CN115866427A

CN115866427A - Pulse data reading method and apparatus, system, device and medium

Info

Publication number: CN115866427A
Application number: CN202310060235.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩润泽
Original assignee: Pulse Vision Beijing Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Pulse Vision Beijing Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-01-17
Filing date: 2023-01-17
Publication date: 2023-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 2043-01-17
Also published as: CN115866427B

Abstract

The embodiment of the disclosure discloses a method, a device, a system, equipment and a medium for reading out pulse data, wherein a pixel area is sequentially determined from a pulse imaging array as a target pixel area according to a pixel area polling mode, the pulse imaging array comprises m pixel units arranged in m rows and n columns, and the pixel area comprises one of the following: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than n; the pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel area in the corresponding data frame reading period is acquired and output, the accuracy and the integrity of the pulse data can be effectively guaranteed, a pulse sending event in a shorter time interval can be detected, the detectable maximum light intensity is improved, and the dynamic range of the pulse sequence type image sensor is expanded.

Description

Pulse data reading method and apparatus, system, device and medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to image sensing technology and impulse vision technology, and more particularly, to an impulse data readout method and apparatus, system, device, and medium.

Background

The pulse sequence type image sensor is a novel nerve form vision sensor, continuous light intensity information in a scene is recorded by issuing a high-density single-bit pulse sequence through an imaging mode of a retina in an imitation primate organism, high-speed motion can be captured and recorded, and texture details in the scene can be reconstructed, so that the pulse sequence type image sensor has great application value in the directions of machine vision, dynamic scene capture and the like.

In the related art, an asynchronous reading mode triggered based on a pulse sending event is adopted to read and output a pulse signal sent in an existing pulse sequence type image sensor array, and although the asynchronous reading mode can capture the pulse sending event in a very short time, if the number of times of pulse sending in a short time is too many, the phenomenon that the pulse sending event is lost in the external output process under the limitation of a certain output bandwidth occurs.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a technical scheme for reading a pulse signal.

In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a pulse data readout method, including:

determining a pixel area from the pulse imaging array in sequence according to a pixel area polling mode, wherein the pixel area is used as a target pixel area for reading a pulse signal at this time; the pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, and the values of m and n are integers which are larger than 1 respectively; the one pixel region includes one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than n;

and acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period, wherein the pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a pulse data readout device including:

the first determining unit is used for sequentially determining a pixel area from the pulse imaging array in a pixel area polling mode to be used as a target pixel area of a pulse signal to be read; the pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, and the values of m and n are integers which are larger than 1 respectively; the one pixel region includes one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than n;

and the acquisition unit is used for acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period, wherein the pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

In yet another aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a pulsed data readout system comprising a pulsed imaging array and a pulsed data readout device; wherein:

the pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, wherein the values of m and n are integers which are larger than 1 respectively;

each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array is respectively used for converting the received optical signal into an electric signal and accumulating the electric signal, and when the accumulation amount of the electric signal reaches a preset threshold value, generating a pulse signal and resetting the pulse signal so as to accumulate again;

the pulse data reading device is used for sequentially determining a pixel area from the pulse imaging array in a pixel area polling mode to be used as a target pixel area for reading a pulse signal at this time; the one pixel region includes one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than n; and acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period, wherein the pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

In another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, which includes the pulse data reading apparatus or the pulse data reading system according to any embodiment of the present disclosure, and the pulse data reading apparatus or the pulse data reading system is controlled by executing an instruction to implement the pulse data reading method according to any embodiment of the present disclosure.

In a further aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions, which when executed, cause a computer to execute a pulse data readout method according to any one of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In a further aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the pulse data readout method according to any of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Based on the embodiment, according to a pixel area polling manner, a pixel area is sequentially determined from a pulse imaging array as a target pixel area to be read for a pulse signal, wherein one pixel area may include p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units, or p rows of q columns of pixel units, and pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel area in a corresponding data frame reading period is obtained and output, so that the embodiment of the disclosure provides an implementation scheme for reading the pulse data in a multi-row polling manner, or multi-column polling manner, or multi-row and multi-column polling manner, because only pulse data of a part of pixel units in the pulse imaging array is read and output each time in a polling manner, for the case that the number of times of pulse issuance is excessive in a short time, a phenomenon that pulse data loses an issuance event in an external output process due to output bandwidth limitation can be avoided, and the accuracy and integrity of the pulse data are effectively ensured; in addition, the embodiment of the disclosure adopts a scheme of implementing reading out of pulse data in a multi-row polling mode, or multi-column polling mode, or multi-row and multi-column polling mode, and compared with a single-row polling mode, the embodiment of the disclosure can detect a pulse issuing event in a shorter time interval, improve the maximum detectable light intensity, thereby expanding the dynamic range of the pulse sequence type image sensor and capturing and recording light intensity information in a scene more completely.

