Photon signal processing method and device and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a photon signal processing method and device and electronic equipment. N original histograms are generated through photon signals received by a pixel array, a target histogram is determined based on the N original histograms according to correlation among data points included in the N original histograms, and time resolution characteristic parameters of a reference light source are determined based on the target histogram; as the N original histograms are generated by the same reference light source, the target histogram is determined through the correlation among the data points of the N original histograms based on the characteristics that the correlation among the useful signals is relatively high and the correlation among the noises is relatively low, the noises in the histograms can be suppressed, and the noise suppression efficiency is improved. And useful signals are enhanced, so that the optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio of the histogram is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of photon signal processing technology, and in particular to a photon signal processing method, device and electronic equipment. Background Art

[0002] In real-world scenarios, to detect the temporal resolution characteristics of a light source—that is, to detect temporal variations in the light source, such as pulses, periodicity, intensity variations, and instantaneous photon counts—a pixel array typically receives the photon signal generated by the light source. A histogram corresponding to the light source is then generated based on this photon signal, and the distribution of data points in the histogram determines the light source's temporal resolution characteristics. However, in certain scenarios, such as strong outdoor lighting, the high intensity of background light can affect the temporal resolution characteristics of the light source in the histogram, increasing the histogram noise and reducing the signal-to-noise ratio. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, the present application provides a photon signal processing method, device and electronic device to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the histogram and obtain more accurate time resolution characteristics of the light source.

[0004] The technical solutions provided in this application are as follows:

[0005] According to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present application, a photon signal processing method is provided, the method comprising:

[0006] Generate N original histograms based on photon signals received by a pixel array; N is greater than or equal to 2, the pixel array includes multiple single-photon detectors, and the photon signals are generated by the same reference light source;

[0007] Determining a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to correlations between data points included in the N original histograms;

[0008] The time resolution characteristic parameters of the reference light source are determined according to the target histogram.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present application, a photon signal processing device is provided, the device comprising:

[0010] a generating unit, configured to generate N original histograms based on photon signals received by a pixel array, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2, the pixel array includes a plurality of single-photon detectors, and the photon signals are generated by a same reference light source;

[0011] a first determining unit, configured to determine a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to correlations between data points included in the N original histograms;

[0012] The second determining unit is configured to determine a time resolution characteristic parameter of the reference light source according to the target histogram.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present application, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, wherein the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor; the processor is used to execute the machine-executable instructions to implement the method described in the first aspect.

[0014] It can be seen from the above technical solution that the present application generates N original histograms through the photon signal received by the pixel array, and determines the target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms, so as to determine the time resolution characteristic parameters of the reference light source based on the target histogram; since the N original histograms are generated by the same reference light source, the present application determines the target histogram through the correlation between the data points of the N original histograms based on the characteristics that the correlation between useful signals is high and the correlation between noise is low, which can suppress the noise in the histogram and enhance the useful signal, thereby realizing the optimization of the histogram signal-to-noise ratio. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0016] Figure 1 A flowchart of a photon signal processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 2 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of another implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 2 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 3 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 3 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 6 A comparison chart of photon signal processing effects provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0022] Figure 7 A structural diagram of a photon signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, and to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] In actual scenarios, in order to detect the time resolution characteristics of the light source, that is, to detect the changes in the light source in the time dimension, such as pulses, periodicity, light intensity changes, instantaneous photon counting and other characteristics, the photon signal generated by the light source is usually received through a pixel array, and then a histogram corresponding to the light source is generated based on the photon signal. The time resolution characteristics of the light source are determined by the distribution of data points in the histogram.

[0026] In this embodiment, the pixel array can be composed of multiple single-photon detectors arranged and combined in a specified manner. The single-photon detector can be a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD), a photon counter (Photon Counter), a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD: Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector), a time-correlated single-photon counter (TCSPC: Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting), etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0027] In real-world scenarios, a histogram can be generated by measuring the number of photons received by a pixel array over a specific period of time to reveal the time-resolved characteristics of a light source. Specifically, the histogram's horizontal axis typically represents time (in units such as picoseconds or microseconds), while the vertical axis represents photon signal intensity (i.e., the number of photons received at the time corresponding to the horizontal axis). Therefore, the distribution of data points in the histogram can be used to determine the different characteristics of a light source at different times.

