1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light sensing module and system, and more particularly, to a light sensing module and system capable of performing image sensing and object identification.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With advancements in technology, mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets have become indispensable in our daily life. Compared with conventional mobile phones that only have communication functions, modern mobile devices combine various functions such as communication, networking, photographing, games and data processing. This type of multifunctional design is more attractive to consumers.
Since mobile devices are equipped with diversified functions, various sensing devices have to be utilized for sensing peripheral environments in order to perform corresponding applications. For example, when a user uses the photographing functions, face recognition techniques are often utilized for focus. When the user plays a motion sensing game, subtle sensing devices are required to perform gesture recognition or object identification. With advancements in three dimensional (3D) display technology, a mobile device needs more complicated sensing devices to perform 3D image sensing and processing. Each sensing device in the current mobile device has a distinctive sensing function, however, and needs to be operated separately. Presently, there is no available sensing system which is capable of integrating various types of sensing devices. Thus, there is a need for improvement over the prior art.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide alight sensing module and system capable of integrating various image sensors and light sensors, in order to perform applications such as gesture recognition, face recognition, 3D display, information security and interactive games, etc.
The present invention discloses a light sensing module used in a light sensing system. The light sensing system is incorporated with a processor. The light sensing module comprises at least one first light source, for emitting light; at least one first light sensor, for sensing the light emitted by the first light source, light reflected by an ambient object or ambient light, in order to obtain a sensing result; a control unit, for performing image detecting and object identification or ambient light sensing by computing according to the sensing result, and generating a computational result; and at least one interrupt driver, for sending an interrupt signal to the processor, in order to notify the processor to receive the computational result; wherein the processor disposes a type and a number of the first light sensor, and configures the control unit accordingly, so that the control unit performs computation on the sensing result to generate the computational result.
The present invention further discloses a light sensing system. The light sensing system comprises a processor; and at least one light sensing module. One of the light sensing modules comprises at least one first light source, for emitting light; at least one first light sensor, for sensing the light emitted by the first light source, light reflected by an ambient object or ambient light, in order to obtain a sensing result; a control unit, for performing image detecting and object identification or ambient light sensing by computing according to the sensing result, and generating a computational result; and at least one interrupt driver, for sending an interrupt signal to the processor, in order to notify the processor to receive the computational result; wherein the processor disposes a type and a number of the first light sensor, and configures the control unit accordingly, so that the control unit performs computation on the sensing result to generate the computational result.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
When gesture recognition or object identification is performed, the light sources 102_1-102_X or the external light sources 130_1-130_Y may emit light, and the light sensors 104_1-104_M and the external light sensors 140_1-140_N detect the reflected light. Accordingly, the light sensors 104_1-104_M and the external light sensors 140_1-140_N may detect locational information such as the movement or distance of the object, in order to perform the object identification. The light sources 102_1-102_X and the external light sources 130_1-130_Y may be composed of various materials or elements which are able to emit light, e.g. light emitting diodes (LED). In some embodiments, the light sources 102_1-102_X or the external light sources 130_1-130_Y may be realized by infrared LEDs, and thus the corresponding light sensors 104_1-104_M or external light sensors 140_1-140_N have to be implemented as infrared sensors for performing the detection. The light sensors 104_1-104_M and the external light sensors 140_1-140_N may include a proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, color sensor, and image sensor, etc. Different types of detectors may be implemented for different applications.
According to the sensing results of the light sensors 104_1-104_M or the external light sensors 140_1-140_N and the configurations of the processor, the control unit 110 may integrate the sensing results of various light sensors and perform the image sensing, object identification or ambient light sensing via computation in order to generate a computational result. For example, in order to perform the gesture recognition, the light sensors 104_1-104_M and the external light sensors 140_1-140_N may include a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor. The ambient light sensor, which may be utilized for detecting the location of a user's hand, may obtain movement information of the hand via the locations detected at different time points. The proximity sensor, which may be utilized for detecting the distance between the hand and the device, may obtain information related to proximity movement of the hand via the distances detected at different time points. The control unit 110 may combine the sensing results generated from the ambient light sensor and the proximity sensor and obtain the accurate location and movement of the gesture via computation, in order to accomplish the gesture recognition. In another embodiment, the processor 120 may configure the light sensing module 10 to perform 3D image sensing, and thus the light sensing module 10 may include two light sensors 104_L and 104_R located in different locations for simulating the gaze of a user's left eye and right eye, respectively. The control unit 110 obtains the sensing results from the light sensors 104_L and 104_R, respectively, and then performs follow-up operations and processing by simulating the visual processing analogous to human eyes, in order to generate the computational results.
