Patent Application
20220342842
The present invention generally relates to an optical biometric sensor and to a timing circuitry arrangeable in an optical biometric sensor.
Biometric systems are widely used as means for increasing the convenience and security of personal electronic devices, such as mobile phones etc. Fingerprint sensing systems, in particular, are now included in a large proportion of all newly released consumer electronic devices, such as mobile phones.
Optical fingerprint sensors have been known for some time and may be a feasible alternative to e.g. capacitive fingerprint sensors in certain applications. Optical fingerprint sensors may for example be based on the pinhole imaging principle and/or may employ micro-channels, i.e. collimators or microlenses to focus incoming light onto an image sensor or be of camera type optical sensor.
When the optical sensor is included in a host device, data must be transferred from the optical sensor to the host device over a data bus such as a serial peripheral interface. Such a data bus has a limited data transfer capability and is often controlled by the host device whereas the optical sensor controls the data readout from its pixel matrix. This may lead to conflicts between the amount of data produced by the optical sensor and the capability of the data bus to handle the transfer of data to the host, and thereby to sub-optimal utilization of the data transfer capability on the bus, or to the need for costly buffer solutions.
In other words, there is room for improvements with regards to better utilize the data transfer capability on the bus between the sensor and a host device.
In view of above-mentioned and other drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical biometric sensor having a timing circuitry to alleviate at least some of the drawbacks of prior art.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an optical biometric sensor comprising: a read-out circuitry controllable for converting analog sensing signals to digital signals, the analog sensing signals being indicative of an image acquired by an image sensor comprising an array of photodetectors; and a timing circuitry configured to control the read-out circuitry to provide digital signals based on a present data transfer capacity on a data transfer bus configured to transfer data indicative of the digital signals from the optical biometric sensor to a host device.
The present invention is based on the realization that the conversion rate of the analog sensing signals to digital signals is closely related to the rate of the data to be transferred on the data transfer bus. Therefore, if the read-out circuitry can be controlled according to the present data transfer capacity, it can be ensured that the amount of produced data can be transferred on the bus without unnecessary delay. In other words, the data transfer bus can handle the data as it is produced.
For example, the timing circuitry may be configured to control the operation of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. In other words, the data production rate of the data to be provided to the data transfer bus may be controlled by the timing circuitry such that the data production rate is low enough for the data transfer bus to transfer the data without or at least with reduced need for intermediate storage.
Accordingly, the inventors realized that by controlling the operation of the read-out circuitry, the rate of the produced data to be transferred on the data transfer bus, can be adjusted to a level that the data transfer bus capacity can handle.
Embodiments of the present disclosure allows for optimizing the data transfer between the optical biometric sensor and a host device even if they run on different clocks which inevitably leads to asynchronous clocks at different speeds and consequently to, as is the case in prior art, non-optimized use of the communication interface.
The image sensor may be any suitable type of image sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD sensor connected to associated control circuitry. In one possible implementation the image sensor is a thin-film transistor (TFT) based image sensor which provides a cost-efficient solution for under display fingerprint imaging sensors. The operation and control of such image sensors can be assumed to be known and will not be discussed herein. The TFT image sensor may be a back illuminated TFT image sensor or a front illuminated TFT image sensor. The TFT image sensor may be arranged as a Hot-zone, Large Area or Full display solution.
A photodetector is generally a pixel of the image sensor.
For image acquisition, the photodetectors are exposed for a predetermined time, as is known to the skilled person, and relates to that the photodetector is active to collect light.
The optical biometric sensor may comprise an analog to digital conversion circuitry for converting analog sensing signals acquired by the image sensor to digital sensing signals that are transferrable data on the data transfer bus. In other words, the analog to digital conversion circuitry is arranged to receive, at an input port, analog sensing signals from the array of photodetectors, and to convert the analog signals to digital signals, whereby the digital signals are provided, at an output port, to the data transfer bus. It is the digital sensing signals that are transferred on the data transfer bus to the host device.