[0028] However, in some specific scenarios, such as outdoor strong light scenarios, the high intensity of background light will affect the temporal resolution characteristics of the light source in the histogram, causing the histogram noise to increase and the signal-to-noise ratio to decrease.

[0029] Based on this, the present application proposes a photon signal processing method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the histogram and obtain more accurate time resolution characteristics of the light source.

[0030] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A flowchart of the photon signal processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] As an embodiment, the method may be applied to a controller in an electronic device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), etc., and the present application does not impose any limitation thereto.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0033] Step 101: Generate N original histograms according to the photon signals received by the pixel array.

[0034] Unlike the method in the related art that directly generates the final histogram based on the photon signal received by the pixel array and determines the time resolution characteristics of the light source based on the distribution of data points in the histogram, the solution proposed in this application generates multiple original histograms through the photon signal received by the pixel array, and further obtains the final target histogram based on the multiple original histograms.

[0035] In this embodiment, N original histograms may be generated according to the photon signals received by the pixel array, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the photon signals are generated by the same reference light source.

[0036] Specifically, N original histograms can be generated in the following two ways:

[0037] (1) Spatial diversity

[0038] In this manner, the pixel array is divided into N pixel sub-arrays, each pixel sub-array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit. The method of generating N original histograms based on the photon signals received by the pixel array may include:

[0039] For each pixel subarray in the N pixel subarrays, the photon signal received by the pixel subarray is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel subarray to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the pixel subarray.

[0040] In this embodiment, the pixel array can be divided into N pixel sub-arrays, each pixel sub-array serves as an independent channel to collect the photon signal generated by the reference light source. The photon signal generated by the reference light source is collected through N independent channels, and each channel obtains the original histogram corresponding to the channel, and finally N original histograms are obtained, and the number of data points included in the N original histograms is the same.

[0041] As an embodiment, when N is equal to 2, the pixel array is divided into a first pixel subarray and a second pixel subarray; and N original histograms are generated according to the photon signals received by the pixel array, including:

[0042] The photon signal received by the first pixel subarray is input into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the first pixel subarray to obtain a first histogram; the photon signal received by the second pixel subarray is input into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the second pixel subarray to obtain a second histogram.

[0043] Through the above method, a first histogram corresponding to the first pixel subarray and a second histogram corresponding to the second pixel subarray are obtained.

[0044] (2) Time diversity

[0045] In this way, the pixel array is also configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit, which generates N original histograms based on the photon signals received by the pixel array, including:

[0046] For each photon signal received by the pixel array within N non-overlapping time periods within a specified time range, the photon signal is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the photon signal; wherein the N non-overlapping time periods are of the same length.

[0047] In this embodiment, the pixel array is not divided. Instead, the pixel array receives photon signals in N non-overlapping time periods within a specified time range. Then, based on the photon signals received in each time period, an original histogram corresponding to that time period is determined, ultimately obtaining N original histograms, each of which includes the same number of data points.

[0048] It should be noted that since the subsequent process of determining the target histogram is determined based on the correlation between the useful signals (i.e., photon signals other than noise) in each original histogram, in the time diversity mode, although the photon signals received in multiple non-overlapping time periods need to be collected, the overall duration of the collection process, i.e., the above-mentioned specified time range cannot be too long, so as to avoid the useful signals collected in each time period from having too low correlation due to the long time interval.

[0049] For example, if N is equal to 3 and the specified time range is 3 seconds, the period from 0 to 1 second can be used as the first time period, the period from 1 to 2 seconds can be used as the second time period, and the period from 2 to 3 seconds can be used as the third time period. Based on the photon signals generated by the reference light source and received by the pixel array in these three time periods, the original histogram corresponding to each time period can be obtained.

[0050] As an embodiment, when N is equal to 2, a specific method of generating N original histograms based on the photon signals received by the pixel array may include:

[0051] Inputting the photon signal received by the pixel array in the first time period into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a first histogram;

[0052] The photon signal received by the pixel array in the second time period is input into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a second histogram; wherein the first time period and the second time period both belong to the specified time range, and the first time period and the second time period have the same length and do not overlap with each other.

[0053] Through the above method, a first histogram corresponding to the first time period and a second histogram corresponding to the second time period are obtained.

