stands in a known relationship with the modulation phase of the light at the time of the emission. Based upon the reference modulation phase and the modulation phase of the light detected at the lock-in pixel sensor cells one then calculates depth information on the scene. The modulated light is emitted by a plurality of individual light emitting devices of the illumination unit, each of the light emitting devices emitting a part of the modulated light, and the reference modulation phase is provided as an average of the modulation phases of the parts of modulated light emitted by the light emitting devices. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100079745 | LASER APPARATUS AND DISTANCE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - A technique for not causing a gap of the central beam axes depending on wavelengths of emitted light is provided. A laser apparatus includes a laser oscillation portion for oscillating laser light; a nonlinear crystal inputting a first output light from the laser oscillation portion, the nonlinear crystal outputting the first output light and a second output light which is a second harmonic wave of the first output light and has a central beam axis not corresponding to a central beam axis of the first output light; a central beam axis bending means for bending at least one central beam axis of the first output light and the second output light; and a optical fiber in which the edge is in a position or a neighborhood in which the central beam axes of the first output light and the second output light intersects. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20150131081 | POSITION DETERMINATION USING SYNTHETIC WAVE LASER RANGING - Systems and methods for determining the position of an object in a coordinate system. An exemplary system includes three or more laser ranging sensors each configured to direct a sensor beam of continuous-wave light toward a target. Light reflecting off the target interferes with the sensor beam creating an interference beam. The interference beam is combined with local oscillator beams in each laser ranging sensor to create a synthetic wave beam. Each of the laser ranging sensors also includes an array of photodetectors that sense the synthetic wave beam, and is able to measure a distance to the target based on output from the array of photodetectors. The system further includes a controller that receives a distance measurement from each of the laser ranging sensors, and calculates a position of the target in the coordinate system based on the distance measurements. | 05-14-2015 |
| 20150346340 | OPTICAL PHASED ARRAYS - An optical phased array formed of a large number of nanophotonic antenna elements can be used to project complex images into the far field. These nanophotonic phased arrays, including the nanophotonic antenna elements and waveguides, can be formed on a single chip of silicon using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Directional couplers evanescently couple light from the waveguides to the nanophotonic antenna elements, which emit the light as beams with phases and amplitudes selected so that the emitted beams interfere in the far field to produce the desired pattern. In some cases, each antenna in the phased array may be optically coupled to a corresponding variable delay line, such as a thermo-optically tuned waveguide or a liquid-filled cell, which can be used to vary the phase of the antenna's output (and the resulting far-field interference pattern). | 12-03-2015 |
| 356500130 | Having an alternating reference path | 2 |
| 20090066932 | ABSOLUTE DISTANCE METER THAT MEASURES A MOVING RETROREFLECTOR - A laser device and method capable of one or more dimensional absolute distance measurements and/or surface scanning and/or coordinate measurements of a moving external retroreflector or other moving target surfaces without using an incremental interferometer. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20110032509 | ABSOLUTE DISTANCE METER WITH OPTICAL SWITCH - An absolute distance meter (ADM) that determines a distance to a target includes a light source that emits an emitted light beam. The ADM also includes a fiber switching network having at least one optical switch that switches between at least two positions in response to a switch control signal, a first one of the positions enabling a measure mode in which the emitted light beam is emitted from the fiber switching network towards the target and is reflected back as a measure light beam into the fiber switching network, a second one of the positions enabling a reference mode in which the light beam comprises a reference light beam within the fiber switching network. The ADM further includes a single channel detector that detects the measure and reference light beams in a temporally spaced multiplexed manner and provides an electrical signal which corresponds to the detected measure and reflected light beams. Also, the ADM includes a single channel signal processor that processes the electrical signal and provides a conditioned electrical signal in response thereto, and a data processor that processes the conditioned electrical signal to determine the distance to the target. | 02-10-2011 |
| 356500150 | Having specific IF mixing of returns | 2 |
| 20080304044 | HIGH-RESOLUTION THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING RADAR - A three-dimensional imaging radar operating at high frequency e.g., 670 GHz, is disclosed. The active target illumination inherent in radar solves the problem of low signal power and narrow-band detection by using submillimeter heterodyne mixer receivers. A submillimeter imaging radar may use low phase-noise synthesizers and a fast chirper to generate a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) waveform. Three-dimensional images are generated through range information derived for each pixel scanned over a target. A peak finding algorithm may be used in processing for each pixel to differentiate material layers of the target. Improved focusing is achieved through a compensation signal sampled from a point source calibration target and applied to received signals from active targets prior to FFT-based range compression to extract and display high-resolution target images. Such an imaging radar has particular application in detecting concealed weapons or contraband. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20090135406 | OPTOELECTRONIC DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE - An optoelectronic distance measuring device includes a frequency modulator generating a high-frequency modulation signal, an emitter emitting a high-frequency modulated measuring beam to an object to be measured, an avalanche photodiode receiving a reflected measuring beam from the object and generating a corresponding high-frequency reflected measuring signal, and a signal generating device generating a high-frequency mixer signal connected with the avalanche photodiode. The high-frequency mixer signal is applied to the avalanche photodiode and mixed with the high-frequency reflected measuring signal to provide a low-frequency measuring signal which contains phase information for calculating a distance to be measured. In this manner, measuring error due to phase drift is eliminated without the need for an extra internal reference optical path and an mechanical switching device so that the structure of the device is simplified significantly and manufacturing costs are reduced. | 05-28-2009 |