In embodiments, the timing circuitry may be configured to control the operation interval durations of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. For this, the timing circuitry is configured to control the start of operation and the stop of operation of the analog to digital conversion performed by the read-out circuitry to in this way control the data production rate. Thus, the operation may be that during a first time interval, the read-out circuitry operates in a first mode at an conversion rate for converting analog sensing signals to digital signals, and during a second time interval the read-out circuitry is in a second mode where it has paused its operation so that analog sensing signals are not presently being converted to digital signals. In the second mode, the data transfer bus may not receive new data from the read-out circuitry.
In embodiments, the optical biometric sensor may be configured to perform data processing to adjust a data production rate resulting from the acquired sensing signals to thereby adjust an amount of data to transfer on the data transfer bus. In this way may the data production rate from the image sensor be adjusted so that the produced data do not exceed the present data transfer capacity of the data transfer bus, or so that more useful data can be transferred, thereby improving the utilization of the data transfer bus to transfer relevant data. Thus, the data processing changes the data rate or the amount of data to be transfer to the host device. The data processing may be digital data processing.
In embodiments, the data processing may be local post-processing settings of the image sensor adapted to cause a reduction in data production rate. Such local post-processing settings may be masking, binning and/or skipping, whereby the data production rate can be adjusted.
According to some embodiments, the optical biometric sensor may comprise a memory storage configured to store data indicative of the acquired sensing signals for a time duration such that a data transfer rate to the data transfer bus is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. Thus, in some alternative embodiments is a memory storage, e.g. a buffer, used for storing, for a time duration, the acquired sensing signals such that the data production rate can be adapted to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus.
The memory storage may be configured to store digital data converted by the read-out circuitry, and to store the converted digital data, and wherein the analog to digital conversion rate is adapted exceed the data transfer date of the data transfer bus.
Preferably, the host device is a master and the optical biometric sensor is a slave for the communication interface including the data transfer bus. The timing circuity may comprise a receiving port configured to receive a signal from the host controller on a communication bus for initiating image acquisition. For example, optical biometric sensor may be an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) slave comprising a sensor communication interface having an SPI port comprising a serial clock input (SCLK), a master output slave input (MOSI), a master input slave output (MISO, and a slave select input (CS).
The image sensor may be a global shutter image sensor. For a global shutter sensor, the photodetectors are exposed simultaneously and with equal exposure time durations.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a timing circuitry arrangeable in an optical biometric sensor having an image sensor comprising an array of photodetectors for acquiring analog sensing signals, and a read-out circuitry controllable for converting the analog sensing signals to digital signals, the timing circuitry being configured to control the read-out circuitry to provide digital signals based on a present data transfer capacity on a data transfer bus configured to transfer data indicative of the digital signals from the optical biometric sensor to a host device.
The timing circuitry may be configured to control the operation of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus.
The timing circuitry may be configured to control the operation interval durations of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus.
Further effects and features of the second aspect of the invention are largely analogous to those described above in connection with the first aspect of the invention.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for controlling an optical biometric sensor having an image sensor comprising an array of photodetectors for acquiring analog sensing signals, and a read-out circuitry controllable for converting the analog sensing signals to digital signals, the method comprising: obtaining an indication of a present data transfer capacity on a data transfer bus configured to transfer data indicative of the digital signals from the optical biometric sensor to a host device; and controlling the read-out circuitry to provide digital signals based on the present data transfer capacity.
The read-out circuitry may be controlled to provide digital signals at a rate based on the present data transfer capacity.
In embodiments, the method may comprise controlling the operation of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus.
In embodiments, the method may comprise controlling the operation interval durations of the read-out circuitry such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus.
Further effects and features of the third aspect of the invention are largely analogous to those described above in connection with the first aspect and the second aspect of the invention.
There is further provided an electronic device comprising: the optical biometric sensor according to embodiments of the present disclosure, and processing circuitry configured to: receive a signal from the optical biometric sensor indicative of a biometric feature, and perform a biometric authentication procedure based on the biometric feature.
The electronic device may be a mobile device. A mobile device may be a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, a smartwatch, etc.
Further features of, and advantages with, the present invention will become apparent when studying the appended claims and the following description. The skilled person realize that different features of the present invention may be combined to create embodiments other than those described in the following, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing an example embodiment of the invention, wherein:
In the present detailed description, various embodiments of the optical biometric imaging arrangement according to the present invention are mainly described with reference to an optical biometric imaging arrangement arranged under a display panel. However, it should be noted that the described imaging device also may be used in other optical biometric imaging applications such as in an optical fingerprint sensor located under a cover glass or the like, or under a cover on the back side of a mobile device.
