This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 101135558, filed Sep. 27, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The disclosed embodiments relate a single chip and a handheld electronic device.
An ultrasonic wave (ultrasound) is a mechanic wave generated by a piezoelectric crystal under an effect of an electric field. A sonic wave having a frequency over 20 kHz is regarded as an ultrasound. The ultrasound prevails in applications of examination, measurement and control purposes. For example, the ultrasound is applied for thickness measurement, distance measurement, medical treatments, medical diagnosis and ultrasound imaging (ultrasonography). Alternatively, by processing a material with the ultrasound, certain physical, chemical or biological properties or statuses of the material may be accelerated or changed.
An ultrasound imaging system is extensively implemented for biomedical detections. In ultrasonography, imaging is mainly achieved by pulse-echo. A principle of ultrasonography is summarized as below. A short pulse is transmitted by each array element of a transmitter. With beamforming, a time delay and a gain size of the pulses of each channel are adjusted to focus all the array signals at a position of a fixed depth on a scan line. The signals originally in a digital form are then converted to analog signals by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in an analog module, and the electric signals are further converted to ultrasonic signals by a transducer array and transmitted.
At a receiver, the transducer array first converts the mechanic waves into electric signals, and the signals of each channel are amplified, filtered, and sampled by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in an analog module. According to each sampling point on the scan line, the time delay and gain size of the signals of each channel are dynamically adjusted, and the signals of all the channels are added. A signal strength after focusing is retrieved. Next, a subsequent beam points to a next scan line, followed by iterating the above imaging process. An image format of an image composed by all the scan lines is converted to a grid, and a final corresponding image is displayed on a display device.
The disclosure is directed to a single chip and a handheld electronic device.
According to one embodiment, a single chip is provided. The single chip comprises an analog module, an ultrasound imaging module, a wireless network module, a switch circuit and a central processing unit (CPU). The ultrasound imaging module controls an ultrasound front end, and the wireless network module controls a radio-frequency (RF) front end. The CPU controls the switch circuit to electrically connect the analog module to the ultrasound imaging module or the wireless network module.
According to another embodiment, a handheld electronic device is provided. The handheld electronic device comprises an ultrasound front end, an RF front end, a single chip and a multiplexer. The single chip comprises an analog module, an ultrasound imaging module, a wireless network module, a switch circuit and a CPU. The ultrasound imaging module controls the ultrasound front end, and the wireless network module controls the RF front end. The CPU controls the switch circuit to electrically connect the analog module to the ultrasound imaging module or the wireless network module. The multiplexer selectively couples the ultrasound front end or the RF front end to the analog module.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
The single chip 11 comprises an analog module 110, a switch circuit 111a, a switch circuit 111b, an ultrasound imaging module 112, a wireless network module 113, a CPU 114, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 115, a memory module 116, a display interface 117, a peripheral interface 118 and a bus 119. The bus 119 is coupled to the ultrasound imaging module 112, the wireless network module 113, the CPU 114, the GPU 115, the memory module 116, the display interface 117 and the peripheral interface 118. The peripheral interface 118 couples peripheral devices such as a keyboard or a mouse. The display interface 117 drives the display device 12. The memory module 116 stores data.
The ultrasound imaging module 112 controls the ultrasound front end 14, and the wireless network module 113 controls the RF front end 15. The CPU 114 controls the switch circuit 111a to electrically connect the analog module 110 to the ultrasound imaging module 112 or the wireless network module 113.
The computer system 2 can be operated under a wireless network mode to utilize the wireless network module 113. Under the wireless network operating module, the CPU 114 controls the switch SW2 of the switch circuit 211a to electrically connect the DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b of the analog module 110 to the wireless network module 113, and not to electrically connect the DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b of the analog module 110 to the ultrasound imaging module 112. Under the wireless network operating mode, the CPU 114 further controls the switch SW3 of the switch circuit 211b not to electrically connect the ultrasound imaging module 112 to the GPU 115. In other words, the CPU 114 allots the DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b of the analog module 110 for the use of the wireless network module 113.
Since the computer system 2 does not employ the ultrasound imaging module 112 under the wireless network operating mode, the CPU 114 is able to further control a power management module to stop powering the ultrasound imaging module 112 under the wireless network operating mode, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption.