[0054] This concludes the description of the two methods for generating N original histograms. The specific process of inputting the photon signal into the photon signal processing circuit to obtain the original histograms in generating the N original histograms will be described in detail below.

[0055] In the above two methods, the photon signal can be input into a photon signal processing circuit to obtain an original histogram.

[0056] As an embodiment, the photon signal processing circuit may include: a front-end circuit, a filtering circuit, a time measurement circuit, and a histogram accumulation circuit.

[0057] Specifically, the method of inputting the photon signal into the photon signal processing circuit to obtain the original histogram may include:

[0058] Inputting the photon signal into the front-end circuit so as to convert the photon signal into a digital pulse signal through the front-end circuit;

[0059] Inputting the digital pulse signal into the filter circuit to filter the noise included in the digital pulse signal through the filter circuit to obtain a filtered pulse signal;

[0060] Inputting the filtered pulse signal into a time measurement circuit to time-calibrate each pulse event included in the filtered pulse signal through the time measurement circuit to obtain a digital time-calibrated signal; the digital time-calibrated signal records the occurrence time of each pulse event;

[0061] The digital time calibration signal is input to the histogram accumulation circuit, so that the histogram accumulation circuit performs statistics on the occurrence time of each pulse event recorded in the digital time calibration signal to obtain an original histogram.

[0062] Below through Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 When N is equal to 2, the above two methods for determining the first histogram and the second histogram are described.

[0063] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 2 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0064] like Figure 2 As shown, the pixel array is divided into two pixel sub-arrays, namely the first pixel sub-array and the second pixel sub-array, and the two sub-arrays correspond to independent photon signal processing circuits, namely independent front-end circuits, filtering circuits, time measurement circuits, and histogram accumulation circuits.

[0065] The photon signal is converted into a digital pulse signal through a front-end circuit, the noise included in the digital pulse signal is filtered through a filtering circuit to obtain a filtered pulse signal, and the pulse events included in the filtered pulse signal are time-calibrated through a time measurement circuit to obtain a digital time-calibrated signal; the digital time-calibrated signal records the occurrence time of each pulse event, and the histogram accumulation circuit processes the photon signal measured in the same time period, and statistics the occurrence time of each pulse event recorded in the digital time-calibrated signal to obtain the accumulated first histogram and the second histogram.

[0066] The subsequent process of performing specified operations on the first and second histograms to obtain the target histogram will be described in detail below and will not be repeated here. It can be seen that because the first and second histograms obtained from the dual-channel signal are obtained based on the photon signals generated by the same reference light source in the same time period, the useful signals between the first and second histograms have correlation characteristics, with high useful signal correlation and low noise correlation.

[0067] This concludes Figure 2 Description.

[0068] Please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of another implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 2 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0069] like Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the pixel array does not need to be divided, and the processing circuit only needs one channel, but needs to measure in time to obtain two frames of histograms.

[0070] Specifically, the photon signal received within the first time period can be first input into the front-end circuit, the photon signal can be converted into a digital pulse signal by the front-end circuit, the noise included in the digital pulse signal can be filtered by the filtering circuit to obtain a filtered pulse signal, and the pulse events included in the filtered pulse signal can be time-calibrated by the time measurement circuit to obtain a digital time calibration signal; the digital time calibration signal records the occurrence time of each pulse event, and the histogram accumulation circuit processes the photon signal measured within the same time period, and the occurrence time of each pulse event recorded in the digital time calibration signal is counted to obtain an accumulated first histogram.

[0071] Within the specified time period, the photon signals received during the second time period are input into the front-end circuit, the filtering circuit, the time measurement circuit, and the histogram accumulation circuit to generate a second histogram. The specific process is the same as the method for processing the photon signals received during the first time period, and will not be repeated here.

[0072] It can be seen that since the first histogram and the second histogram obtained by two consecutive measurements are photon signals generated by the same reference light source received by the same pixel array in the same time period, the useful signals between the first histogram and the second histogram have correlation characteristics, with high useful signal correlation and low noise correlation.

[0073] This concludes Figure 3 Description.

[0074] At this point, the description of step 101 ends, and step 102 is executed next.

[0075] Step 102 : determining a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlations between the data points included in the N original histograms.

