18783160. HETERODYNE DEPTH SENSOR (STMicroelectronics International N.V.)
HETERODYNE DEPTH SENSOR
Organization Name
STMicroelectronics International N.V.
Inventor(s)
Pascal Mellot of Lans en Vercors FR
HETERODYNE DEPTH SENSOR
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18783160 titled 'HETERODYNE DEPTH SENSOR
Original Abstract Submitted
An example heterodyne sensor of the present disclosure includes one or more optical mixers and an array of pixels. The optical mixers are configured to combine a reference light beam with one or more return light beams in order to generate one or more beat signals. Each pixel of the array of pixels includes a single-photon avalanche diode configured to receive a corresponding one of the one or more beat signals and to generate an output signal as a function of a light intensity of a received beat signal, and a digital counter configured to generate a count value based on the output signal of the single-photon avalanche diode.