The technical solution of the present disclosure is further described in detail by the accompanying drawings and examples.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

The present disclosure may be more clearly understood from the following detailed description, taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for pulsed data readout according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a distribution of a readout time interval of pulse data of a pixel unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation of sequentially acquiring pulse data of a row of pixel units according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation of acquiring pulse data of multiple rows of pixel units in parallel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a pulsed data readout method of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of pulse data alignment in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a pulse data readout device according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of a pulse data readout device according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a pulse data readout device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a pulsed data readout system according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a pulsed data readout system according to the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an application of the electronic device of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that: the relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions, and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless specifically stated otherwise.

It will be understood by those of skill in the art that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the embodiments of the present disclosure are used merely to distinguish one element from another, and are not intended to imply any particular technical meaning, nor is the necessary logical order between them.

It is also understood that in embodiments of the present disclosure, "a plurality" may refer to two or more and "at least one" may refer to one, two or more.

It is also to be understood that any reference to any component, data, or structure in the embodiments of the disclosure, may be generally understood as one or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise or stated otherwise.

In addition, the term "and/or" in the present disclosure is only one kind of association relationship describing an associated object, and means that three kinds of relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" in the present disclosure generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should also be understood that the description of the embodiments in the present disclosure emphasizes the differences between the embodiments, and the same or similar parts may be referred to each other, and are not repeated for brevity.

Meanwhile, it should be understood that the sizes of the respective portions shown in the drawings are not drawn in an actual proportional relationship for the convenience of description.

The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, further discussion thereof is not required in subsequent figures.

The disclosed embodiments may be applied to electronic devices such as terminal devices, computer systems, servers, autopilot systems, etc., which are operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well known terminal devices, computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with electronic devices, such as terminal devices, computer systems, servers, and the like, include, but are not limited to: personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, networked personal computers, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above, and the like.

Electronic devices such as terminal devices, computer systems, servers, autopilot systems, and the like, may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer system/server may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a pulse data readout method of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the pulse data readout method of the present embodiment includes:

and 102, sequentially determining a pixel area from the pulse imaging array according to a pixel area polling mode, wherein the pixel area is used as a target pixel area for reading the pulse signal at this time.

The pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, and the values of m and n are integers larger than 1 respectively. One of the pixel regions may include any one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than n.

And 104, acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period.

The pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates the pulse signal, wherein binary symbol 1 can be used for indicating that the pixel unit generates the pulse signal in the data frame reading period, and binary symbol 0 can be used for indicating that the pixel unit does not generate the pulse signal in the data frame reading period.

Operation 102 is then performed back, thereby enabling a polled readout of the pulse data for the pixel cells in the pulsed imaging array.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the size of the pixel region and/or the size of the data frame reading period may be determined according to any one or more of the detection requirements of the service scene, the size of the output bandwidth, the requirement of the detection light intensity dynamic range, and the like.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a realization scheme for reading out pulse data in a multi-row polling, multi-column polling or multi-row multi-column polling manner, because only the pulse data of a part of pixel units in a pulse imaging array is read and output each time in a polling manner, aiming at the condition that the number of times of pulse emission is excessive in a short time, the phenomenon that the pulse data loses a pulse emission event in the external output process due to the limitation of output bandwidth can be avoided, and the accuracy and the integrity of the pulse data are effectively ensured; in addition, the embodiment of the disclosure adopts a scheme of reading out pulse data in a multi-row polling mode, or multi-column polling mode, or multi-row and multi-column polling mode, and compared with a single-row polling mode, the embodiment of the disclosure can detect a pulse sending event in a shorter time interval, improve the detectable maximum light intensity, thereby expanding the dynamic range of the pulse sequence type image sensor and more completely capturing and recording light intensity information in a scene.