[0076] In this embodiment, since the useful signal correlation is high and the noise correlation is low in the N original histograms determined in step 101, in this step 102, a target histogram with a higher signal-to-noise ratio can be determined based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms.

[0077] Specifically, N original histograms can be used as current histograms, and a specified operation can be performed on every two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram; wherein, any histogram included in the current histogram participates in the specified operation at least once; if the number of reference histograms is greater than 1, the reference histogram is used as the current histogram, and the step of performing the specified operation on every two current histograms to obtain the reference histogram is returned; if the number of reference histograms is equal to 1, the reference histogram is determined as the target histogram.

[0078] In this embodiment, for the N original histograms obtained, the N original histograms can all be used as current histograms, and pairwise specified operations are performed on the current histograms. Each current histogram needs to participate in at least one operation to ensure that the features included in each current histogram are fully utilized.

[0079] After every two current histograms are subjected to the specified operation, a new histogram will be obtained, which is recorded as a reference histogram. After each current histogram participates in the specified operation at least once, the number of reference histograms can be counted. If the number of reference histograms is 1, it indicates that the final histogram has been obtained. At this time, the reference histogram can be directly determined as the target histogram; if the number of reference histograms is greater than 1, it indicates that the reference histogram needs to be further subjected to the specified operation to determine the final histogram. At this time, the reference histogram can be used as the current histogram, and the specified operation is returned to every two current histograms to obtain the reference histogram step.

[0080] It should be noted that the process of performing specified operations on two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram is actually a process of improving the signal-to-noise ratio in the histogram, that is, suppressing the noise in the histogram and enhancing the useful signal. Therefore, the current histogram can be considered as the histogram of the current level, and the reference histogram obtained by performing specified operations on the current histogram is a histogram of a higher level.

[0081] In this embodiment, the histograms of the same level can perform specified operations, and the histograms of different levels cannot perform operations on each other to avoid the reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio caused by the operations between histograms of different signal-to-noise ratio accuracies. The histograms of the same level and different levels will be explained with examples below and will not be repeated here.

[0082] As an embodiment, when N is equal to 2, a specific method for determining a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms includes:

[0083] The two original histograms are used as current histograms, and a specified operation is performed on the two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram; and the reference histogram is determined as a target histogram.

[0084] In this embodiment, when N is equal to 2, the number of original histograms is 2. At this time, the two original histograms can be used as current histograms, and specified operations are performed on the two original histograms to obtain a reference histogram. Since the number of reference histograms is 1 at this time, the reference histogram can be directly determined as the target histogram.

[0085] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of an implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 3, provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0086] like Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, a spatial diversity method is adopted to divide the pixel array into three sub-arrays, which are recorded as the first pixel sub-array, the second pixel sub-array and the third pixel sub-array. Each pixel sub-array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit.

[0087] Each pixel subarray receives a photon signal generated by the same reference light source in the same time period, and inputs the photon signal into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to each pixel subarray, thereby obtaining the original histogram corresponding to each pixel subarray, which is recorded here as the first histogram, the second histogram, and the third histogram.

[0088] Next, it is necessary to determine the target histogram based on the first histogram, the second histogram and the third histogram. Specifically, the first histogram, the second histogram and the third histogram can be used as current histograms, and the corresponding histogram level can be recorded as level 1.

[0089] Furthermore, a specified operation may be performed on every two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram. Figure 4 The example given in is to perform a specified operation on the first histogram and the second histogram to obtain a reference histogram (denoted as the fourth histogram), and then perform a specified operation on the second histogram and the third histogram to obtain a reference histogram (denoted as the fifth histogram). Here, the histogram level corresponding to the fourth histogram and the fifth histogram can be denoted as level 2.

[0090] It should be noted that when performing specified operations on every two current histograms, you can select the current histogram arbitrarily. For example, you can perform specified operations on the first histogram and the third histogram. You only need to ensure that each histogram participates in the specified operation at least once. At the same time, you also need to ensure that the number of reference histograms obtained is less than the number of current histograms, so as to obtain the target histogram by layer-by-layer operation.

