There is provided a distance measurement device including a light source, a light detector, a time control circuit and a processor. In first measurement, the time control circuit controls the light source to illuminate at a low modulation frequency, and the processor calculates a rough flying time according to a first detection signal of the light detector to determine an operating phase zone and a delay time. In second measurement, the time control circuit controls the light source to illuminate at a high modulation frequency and causes a light driving signal of the light source and a detecting control signal of the light detector to have a difference of the delay time, and the processor calculates a fine flying time according to a second detection signal of the light detector.

Systems and methods are provided for imaging a surface via time of flight measurement. An illumination system includes an illumination driver and an illumination source and is configured to project modulated electromagnetic radiation to a point on a surface of interest. A sensor system includes a sensor driver and is configured to receive and demodulate electromagnetic radiation reflected from the surface of interest. A temperature sensor is configured to provide a measured temperature representing a temperature at one of the illumination driver and the sensor driver and located at a position remote from the one of the illumination driver and the sensor driver. A compensation component is configured to calculate a phase offset between the illumination system and the sensor system from at least the measured temperature and a model representing transient heat flow within the system.

Systems and methods are provided for imaging a surface via time of flight measurement. An illumination system includes an illumination driver and an illumination source and is configured to project modulated electromagnetic radiation to a point on a surface of interest. A sensor system includes a sensor driver and is configured to receive and demodulate electromagnetic radiation reflected from the surface of interest. A temperature sensor is configured to provide a measured temperature representing a temperature at one of the illumination driver and the sensor driver and located at a position remote from the one of the illumination driver and the sensor driver. A compensation component is configured to calculate a phase offset between the illumination system and the sensor system from at least the measured temperature and a model representing transient heat flow within the system.

To provide a signal generation apparatus that is used in a ToF camera system especially adopting an indirect system and can suppress occurrence of erroneous distance measurement caused by distance measurement of a same target by a plurality of cameras with a simple configuration. There is provided a signal generation apparatus including a first pulse generator configured to generate a pulse to be supplied to a light source that irradiates light upon a distance measurement target, a second pulse generator configured to generate a pulse to be supplied to a pixel that receives the light reflected by the distance measurement target, and a signal generation section configured to generate a pseudo-random signal for inverting a phase of signals to be generated by the first pulse generator and the second pulse generator.

To provide a signal generation apparatus that is used in a ToF camera system especially adopting an indirect system and can suppress occurrence of erroneous distance measurement caused by distance measurement of a same target by a plurality of cameras with a simple configuration. There is provided a signal generation apparatus including a first pulse generator configured to generate a pulse to be supplied to a light source that irradiates light upon a distance measurement target, a second pulse generator configured to generate a pulse to be supplied to a pixel that receives the light reflected by the distance measurement target, and a signal generation section configured to generate a pseudo-random signal for inverting a phase of signals to be generated by the first pulse generator and the second pulse generator.

A time of flight (ToF) system includes a light source, a photosensor, a signal generator and a processor. The signal generator outputs a reference signal corresponding to a modulation function for modulated light and a modified transmitted light signal corresponding to a phase shift of the reference signal. The light source outputs the modified transmitted light signal and pixels in the photosensor receives its reflections off the scene. The reference signal is applied to the pixels and the processor determines a depth map for the scene based on values recorded by the pixels. In some examples, the phase shift is implemented using a phase locked loop controller. One or more component phases of the phase shift and an exposure time for each component phase are determined and output by the phase locked loop controller.

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.

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.

An image sensor for distance measurement and an image sensor module including the image sensor are provided. The image sensor includes: a pixel array including a plurality of pixels including a plurality of first pixels arranged on a first line and a plurality of second pixels arranged on a second line, wherein the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels are arranged to be staggered from each other, and each of the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels includes a plurality of modulation gates for receiving a plurality of modulated signals during a photocharge collection period; a row decoder that provides control signals and the plurality of modulated signals to the pixel array; and an analog-to-digital conversion circuit that receives a plurality of sensing signals from the pixel array and converts the plurality of sensing signals into a plurality of digital signals.

An optoelectronic module including a light emitter to generate light to be emitted from the module, a plurality of spatially distributed light sensitive elements arranged to detect light from the emitter that is reflected by an object outside the module, and one or more dedicated spurious-reflection detection pixels.