The present technology relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, and a distance measurement device capable of preventing erroneous detection of the number of cycles N in a method of resolving ambiguity of the number of cycles N on the basis of a result of distance measurement using two frequencies.

A signal processing device (33) includes: a condition determination unit (43) that determines whether or not a condition [Expression (27) or Expression (28)] that neither carrying nor borrowing occurs is satisfied in a number-of-cycles determination expression for determining the number of cycles of 2π of either a first phase difference or a second phase difference, the first phase difference being detected by a distance measurement sensor (2) when irradiation light is emitted at a first frequency (f.sub.l), the second phase difference being detected by the distance measurement sensor when the irradiation light is emitted at a second frequency (f.sub.h) higher than the first frequency; and a distance calculation unit (46) that determines the number of cycles of 2π from the number-of-cycles determination expression in a case where it is determined that the condition is satisfied and calculates a distance from an object by using the first phase difference and the second phase difference. The present technology is applicable to, for example, a distance measurement device that measures a distance from a subject, or other devices.

A distance measuring apparatus includes a reference object distance calculation section which calculates a distance to a reference object based on a two-dimensional image in which the reference object, which includes a plurality of feature points having obvious three-dimensional coordinate correlations, is captured, and a correction amount calculation section which calculates a correction amount for correcting a distance image by comparing the calculated distance to the reference object with a distance measurement value to the reference object in the distance image.

A distance measuring apparatus includes a reference object distance calculation section which calculates a distance to a reference object based on a two-dimensional image in which the reference object, which includes a plurality of feature points having obvious three-dimensional coordinate correlations, is captured, and a correction amount calculation section which calculates a correction amount for correcting a distance image by comparing the calculated distance to the reference object with a distance measurement value to the reference object in the distance image.

A Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) apparatus includes one or more optical elements configured to direct incident light in one or more directions, and a detector array including a plurality of detector pixels configured to output detection signals responsive to light provided thereto by the one or more optical elements. The light includes scattered light that is redirected relative to the one or more directions. A circuit is configured to receive the detection signals and generate corrected image data based on the detection signals and an expected spread function for the light. Related devices and methods of operation are also discussed.

A Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) apparatus includes one or more optical elements configured to direct incident light in one or more directions, and a detector array including a plurality of detector pixels configured to output detection signals responsive to light provided thereto by the one or more optical elements. The light includes scattered light that is redirected relative to the one or more directions. A circuit is configured to receive the detection signals and generate corrected image data based on the detection signals and an expected spread function for the light. Related devices and methods of operation are also discussed.

A time-of-flight ranging system disclosed herein includes a receiver asserting a photon received signal in response to detection of light that has reflected off a target and returned to the time-of-flight ranging system. A first latch circuit has first and second data inputs receiving a first pair of differential timing references, the first latch circuit latching data values at its first and second data inputs to first and second data outputs based upon assertion of the photon received signal. A first counter counts latching events of the first latch circuit during which the first data output is asserted, and a second counter counts latching events of the first latch circuit during which the second data output is asserted. Processing circuitry determines distance to the target based upon counted latching events output from the first and second counters.

Provided is a light receiving element capable of lowering the on-voltage of a transfer transistor and suppressing transfer failures at a low on-voltage. The light receiving element includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, each of the plurality of pixels including: a photoelectric conversion unit; first and second charge storage units that store charges generated by the photoelectric conversion unit; first and second transfer transistors that transfer the charges from the photoelectric conversion unit to the first and second charge storage units, respectively; first and second amplification transistors that amplify potentials of the first and second charge storage units, respectively; and a connection wiring that electrically connects the first charge storage unit and the first amplification transistor, wherein a first transfer control wiring electrically connected to a gate of the first transfer transistor of each of the pixels in the same row extends in a row direction in a first wiring layer, and the connection wiring extends to the first wiring layer.

A method for determining an intensity value representing an intensity of light reflected from an object in a scene is provided. The method includes performing a Time-of-Flight (ToF) measurement of the scene using a ToF sensor. A light-intensity-independent correlation function of a photo-sensitive pixel of the ToF sensor exhibits a plateau in a target measure-ment range for the ToF measurement. The object is located within the target measurement range. The method further includes determining the intensity value based on an output of the photo-sensitive pixel for the ToF measurement.

In an embodiment, a method includes: resetting respective count values of a plurality of analog counters to an initial count value, each analog counter of the plurality of analog counters corresponding to a histogram bin of a time-of-flight (ToF) histogram; after resetting the respective count values, receiving a plurality of digital addresses from a time-to-digital converter (TDC); during an integration period, for each received digital address, selecting one analog counter based on the received digital address, and changing the respective count value of the selected one analog counter towards a second count value by a discrete amount, where each analog counter has a final count value at an end of the integration period; and after the integration period, determining an associated final bin count of each histogram bin of the ToF histogram based on the final count value of the corresponding analog counter.

An electronic device comprising circuity configured to integrate charge collected by at least two floating diffusions on at least one capacitor and to change the direction of charge integration from a first current flow direction to a second current flow direction between a first integration phase and a second integration phase.