Optionally, in some implementations, the pulse data readout method of the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes: each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array converts the received optical signal into an electrical signal and accumulates the electrical signal, and when the accumulation amount of the electrical signal (i.e. the accumulation amount of the electrical signal) reaches a preset threshold value, a pulse signal is generated and reset so as to accumulate again. Accordingly, in operation 104, whether each pixel unit in the target pixel region generates a pulse signal in a corresponding data frame period is respectively obtained, and pulse data of each pixel unit in the corresponding data frame period is determined and output.

Based on the embodiment, each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array can continuously perform optical signal acquisition, photoelectric conversion and accumulation, generate a pulse signal when the accumulation amount of the electric signal reaches a preset threshold value, and simultaneously read out the pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in parallel.

Optionally, in some implementations, p rows of pixel cells may be determined from the impulse imaging array each time a pixel region determined in operation 102 needs to include p rows of pixel cells, where at least two of the p rows are not adjacent in the impulse imaging array.

Alternatively, in some implementations, q columns of pixel cells may be determined from the impulse imaging array each time a pixel region determined in operation 102 needs to include q columns of pixel cells, where at least two of the q columns are not adjacent in the impulse imaging array.

Alternatively, in some implementations, each time a pixel region determined in operation 102 needs to include p rows and q columns of pixel units, p rows and q columns of corresponding pixel units may be determined from the impulse imaging array, where at least two rows of the p rows are not adjacent in the impulse imaging array and/or at least two columns of the q columns are not adjacent in the impulse imaging array.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, no limitation is imposed on a specific rule for determining pixel units of p rows and q columns or pixel units corresponding to p rows and q columns as a target pixel region each time.

For example, taking the polling method of two rows of pixel units, i.e. p is 2, the row number of the pixel units in 2 rows determined as one pixel area at a time can be represented as i,

In which>

，/>

Can pass through

Determining, <' > or>

Represents->

The remainder of the division by m. In the start state, i =0, the pixel cells of the 2 rows first determined from the pulse imaging array are the 0 th row and the ^ th ^ er>

The row pixel units, after reading out the pulse data of the pixel units in the 2 rows through operation 104, assign i = i + 1, that is, increment the value of i by 1, and then £ r>

Determining->

And the pulse data for the pixel cells of these 2 rows is read out in operation 104 and so on, the i-th row and/or the i-th row are determined by polling with the value i = i + 1 assigned in succession>

And taking the row pixel units as target pixel areas and reading out pulse data. When i = m-1, i is set to 0 and the readout of the 0 th row and/or the ^ th is restarted>

And reading the pulse data of each row of pixels in a reciprocating manner according to the pulse data of the row of pixel units. In one specific implementation, assume m =200, n =100 =, which is greater than or equal to>

Then, the value of i each time and the number of 2 rows read by polling are respectively: i =0,0,5; i =1,1,6; i =2,2,7; 8230; i =13, 13, 18; 8230; i =199，199，4；…。

Optionally, in some implementations, adjacent line numbers in the determined p lines are sequentially different from each other

、…、/>

Wherein is present>

、…、/>

Are respectively an integer not less than 0, and>

、…、/>

the values of (a) are different from each other, or partially the same or all the same, that is, the p rows are not adjacent to each other, or partially adjacent to each other, or sequentially adjacent to each other in the pulse imaging array, and in the p rows, when the row numbers are closest to each other but not adjacent to each other or partially not adjacent to each other in the pulse imaging array, the numbers of the rows spaced between the two rows with the closest row numbers may be the same, or partially the same or all the different, which is not limited in this embodiment of the disclosure. For example, in a specific implementation, when the value of p is 6, adjacent line numbers in the 6 determined lines may differ by, for example, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 16 in sequence.

Optionally, in some implementations, adjacent column numbers in the determined q columns are sequentially different from each other

、…、/>

Wherein is present>

、…、/>

Are respectively an integer not less than 0, and>

、…、/>

the values of (a) are different from each other, or partially the same or all the same, that is, the q columns are not adjacent to each other, or partially adjacent to each other, or sequentially adjacent to each other in the pulse imaging array, and in the q columns, when the column numbers are closest to each other but not adjacent to each other or partially not adjacent to each other in the pulse imaging array, the number of columns spaced between two columns with the closest column numbers may be the same, or partially the same, or all the same, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in a specific implementation, when q is 3, the determined adjacent row numbers in the 3 rows may differ by, for example, 1, 2, and 3 in sequence.

