US 11,836,938 B2
Time-of-flight imaging apparatus and time-of-flight imaging method
Ye Chen, Stuttgart (DE); and Ward Van Der Tempel, Muizen (BE)
Assigned to Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Kanagawa (JP)
Filed by Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Kanagawa (JP)
Filed on Jun. 19, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/906,223.
Claims priority of application No. 19180914 (EP), filed on Jun. 18, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0166407 A1, Jun. 3, 2021
Int. Cl. G06T 7/55 (2017.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 7/497 (2006.01); G01S 7/4915 (2020.01); G01S 17/26 (2020.01)
CPC G06T 7/55 (2017.01) [G01S 7/497 (2013.01); G01S 7/4915 (2013.01); G01S 17/26 (2020.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G06T 2207/10016 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10028 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A time-of-flight imaging apparatus comprising circuitry configured to:
generate an imaging frame sequence including imaging frames, with each imaging frame including phase sweep frames;
demodulate, in a normal operation mode to determine a distance to a scene, a modulated light sensing signal representing modulated light reflected from the scene based on emission of the imaging frame sequence,
wherein the phase sweep frames associated with each of the imaging frames are generated by shifting a phase associated with the imaging frame by a different amount for each of the phase sweep frames, the phase associated with each of the imaging frames being different among the imaging frames; and
determine the distance to a scene based on demodulating the modulated light sensing signal, wherein determining the distance includes determining cyclic error by determining a variation in distance indicated by the phase sweep frames within each of the imaging frames.