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EP-4735930-A2 - COLOR FILTER ARRAY FOR VEHICULAR IMAGE SENSORS

EP4735930A2EP 4735930 A2EP4735930 A2EP 4735930A2EP-4735930-A2

Abstract

In an example implementation, a method includes a color filter array including a plurality of units arranged according to a spatially repeating pattern. Each of the units includes a color filter element having a first area, and an optically clear element having a second area, where the first planar is less than the second area. The color filter array is configured to receive light from an environment of the apparatus, filter at least a portion of the light using the units, and transmit at least a portion of the filtered light to an image sensor.

Inventors

  • HSU, MING-HSUAN

Assignees

  • Motional AD LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240627

Claims (15)

  1. 1 . A method comprising: a color filter array comprising a plurality of units arranged according to a spatially repeating pattern, wherein each of the units comprises: a color filter element having a first area, and an optically clear element having a second area, wherein the first planar is less than the second area, wherein the color filter array is configured to receive light from an environment of the apparatus, filter at least a portion of the light using the units, and transmit at least a portion of the filtered light to an image sensor.
  2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein for each of the units, the color filter element is configured to filter incident light according to a respective color.
  3. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein for each of the units, the color filter element is configured to filter incident light according to one of: a red color, a blue color, or a green color.
  4. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein for each of the units, the color filter element is adjacent to the optically clear element.
  5. 5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein according to the spatially repeating pattern, the units of the color filter array are arranged according to a plurality groups having a width of two units and a height of two units.
  6. 6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the groups comprises: two color filter elements configured to filter light according to a green color, one color filter element configured to filter light according to a blue color, and one color filter element configured to filter light according to a red color.
  7. 7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the color filter elements have a quadrilateral shape.
  8. 8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the optically clear elements have an octagonal shape.
  9. 9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising the image sensor.
  10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the image sensor comprises: a photodiode array comprising a plurality of second units arranged according to a second spatially repeating pattern, wherein each of the second units comprises: a first photodiode having a third area, and a second photodiode having a fourth area, wherein the third area is less than the fourth area.
  11. 11 . The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the color filter elements is configured to filter incident light according to a respective color, and transmit at least a portion of the filtered light to a respective one of the first photodiodes.
  12. 12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein each of the optically clear elements is configured to receive incident light, and transmit at least a portion of the light to a respective one of the second photodiodes.
  13. 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the color filter elements is aligned with a respective one of the first photodiodes, and wherein each of the optically clear elements is aligned with a respective one of the second photodiodes.
  14. 14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein for each of the second units, the image sensor is configured to: obtain a first light measurement using the first photodiode, obtain a second light measurement using the second photodiode, and generate an output value based on a combination of the first light measurement and the second light measurement.
  15. 15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the color filter array further comprises an optical substrate, and wherein each of the color filter elements and each of the optically clear elements are arranged on the optical substrate.

Description

COLOR FILTER ARRAY FOR VEHICULAR IMAGE SENSORS BACKGROUND [1] Image sensors, such as cameras, detect and convey information used to form an image. As an example, an image sensor includes one or more photodiodes that are sensitive to light. The image sensor receives light from its environment (e.g., light reflecting from one or more objects in the environment), directs the light to the photodiodes, and measures electrical signals output by the photodiodes in response to the light. The image sensor generates one or more spatially resolved images based on the electrical signals. [2] In some implementations, a vehicle (e.g., an autonomous vehicle) can include one or more image sensors to detect objects in its environment, such as other vehicles, obstacles, pedestrians, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [3] FIG. 1 is an example environment in which a vehicle including one or more components of an autonomous system can be implemented; [4] FIG. 2 is a diagram of one or more systems of a vehicle including an autonomous system; [5] FIG. 3 is a diagram of components of one or more devices and/or one or more systems of FIGS. 1 and 2; [6] FIG. 4 is a diagram of certain components of an autonomous system; [7] FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example image sensor; [8] FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example color filter array and an example photodiode array; and [9] FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example pixel resources of photodiodes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [10] In the following description numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure for the purposes of explanation. It will be apparent, however, that the embodiments described by the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are illustrated in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present disclosure. [11] Specific arrangements or orderings of schematic elements, such as those representing systems, devices, modules, instruction blocks, data elements, and/or the like are illustrated in the drawings for ease of description. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific ordering or arrangement of the schematic elements in the drawings is not meant to imply that a particular order or sequence of processing, or separation of processes, is required unless explicitly described as such. Further, the inclusion of a schematic element in a drawing is not meant to imply that such element is required in all embodiments or that the features represented by such element may not be included in or combined with other elements in some embodiments unless explicitly described as such. [12] Further, where connecting elements such as solid or dashed lines or arrows are used in the drawings to illustrate a connection, relationship, or association between or among two or more other schematic elements, the absence of any such connecting elements is not meant to imply that no connection, relationship, or association can exist. In other words, some connections, relationships, or associations between elements are not illustrated in the drawings so as not to obscure the disclosure. In addition, for ease of illustration, a single connecting element can be used to represent multiple connections, relationships or associations between elements. For example, where a connecting element represents communication of signals, data, or instructions (e g., “software instructions”), it should be understood by those skilled in the art that such element can represent one or multiple signal paths (e.g., a bus), as may be needed, to affect the communication. [13] Although the terms first, second, third, and/or the like are used to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. The terms first, second, third, and/or the like are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact without departing from the scope of the described embodiments. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact. [14] The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is included for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well and can be used interchangeably with “one or more” or “at least one,” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,