[0091] For example, when N is equal to 4, when processing 4 original histograms, the 4 original histograms are used as current histograms, which are respectively recorded as histograms. Figure 1 , histogram Figure 2 , histogram Figure 3 and histogram Figure 4 , when performing a specified operation on each of the two current histograms, the histogram Figure 1 , histogram Figure 2 Perform the specified operation on the histogram Figure 3 , histogram Figure 4 Perform the specified operation to obtain two reference histograms; you can also perform the specified operation on the histograms. Figure 1 , histogram Figure 2Perform the specified operation on the histogram Figure 2 , histogram Figure 3 Perform the specified operation and then calculate the histogram Figure 3 , histogram Figure 4 Perform designated operations to obtain three reference histograms, which is not limited in this application.

[0092] Preferably, since the correlation of useful signals in the current histograms generated by adjacent pixel subarrays is relatively higher, when performing a specified operation on every two current histograms, the current histograms generated by adjacent pixel subarrays may be preferentially selected for the specified operation.

[0093] After obtaining the reference histograms, i.e., the fourth and fifth histograms, it is found that the number of reference histograms is greater than 1. Therefore, the fourth and fifth histograms can be used as current histograms. Then, the specified operation is performed on each of the two current histograms, i.e., the specified operation is performed on the fourth and fifth histograms to obtain the target histogram. Here, the histogram level corresponding to the target histogram can be recorded as level 3.

[0094] In this embodiment, there are three histogram levels, namely level 1 corresponding to the first histogram, the second histogram, and the third histogram, level 2 corresponding to the fourth histogram and the fifth histogram, and level 3 corresponding to the target histogram. It can be seen that in the process of performing specified operations on each histogram, only the histograms within the same level can perform specified operations, and the histograms between different levels cannot perform specified operations. For example, the third histogram and the fourth histogram cannot perform specified operations, so as to avoid the reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio due to the operation between histograms with different signal-to-noise ratio accuracy.

[0095] This concludes Figure 4 Description.

[0096] Please refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of another implementation method for determining a target histogram when N is equal to 3 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0097] like Figure 5 As shown, in this embodiment, a time diversity method is adopted, and the pixel array receives the photon signals generated by the same reference light source in the first time period, the second time period, and the third time period respectively to obtain the first histogram, the second histogram, and the third histogram.

[0098] and Figure 4Similarly, the first histogram, the second histogram, and the third histogram can be used as current histograms, and the corresponding histogram levels can be recorded as level 1. By performing a specified operation on every two current histograms, a reference histogram (i.e., the fourth histogram and the fifth histogram) is obtained, and the histogram levels corresponding to the fourth histogram and the fifth histogram can be recorded as level 2.

[0099] After obtaining the reference histograms, i.e., the fourth and fifth histograms, it is found that the number of reference histograms is greater than 1. Therefore, the fourth and fifth histograms can be used as the current histograms. That is, the specified operation is performed on the fourth and fifth histograms to obtain the target histogram. Here, the histogram level corresponding to the target histogram can be recorded as level 3.

[0100] It can also be seen that in the process of performing specified operations on each histogram, only the histograms within the same level can perform specified operations, and the histograms between different levels cannot perform specified operations.

[0101] This concludes Figure 5 Description.

[0102] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned specified operation can be a convolution operation, a correlation operation, or other calculation methods.

[0103] As an embodiment, a specific method of performing a specified operation on two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram may include:

[0104] Based on each data point in the two current histograms, the number of data points included in the current histograms, and a specified window width parameter, all data points included in the reference histogram are determined; wherein the window width parameter is used to characterize the number of current data points that need to participate in the calculation when determining the reference data point, the reference data point refers to each data point in the reference histogram, and the current data point refers to the number of data points included in any one of the two current histograms; based on all data points included in the reference histogram, the reference histogram is determined.

[0105] Specifically, all data points included in the reference histogram can be determined by the following formula:

[0106]

[0107] Among them, z k Indicates the value of the kth data point in the reference histogram, x i Indicates the value of the i-th data point in one of the two current histograms, y i It represents the value of the i-th data point of the other current histogram in the two current histograms, L represents the number of data points included in the current histogram, and W represents the specified window width parameter.

