Single Sensor Simultaneous High-Resolution and High-Framerate Imagery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sensors require multiple systems to collect information in multiple formats, limiting the resolution and frame rate, making it difficult to derive comprehensive data, especially for detecting fast events like pulsed light.
Innovation Solution
A single sensor system processes data from pixels at different frequencies to generate high-resolution imagery at a typical video frame rate and lower-resolution imagery at a higher frame rate, allowing for the identification of events by aggregating pixel data and using subframe averaging with a focal plane array.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single sensor collects data at a predetermined rate and resolution, then the sensor structure is simple, but the information versatility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor output is segmented into two distinct data streams: one for high-resolution imagery at lower frame rates and another for lower-resolution imagery at higher frame rates. This segmentation allows the single sensor to provide multiple information formats simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between simple structure and versatile output.
Solution Approach 2:
The single sensor system is designed to perform multiple functions: it simultaneously generates high-resolution video for general viewing and lower-resolution high-frame-rate data for event detection. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for multiple separate sensor systems while maintaining structural simplicity.
2Measurement precision
If high-resolution imagery is collected at high frame rates, then the information quality is improved, but the data processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the sensor array are processed differently: some pixels contribute to high-resolution imagery while others are aggregated for lower-resolution high-frame-rate data. This local quality differentiation optimizes the balance between image quality and processing requirements by allocating processing resources according to specific needs.
Solution Approach 2:
Data from multiple neighboring pixels is merged to form aggregate pixel data for the lower-resolution data stream. This combining approach reduces the overall data processing load while still capturing essential temporal information for event detection, resolving the contradiction between quality and processing complexity.
3Device complexity
If data from multiple pixels is aggregated, then the processing complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically routes pixel data to different processing paths based on the desired output: individual pixel data maintains high resolution for video, while aggregated pixel data provides lower resolution for event detection. This dynamic approach allows the system to optimize processing complexity without permanently sacrificing measurement precision where it is still needed.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus to provide, from data from a single sensor, high-resolution imagery at a first frame rate, such as typical video frame rate, and lower-resolution imagery at a second frame rate, which is higher than the first rate. In one embodiment, the first frame rate data can be viewed by a user and the second frame rate data can be processed to identify an event of interest, such as pulsed light.