Turning now to the drawings and in particular to
The optical biometric sensor 100 is here shown to be smaller than the display panel 102, but still relatively large, e.g. a large area implementation. In another advantageous implementation the optical biometric sensor 100 may be the same size as the display panel 102, i.e. a full display solution. Thus, in such case the user may place his/her finger anywhere on the display panel for biometric authentication. The optical biometric sensor 100 may in other possible implementations be smaller than the depicted optical biometric sensor, such as providing a hot-zone implementation.
Preferably and as is apparent for the skilled person, the mobile device 101 shown in
It should furthermore be noted that the invention may be applicable in relation to any other type of electronic devices comprising transparent display panels, such as a laptop, a tablet computer, etc.
The control unit 202 is configured to receive a signal indicative of a detected object from the optical biometric sensor 100. The received signal may comprise image data.
Based on the received signal the control unit 202 is arranged to detect e.g. a fingerprint. Based on the detected fingerprint the control unit 202 is configured to perform a fingerprint authentication procedure. Such fingerprint authentication procedures are considered per se known to the skilled person and will not be described further herein.
The optical biometric sensor 100 comprises a read-out circuitry 302 controllable for converting analog sensing signals to digital signals. The analog sensing signals being indicative of an image acquired by an image sensor 304 comprising an array 306 of photodetectors 308 of which not all are numbered.
Further, a timing circuitry 310 is configured to control the read-out circuitry to provide digital signals based on a present data transfer capacity on a data transfer bus 312 configured to transfer data indicative of the digital signals from the optical biometric sensor to a host device 314.
The optical biometric sensor may be included in the host device 314 which may be e.g. the electronic device 200 or the mobile device 100.
The image sensor 304 may be a global shutter image sensor.
Preferably, the timing circuitry 310 is configured to control the operation of the read-out circuitry 302 such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus 312.
The data transfer bus 312 may be a serial peripheral interface (SPI) or an I3C interface although other types of data transfer busses configured to transfer data are conceivable. The timing circuitry 310 thus has knowledge either directly or indirectly of the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. For example, the timing circuitry 310 may receive information of the present data transfer capacity from the host device 314, or the present data transfer capacity may be a fixed capacity given by the configuration of the data bus itself, and in such cases may information of the data bus capacity be stored or accessible by the timing circuitry 310.
During image acquisition, the photodetectors are simultaneously exposed as is the case for a global shutter image sensor. Once exposure is finalized, the sensing signal are read-out and digitalized by the read-out circuitry and subsequently they are transferred, in digital form, to the host device 314 on the data transfer bus 312. However, if the rate of produced digital data is larger than the data transfer capability on the bus, all the data must be stored before it can be transferred. Embodiments of the present disclosure aims to resolve this prior art problem. Accordingly, if the data production rate can be adapted so that the data transfer bus 312 can handle the produced data, there is no or reduced need for intermediate storage of data. For achieving this, the read-out circuitry is appropriately controlled. This allows for producing data at a rate that the data transfer bus 312 can immediately transfer to the host device 314.
The read-out block includes electrical components known per se, for transferring charges from the photodiodes of the image sensor pixel matrix to a voltage, e.g. an analog sensing signal, and for converting the analog signals to a digital signal, i.e. analog to digital converters.
The communication interface is exemplified as an SPI-interface 312. For this, the optical biometric sensor 100 may include a sensor communication interface 313 having an SPI port comprising a serial clock input (SCLK); a master output slave input (MOSI), a master input slave output (MISO), and a slave select input (CS).
The timing circuitry may in a conceptual manner realized by a counter which starts counting, when exposure of the photodetectors is initiated by the host device 314, to a given threshold value depending on the data transfer rate of the communication interface 312, e.g. an SPI interface and the read-out time duration. Once the threshold value is reached read-out of a new subset of pixels is started. The skilled person knows various possible ways of enabling such a counter, such as using a processor or any other suitable electrical component or circuitry.