[0108] In this embodiment, the two current histograms may be recorded as sequence X and sequence Y, respectively. Then, sequence X and sequence Y may be expressed as:

[0109] X={x1,x2,…,x L}

[0110] Y={y1,y2,…,y L}

[0111] Where L is the sequence length. Sequences X and Y can be further operated on based on a preset specified window width parameter W to obtain each data point in the reference histogram. The specified window width parameter W is used to represent the number of current data points required to participate in the operation when determining the reference data point. The reference data point refers to each data point in the reference histogram, and the current data point refers to the number of data points included in either of the two current histograms. W can be adjusted based on actual conditions. Data points exceeding the specified window width can be padded with zeros, or data points exceeding the specified window width can be processed according to the specified data, which is not limited in this application.

[0112] At this point, the description of step 102 ends, and step 103 is executed next.

[0113] Step 103: Determine the time resolution characteristic parameters of the reference light source according to the target histogram.

[0114] In this embodiment, after the target histogram is determined, the time resolution characteristics of the reference light source, such as pulse, periodicity, light intensity variation, instantaneous photon counting, etc., can be searched based on the target histogram.

[0115] This concludes Figure 1 Description of the photon signal processing method.

[0116] The present application generates N original histograms through the photon signal received by the pixel array, and determines a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms, so as to determine the time resolution characteristic parameters of the reference light source based on the target histogram; since the N original histograms are generated by the same reference light source, the present application determines the target histogram through the correlation between the data points of the N original histograms based on the characteristics that the correlation between useful signals is high and the correlation between noise is low, which can suppress the noise in the histogram and enhance the useful signal, thereby optimizing the histogram signal-to-noise ratio.

[0117] Please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 A comparison chart of the photon signal processing effects provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0118] like Figure 6 As shown in the figure, hist1 and hist2 are two independent histograms obtained by measuring the same reference light source (they can come from two independent channels or from two consecutive frames of the same channel, which is not limited here). Among them, hist1_fir and hist2_fir are the effects of FIR filtering on histograms hist1 and hist2 respectively.

[0119] It can be seen that in addition to the three real target peaks, hist1_fir and hist2_fir both retain a large number of noise peaks, which will cause incorrect results in subsequent peak determination and extraction.

[0120] In comparison, hist3 is the third histogram obtained by processing hist1 and hist2 according to the scheme proposed in this embodiment. It can be seen that in hit3, the noise peak has been significantly filtered out, and only three real target peaks are retained; further, if hist3 is subjected to FIR filtering, the histogram can be made smoother, as shown in hist3_fir.

[0121] It can be seen that the present application obtains two independent histograms of the same reference light source through the method of spatial diversity (collection through independent dual channels) or time diversity (collection through the same channel at different times), and utilizes the characteristics of signal correlation and noise randomness (that is, mutual independence and uncorrelated) to perform operations on the two independent histograms, thereby obtaining a target histogram that suppresses noise and enhances signal, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio.

[0122] Please refer to Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of a photon signal processing device proposed in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the apparatus may include a generating unit 701, a first determining unit 702, and a second determining unit 703. Specifically, the apparatus includes:

[0123] A generating unit 701 generates N original histograms based on the photon signals received by the pixel array; N is greater than or equal to 2, the pixel array includes multiple single-photon detectors, and the photon signals are generated by the same reference light source;

[0124] A first determining unit 702 is configured to determine a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to correlations between data points included in the N original histograms;

[0125] The second determining unit 703 is configured to determine a time resolution characteristic parameter of the reference light source according to the target histogram.

[0126] Optionally, the pixel array is divided into N pixel sub-arrays, and each pixel sub-array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit; the generating unit 701 is configured to:

[0127] For each pixel subarray in the N pixel subarrays, the photon signal received by the pixel subarray is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel subarray to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the pixel subarray.

[0128] Optionally, when N is equal to 2, the pixel array is divided into a first pixel sub-array and a second pixel sub-array; the generating unit 701 is configured to:

[0129] Inputting the photon signal received by the first pixel subarray into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the first pixel subarray to obtain a first histogram;

[0130] The photon signal received by the second pixel subarray is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the second pixel subarray to obtain a second histogram.

[0131] Optionally, the pixel array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit; the generating unit 701 is configured to:

[0132] For each photon signal received by the pixel array within N non-overlapping time periods within a specified time range, the photon signal is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the photon signal; wherein the N non-overlapping time periods are of the same length.