The ultrasound imaging module 112 performs an ultrasound imaging computation, e.g., a digital beamforming (DBF) algorithm or a Doppler blood flow estimation. To reduce a computation amount of the ultrasound imaging module 112, the CPU 114 further controls the switch SW3 of the switch circuit 211b to electrically connect the ultrasound imaging module 112 to the GPU 115 under the ultrasound imaging operating mode. The GPU 115 further supports the ultrasound imaging computation of the ultrasound imaging module 112.
Since the computer system 2 does not employ the wireless network module 113 under the ultrasound imaging operating mode, the CPU 114 is able to further control a power management module to stop powering the wireless network module 113 under the ultrasound imaging operating mode, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption.
According to a user command or a wireless network signal quality, the CPU 114 may control the switch SW1 of the switch circuit 211a to electrically connect the M number of DACs 110a and the M number of ADCs 110b of the analog module 110 to the ultrasound imaging module 112, and to electrically connect the N number of DACs 110a and the N number of ADCs 110b of the analog module 110 to the wireless network module 113. Through a user interface, a user may input the user command to allot the DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b for the use of the ultrasound imaging module 112 and the wireless network module 113. Alternatively, the CPU 114 first determines the N number of DACs 110a and the N number of ADCs 110b to be used by the wireless network module 113 according to the wireless network signal quality, and then allots the remaining M number of DACs 110a and the M number of ADCs 110b to the ultrasound imaging module 112.
Further, the computer system 2 may also store an ultrasound image generated by the ultrasound imaging module 112 to the memory module 116, and upload the ultrasound image to a medical diagnostic center in real-time via the wireless network module 113. Thus, the medical diagnostic center is allowed to perform diagnosis according to the received ultrasound image.
In addition to the above three operating modes, the computer system 2 can also be operated in a computer operating mode. Under the computer operating mode, the CPU 114 turns off the switches SW1, SW2 and SW3. The DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b are electrically connected to neither the wireless network module 113 nor the ultrasound imaging module 112. That is, the computer system 2 is utilized as a common computer. Thus, the CPU 114 is able to further control a power management module to stop powering the analog module 110, the ultrasound imaging module 112 and the wireless network module 113 under the computer operating module, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption.
The CPU 114 adjusts a switching frequency of the analog multiplexer 5111 according to the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16. When the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16 is greater than the number of DACs or ADCs, the CPU 114 increases the expandability of the ultrasound computation by increasing the switching frequency of the analog multiplexer 5111. For example, assume that the analog module 110 has eight DACs 110a and eight ADCs 110b. When the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16 is eight, the CPU 114 performs switching according to an original switching frequency through controlling the analog multiplexer 5111, so that the ultrasound imaging module 112 receives or outputs digital signal corresponding to the eight channels. When the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16 is changed to sixteen, the CPU 114 doubles the original switching frequency through controlling the analog multiplexer 5111, so that the ultrasound imaging module 112 receives or outputs digital signals corresponding to the sixteen channels.
Similarly, the DACs 110a of the analog module 610 convert digital signals generated by the ultrasound imaging module 112 to analog signals and output the analog signals to the ultrasound front end 14, or convert digital signals generated by the wireless network module 113 to analog signals and output the analog signal to the RF front end 15. The ADCs 110b of the analog module 610 convert analog signal generated by the ultrasound front end 14 to digital signals and output the digital signals to the ultrasound imaging module 112, or convert analog signal generated by the RF front end 15 to digital signals and output the digital signals to the wireless network module 113.
The single chip 61 further enhances the expansibility of the ultrasound computation via the expansion interface 120. For example, assume that the analog module 610 has eight digital DACs 110a and eight ADCs 110b. When the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16 is sixteen, the single chip 61 increases the numbers of the DACs 110a and the ADCs 110b by externally connecting to the analog module 610 via the expansion interface 120.
Moreover, assume that the number of channels of the ultrasound probe 16 is 64, and the ultrasound imaging module 112 is capable of processing only digital signals of 32 channels. The GPU 115 may then support the ultrasound imaging module 112 to process digital signals of the remaining 32 channels.
With the descriptions of the embodiments, it is demonstrated that the single chip disclosed in the foregoing embodiments integrates an ultrasound imaging function to a computer single chip, thereby allowing a user to utilize the ultrasound imaging function, network function or computer function through the single chip. Further, as the single chip supports the ultrasound imaging function, developments of handheld electronic devices having an ultrasound examination function are further promoted.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101135558 | Sep 2012 | TW | national |