Preferably, the timing circuitry 310 is configured to control the operation interval durations of the read-out circuitry 302 such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. Thus, as conceptually illustrated in
A memory storage 311 such as a buffer or a first-in-first-out (FIFO) type memory may be included in the optical biometric sensor and be configured to store data indicative of the acquired sensing signals for a time duration such that a data transfer rate to the data transfer bus 312 is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. Here, the read-out circuitry 302 may comprise the buffer, e.g. a digital memory 311 such as a FIFO) type memory, as conceptually illustrated in
Preferably, the read-out of data is performed such that a continuous data transfer is performed to the host device. Thus, as shown in
The optical biometric sensor 100 may be configured to perform data processing to adjust a data production rate resulting from the acquired sensing signals to thereby adjust an amount of data to transfer on the data transfer bus. For example, data processing may be performed in order to reduce the amount of data to transfer over the bus, which enables for reducing the total time for data transfer to the host. The data processing may be local post-processing settings of the image sensor 304 adapted to cause a reduction in data production rate. Example data processing is local post-processing settings of the image sensor adapted to cause a reduction in data production rate. For example, such local post-processing setting may be e.g. binning of the sensing signals, or generally pixel values, to thereby reduce the amount of produced data. Binning generally refer to combining a group of pixel values into a single value. Another example local post-processing setting is skipping of photodetectors, e.g. not start exposure or not reading out the data from the photodetectors. A further example is masking of photodetectors in the array, i.e. so-called image masking where some pixel values are set to zero.
Turning now to
Preferably, the optical biometric sensor is a slave and the host device is a master for the communication interface including the data transfer bus. The host device 314 may send a request via the communication interface 312 to the optical biometric sensor, indicating that it requests image data. In order for the optical biometric sensor to fulfil this request, a certain number of bytes is expected on the communication interface 312, by the host device. Sending a request may include writing a command to a register via the communication interface. Such communication protocols, e.g. I3C or SPI are known per se. A data transfer bus is included in the communication interface 312.
In other words, the optical biometric sensor may be configured to be controlled by a host controller to start of exposure of a of the photodetectors. For this, a start command may be received by the timing circuitry 310 from the host controller for start of exposure of the photodetectors, or that the timing circuitry 310 is operative according to e.g. the SPI clock.
As described above, there is provide a timing circuitry 310 arrangeable in an optical biometric sensor 100 having an image sensor 304 comprising an array 306 of photodetectors 308 for acquiring analog sensing signals, and a read-out circuitry 320 controllable for converting the analog sensing signals to digital signals. The timing circuitry 310 is configured to control the read-out circuitry 320 to provide digital signals based on a present data transfer capacity on a data transfer bus 312 configured to transfer data indicative of the digital signals from the optical biometric sensor to a host device 314.
The timing circuitry 310 is preferably configured to control the operation of the read-out circuitry 302 such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus 312.
For example, the timing circuitry may be configured to control the operation interval durations of the read-out circuitry 302 such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus 312.
Controlling the operation of the read-out circuitry may be performed such that a data production rate resulting from the converted analog sensing signals is below or equal to the present data transfer capacity on the data transfer bus. Further, the method of
A control unit may include a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable digital signal processor or another programmable device. The control unit may also, or instead, include an application specific integrated circuit, a programmable gate array or programmable array logic, a programmable logic device, or a digital signal processor. Where the control unit includes a programmable device such as the microprocessor, microcontroller or programmable digital signal processor mentioned above, the processor may further include computer executable code that controls operation of the programmable device. It should be understood that all or some parts of the functionality provided by means of the control unit (or generally discussed as “processing circuitry”) may be at least partly integrated with the optical biometric sensor.
The control functionality of the present disclosure may be implemented using existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computer processor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or another purpose, or by a hardwire system. Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include program products comprising machine-readable medium for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions. Computer-readable media may generally correspond to (1) tangible computer-readable storage media which are non-transitory or (2) a communication media such as signal or carrier waves.
Even though the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplifying embodiments thereof, many different alterations, modifications and the like will become apparent for those skilled in the art. Also, it should be noted that parts of the imaging device may be omitted, interchanged or arranged in various ways, the imaging device yet being able to perform the functionality of the present invention.
Additionally, variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled person in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2050929-5 | Jul 2020 | SE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SE2021/050696 | 7/8/2021 | WO |