[0133] Optionally, when N is equal to 2, the generating unit 701 is configured to:

[0134] Inputting the photon signal received by the pixel array in the first time period into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a first histogram;

[0135] The photon signal received by the pixel array in the second time period is input into the photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a second histogram; wherein the first time period and the second time period both belong to the specified time range, and the first time period and the second time period have the same length and do not overlap with each other.

[0136] Optionally, the photon signal processing circuit includes: a front-end circuit, a filtering circuit, a time measurement circuit, and a histogram accumulation circuit; the generating unit 701 is specifically configured to:

[0137] Inputting the photon signal into the front-end circuit so as to convert the photon signal into a digital pulse signal through the front-end circuit;

[0138] Inputting the digital pulse signal into the filter circuit to filter the noise included in the digital pulse signal through the filter circuit to obtain a filtered pulse signal;

[0139] Inputting the filtered pulse signal into a time measurement circuit to time-calibrate each pulse event included in the filtered pulse signal through the time measurement circuit to obtain a digital time-calibrated signal; the digital time-calibrated signal records the occurrence time of each pulse event;

[0140] The digital time calibration signal is input to the histogram accumulation circuit, so that the histogram accumulation circuit performs statistics on the occurrence time of each pulse event recorded in the digital time calibration signal to obtain an original histogram.

[0141] Optionally, the first determining unit 702 is configured to:

[0142] Taking N original histograms as current histograms, performing a specified operation on every two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram; wherein any histogram included in the current histogram participates in the specified operation at least once;

[0143] If the number of reference histograms is greater than 1, the reference histogram is used as the current histogram, and the step of performing the specified operation on every two current histograms to obtain the reference histogram is returned;

[0144] If the number of reference histograms is equal to 1, the reference histogram is determined as the target histogram.

[0145] Optionally, when N is equal to 2, the first determining unit 702 is configured to:

[0146] Take the two original histograms as current histograms, perform specified operations on the two current histograms, and obtain a reference histogram;

[0147] The reference histogram is determined as the target histogram.

[0148] Optionally, the N original histograms include the same number of data points; the first determining unit 702 is configured to:

[0149] Determine all data points included in the reference histogram based on each data point in the two current histograms, the number of data points included in the current histograms, and a specified window width parameter; wherein the window width parameter is used to represent the number of current data points required to participate in the calculation when determining the reference data point, the reference data point refers to each data point in the reference histogram, and the current data point refers to the number of data points included in either of the two current histograms;

[0150] A reference histogram is determined based on all data points included in the reference histogram.

[0151] Optionally, the first determining unit 702 is configured to:

[0152] All data points included in the reference histogram are determined by the following formula:

[0153]

[0154] Among them, z k Indicates the value of the kth data point in the reference histogram, x i Indicates the value of the i-th data point in one of the two current histograms, y i It represents the value of the i-th data point of the other current histogram in the two current histograms, L represents the number of data points included in the current histogram, and W represents the specified window width parameter.

[0155] So far, completed Figure 7 Description of the photon signal processing device.

[0156] The present application also provides Figure 7 The hardware structure of the device is described in the following figure. Figure 8 The structure of the electronic device shown. Figure 8 , Figure 8 This is a structural diagram of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the hardware structure may include: a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, the machine-readable storage medium storing machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor; the processor is used to execute the machine-executable instructions to implement the method disclosed in the above example of this application.

[0157] Based on the same application concept as the above method, an embodiment of the present application also provides a machine-readable storage medium, on which a number of computer instructions are stored. When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the method disclosed in the above example of the present application can be implemented.

[0158] Exemplarily, the machine-readable storage medium may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that may contain or store information, such as executable instructions, data, and the like. For example, the machine-readable storage medium may be: RAM (Random Access Memory), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, flash memory, a storage drive (such as a hard disk drive), a solid-state drive, any type of storage disk (such as a CD, DVD, etc.), or similar storage media, or a combination thereof.