The interrupt drivers 112_1-112_Z are utilized for sending interrupt signals to the processor 120, in order to notify the processor 120 to receive the computational results. In general, the processor 120 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or a micro control unit (MCU), etc. The processor 120 may control the operations of the light sensing system and the light sensing module, and may also be utilized for controlling the entire operations of the mobile device. In such a condition, the processor 120 may not dispose all resources for processing data of the light sensing system or the light sensing module. In order to prevent the operations of the light sensing module 10 from being interfered with by the operations of other devices, the light sensing module 10 may only notify the processor 120 to read the computational results when the computational results are generated by the control unit 110. At this moment, the interrupt drivers 112_1-112_Z may be utilized for sending interrupt signals. After the processor 120 receives an interrupt signal, the processor 120 may learn that the control unit 110 obtains a specific computational result and dispose resources for receiving the result. If the processor 120 does not receive any interrupt signals, the processor 120 may dispose the resources for other devices, and thus may not need to keep detecting or monitoring the control unit 110. As a result, the resources of the processor 120 may be utilized more efficiently. For example, when gesture recognition is performed, the system is triggered due to variations in the gesture; hence the interrupt drivers 112_1-112_Z may need to send an interrupt signal to notify the processor 120 to receive data only when the gesture varies.
The synchronization device 114 of the light sensing module 10 is utilized for connecting other light sensing modules. In general, alight sensing system may include at least one light sensing module, each of which has light sources and light sensors. When a light sensing system includes a plurality of light sensing modules, the processor 120 has to execute operations corresponding to the sensing results generated by these light sensing modules. Please note that the data outputted by different light sensing modules have to be synchronized. In such a condition, the synchronization device 114 may be connected to other light sensing modules and utilized for synchronizing the output data generated from each light sensing module, so that the control device 110 may effectively integrate the output data of each light sensing module. For example, in the above embodiment of 3D image sensing, the light sensors for simulating the left eye and the right eye may be implemented by two different light sensing modules. The light sensing system may integrate the data generated from these two light sensors. The synchronization device then performs synchronization and outputs the data to the processor 120, in order to achieve 3D image sensing.
The light sensor interface 116 and the I/O interface 118, which are utilized as connection interfaces of the light sensing module 10, are electrically connected between the control unit 110 and each device of the light sensing module 10. As shown in
When the light sensing module 10 is operated, the processor 120 may dispose the type and number of the light sensors 104_1-104_M and the external light sensors 140_1-140_N according to system requirements, and configure various parameters of all light sensors such as resolution and sensing frequency. The processor 120 then controls the control unit 110 to perform corresponding settings such as the strength of output signals, the type of output signals and the strength of driving signals according to the above configurations. In several embodiments (e.g. an object identification application), when a light source is required, the control unit 110 may distribute the types and numbers of the light sources 102_1-102_X and the external light sources 130_1-130_Y. The control unit 110 then timely drives the light sources 102_1-102_X or the external light sources 130_1-130_Y for corresponding applications. After the control unit 110 obtains the sensing results, the control unit 110 may perform computation or analysis on the sensing results according to the above settings, in order to convert the sensing results into computational results which will be outputted to the processor 120. For example, when gesture recognition is performed, the sensing results generated by the light sensors 104_1-104_M or the external light sensors 140_1-140_N may be the location of the user's hand at each time point, and the computational results generated via the computation or analysis of the control unit 110 may be meaningful gestures, such as zooming, page turning and moving.
Please note that the present invention may integrate various image sensors and light sensors, in order to implement various applications such as gesture recognition, face recognition, 3D imaging, information security and interactive games. Those skilled in the art can make modifications and alternations accordingly. For example, the types and numbers of the abovementioned light sources 102_1-102_X, external light sources 130_1-130_Y, light sensors 104_1-104_M and external light sensors 140_1-140_N may arbitrarily be adjusted according to system requirements. In the process of sensing, such modules or devices may also be adjusted dynamically according to the variations of the sensing mode. The light sensing module 10 may be realized in different ways. In an embodiment, the light sensing module 10 may be realized by a system on a chip (SoC), where the cost of the light sensing modules may be significantly reduced when the light sensing modules are integrated into a single chip. In an embodiment, if the system is utilized for sensing 3D images and needs multiple light sensing points, alight sensing system having multiple light sensing modules may be utilized, and each light sensing module may be realized by an SoC. As a result, the light sensing system may still achieve diversified functions even when the cost is limited. The light sensing module 10 may be realized inside any type of integrated circuit (IC) packages, and is not limited herein.
Please refer to
Please refer to
Please refer to
In addition to possessing the abovementioned benefits, the embodiment of the present invention may also realize wider applications such as information security or games. For performing information security, the user may predefine a specific gesture as a password to turn on a mobile device, or utilize more complex procedures such as eyeball identification or fingerprint identification to perform information security. For the games application, especially motion sensing games, the gestures and actions of the user may be detected to achieve the interaction. In other applications, the light sensing module of the present invention may also be considered as a human-based input interface, e.g. the user may use gestures to simulate movements of a mouse. Any types of applications related to devices or elements for image identification or optical sensing may all be included in the light sensing modules or light sensing systems of the present invention, and is not limited herein.
In the prior art, each sensing device in the mobile device has a distinctive sensing function and is operated separately. There is no available sensing system capable of integrating various types of sensing devices. In comparison, the present invention provides a light sensing module and system, which are capable of integrating various image sensors and light sensors, in order to perform applications such as gesture recognition, face recognition, 3D display, information security and interactive games, etc.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201310459599.0 | Sep 2013 | CN | national |
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/817,306, filed on Apr. 29, 2013 and entitled “3D-Motion Gesture/Proximity Detection Module Sensor (MGPS)”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61817306 | Apr 2013 | US |