Within this work a 28 pixels line sensor for distance measurement applications is presented based on the time-of-flight principle and the double-correlator circuit concept. An on-chip oscillator block generates 15-phase steps of the fundamental 10 MHz clock with σ = 1.28 %, which is necessary for calculating the triangular correlation function out of which the distance information is obtained. Measurement results in a range up to 3 m with a standard deviation ≥ 3.5 cm are achieved. The pixel autonomous background light suppression is capable of managing background illumination > 100 kLux. A smart bus concept reduces the number of control signals to the pixels and guarantees 80 dB attenuation from the oscillator signals to the analog differential outputs of the chip. The line sensor was realized in a single-chip solution embodying the silicon PIN photodiode detectors.

Date Published: 26 August 2008
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 7055, Infrared Systems and Photoelectronic Technology III, 70550P (26 August 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.793886

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7055:
Infrared Systems and Photoelectronic Technology III
Eustace L. Dereniak; Randolph E. Longshore; Ashok K. Sood; John P. Hartke; Paul D. LeVan, Editor(s)