Examples relate to a method for determining distance information of an object using a Time of Flight (ToF) system and to a ToF system. The method includes emitting modulated light towards the object using a light source. The method includes measuring a reflection of the modulated light using a ToF sensor module. The reflection of the modulated light is generated by successive reflections of the modulated light by the object and by an additional reflective surface. The method includes determining the distance information of the object based on the measured reflection of the modulated light.

A distance measuring apparatus includes an optical system abnormality detection section for detecting abnormalities of an optical system of the distance measuring apparatus by comparing a relationship between a measured distance value d and a light intensity Ls with a reference value K.sub.ρ, K.sub.ρ1, K.sub.Ls0d0, or K.sub.Ab0.

A distance measuring apparatus includes an optical system abnormality detection section for detecting abnormalities of an optical system of the distance measuring apparatus by comparing a relationship between a measured distance value d and a light intensity Ls with a reference value K.sub.ρ, K.sub.ρ1, K.sub.Ls0d0, or K.sub.Ab0.

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.

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.

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.

Examples are disclosed herein relating to signal processing in a time-of-flight (ToF) system. One example provides, a method comprising emitting, via a light source, amplitude-modulated light toward an object, acquiring, via an image sensor comprising a plurality of pixels, a plurality of image frames capturing light emitted from the light source that is reflected by the object, wherein the plurality of image frames are acquired at two or more different frequencies of the amplitude-modulated light and collectively form a multifrequency frame, and for each pixel of the multifrequency frame, determining a brightness level, applying an adaptive denoising process by setting a kernel size based on the brightness level, and performing a phase unwrapping process to determine a depth value for the pixel.

The present technology relates to a distance measurement sensor, a signal processing method, and a distance measurement module that make it possible to detect that an object to be measured is a specular reflector. The distance measurement sensor includes a signal processing unit that calculates a distance to an object and a degree of confidence, from a signal obtained by a light receiving unit that receives reflected light that is returned light obtained by reflecting irradiation light emitted from a predetermined light emitting source by the object, and outputs a determination flag determining whether the object that is an object to be measured is a specular reflector having a high reflectance. The present technology can be applied to, for example, a distance measurement module that measures a distance to a subject, and the like.

The present technology relates to a distance measurement sensor, a signal processing method, and a distance measurement module that make it possible to detect that an object to be measured is a specular reflector. The distance measurement sensor includes a signal processing unit that calculates a distance to an object and a degree of confidence, from a signal obtained by a light receiving unit that receives reflected light that is returned light obtained by reflecting irradiation light emitted from a predetermined light emitting source by the object, and outputs a determination flag determining whether the object that is an object to be measured is a specular reflector having a high reflectance. The present technology can be applied to, for example, a distance measurement module that measures a distance to a subject, and the like.