Claims

1. A photon signal processing method, characterized in that: The method includes: Generate N original histograms based on photon signals received by a pixel array; N is greater than or equal to 2, the pixel array includes multiple single-photon detectors, and the photon signals are generated by the same reference light source; Determining a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to correlations between data points included in the N original histograms; The time resolution characteristic parameters of the reference light source are determined according to the target histogram.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The pixel array is divided into N pixel sub-arrays, and each pixel sub-array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit; Generating N original histograms according to the photon signals received by the pixel array includes: For each pixel subarray of the N pixel subarrays, the photon signal received by the pixel subarray is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel subarray to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the pixel subarray.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When N is equal to 2, the pixel array is divided into a first pixel sub-array and a second pixel sub-array; Generating N original histograms according to the photon signals received by the pixel array includes: Inputting the photon signal received by the first pixel subarray into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the first pixel subarray to obtain a first histogram; The photon signal received by the second pixel subarray is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the second pixel subarray to obtain a second histogram.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The pixel array is configured with a corresponding photon signal processing circuit; Generating N original histograms according to the photon signals received by the pixel array includes: For each photon signal received by the pixel array in N non-overlapping time periods within a specified time range, the photon signal is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain an original histogram corresponding to the photon signal; wherein the N non-overlapping time periods have the same length.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When N is equal to 2, generating N original histograms according to the photon signals received by the pixel array includes: Inputting the photon signal received by the pixel array in a first time period into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a first histogram; The photon signal received by the pixel array in a second time period is input into a photon signal processing circuit corresponding to the pixel array to obtain a second histogram; wherein the first time period and the second time period both belong to the specified time range, and the first time period and the second time period have the same length and do not overlap with each other.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that The photon signal processing circuit includes: a front-end circuit, a filtering circuit, a time measurement circuit, and a histogram accumulation circuit; the photon signal is input to the photon signal processing circuit to obtain an original histogram, including: Inputting a photon signal into the front-end circuit so as to convert the photon signal into a digital pulse signal through the front-end circuit; Inputting the digital pulse signal into the filter circuit to filter the noise included in the digital pulse signal through the filter circuit to obtain a filtered pulse signal; Inputting the filtered pulse signal into the time measurement circuit to time-calibrate each pulse event included in the filtered pulse signal through the time measurement circuit to obtain a digital time-calibrated signal; the digital time-calibrated signal records the occurrence time of each pulse event; The digital time calibration signal is input into the histogram accumulation circuit, so that the histogram accumulation circuit performs statistics on the occurrence time of each pulse event recorded in the digital time calibration signal to obtain the original histogram.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of the target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms includes: Taking the N original histograms as current histograms, performing a specified operation on every two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram; wherein any histogram included in the current histogram participates in the specified operation at least once; If the number of the reference histograms is greater than 1, the reference histogram is used as the current histogram, and the step of performing the specified operation on every two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram is returned; If the number of the reference histograms is equal to 1, the reference histogram is determined as the target histogram.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that When N is equal to 2; determining the target histogram based on the N original histograms according to the correlation between the data points included in the N original histograms includes: Take the two original histograms as current histograms, perform specified operations on the two current histograms, and obtain a reference histogram; The reference histogram is determined as a target histogram.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The N original histograms include the same number of data points; performing a specified operation on the two current histograms to obtain a reference histogram includes: Determining all data points included in the reference histogram based on each data point in the two current histograms, the number of data points included in the current histograms, and a specified window width parameter; wherein the window width parameter is used to represent the number of current data points required to participate in the calculation when determining the reference data point, the reference data point refers to each data point in the reference histogram, and the current data point refers to the number of data points included in either of the two current histograms; The reference histogram is determined according to all data points included in the reference histogram.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The step of determining all data points included in the reference histogram based on each data point in the two current histograms, the number of data points included in the current histograms, and a specified window width parameter comprises: All data points included in the reference histogram are determined by the following formula: Among them, the z k represents the value of the kth data point in the reference histogram, and the x i represents the value of the i-th data point in one of the two current histograms, and the y i represents the value of the i-th data point of the other current histogram in the two current histograms, L represents the number of data points included in the current histogram, and W represents the specified window width parameter.

11. A photon signal processing device, characterized in that: The device includes: a generating unit, configured to generate N original histograms based on photon signals received by a pixel array, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2, the pixel array includes a plurality of single-photon detectors, and the photon signals are generated by a same reference light source; a first determining unit, configured to determine a target histogram based on the N original histograms according to correlations between data points included in the N original histograms; The second determining unit is configured to determine a time resolution characteristic parameter of the reference light source according to the target histogram.

12. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: a processor and a machine-readable storage medium storing machine-executable instructions capable of being executed by the processor; The processor is configured to execute machine-executable instructions to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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