Assume that the time for reading the pulse data of one row of pixel cells (i.e., one data frame period) is

When p is equal to 2, the polling operation is performed while reading the pulse data of the pixel units of 2 rows each time, so that the polling operation requires a reading time ≧ H>

. In a fifth or fifth direction>

Taking the pixel cell in a row as an example, the { < th >/when i =0>

The pulse data of the pixel cells in a row is read out once when

Is at first and second>

The pulse data of the pixel units in the row is read out againThen passes through>

After a certain time, it is ^ h>

The pulse data of the pixel cells in a row is read out. Thus, a ^ th or ^ th reading is taken>

The time interval of the pulse data of the pixel cells of a row is ≥>

And &>

. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a distribution of readout time intervals of pulse data of one pixel unit in the embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 illustrates a distribution of readout time intervals of pulse data of a pulse imaging array of the present disclosure, taking polling of 2 rows of pixel units as an example.

It is assumed that m =1000 and that,

，/>

the time interval between two adjacent read-out of the pulse data of a single pixel unit is fixed and is->

At this time, the light intensity of the preset threshold value of the electric signal accumulated in 10us can be detected at the maximum. If the polling method of two rows of pixel units in the embodiment of the present disclosure is adopted, under the condition of the same output bandwidth, two adjacent readout time intervals of a single pixel are provided, which are ÷ based on>

And &>

That is, within 200ns of maximum detectabilityThe light intensity accumulated to the preset threshold value of the electrical signal. The maximum light intensity which can be detected is increased by 50 times according to a single-row polling mode, the weakest light intensity which can be detected is determined by the dark current in the pixel units, and the single-row polling mode and the two-row polling mode are the same, so that the dynamic range is obviously improved by adopting the two-row polling mode of the pixel units, and particularly, the capturing and recording effects can be better for scenes with higher requirements on instantaneous light intensity detection, such as explosion and the like.

In the above example of the polling mode by two rows of pixel units, the difference between the two adjacent reading time intervals of a single pixel may be too large, and the maximum light intensity detected in the reading time interval of 200ns is 50 times of the light intensity detected in the reading time interval of 19.8us, but the middle light intensity cannot be detected, which results in a large discontinuity between actually detected light intensities.

And the difference between the adjacent line numbers in the p lines

、…、/>

Are different from each other, or are partially the same, or the difference between adjacent column numbers in the q columns->

、…、/>

Are different from each other or partially the same, the readout time interval of a single pixel in the whole process can be different, so that the pixel can be read out from the pixel at different intervalsA certain dynamic range can be guaranteed.

In a specific implementation process, the value of the row number p of one pixel region in each polling and/or the difference between the numbers of adjacent rows in the p rows can be determined according to the requirement on the dynamic range

、…、/>

Or the number of columns q and/or the difference between adjacent column numbers in q columns->

、…、/>

The value of (a) is not limited thereto by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Optionally, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of one row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be sequentially acquired and output, so that pulse data of each row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units is correspondingly acquired and output in each data frame reading period, and a time required for acquiring and outputting pulse data of the p rows of pixel units is p data frame reading periods.

Alternatively, in some implementations, each time a pixel region determined in operation 102 includes q rows of pixel units, in operation 104, pulse data of one row of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period is sequentially acquired and output, so that pulse data of each row of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units is correspondingly acquired and output through each data frame reading period, and a time required for acquiring and outputting the pulse data of the q rows of pixel units is q data frame reading periods.

Alternatively, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows and q columns of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of one row of pixel units or one column of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period is sequentially acquired and output, so that pulse data of each row or each column of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units is correspondingly acquired and output through each data frame reading period, and time required for acquiring and outputting pulse data of the p rows and q columns of pixel units corresponds to p or q data frame reading periods.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation of sequentially acquiring pulse data of a row of pixel units according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 3, the pulse imaging array includes m × n pixel units arranged in m rows and n columns, each pixel unit converts a received optical signal into an electrical signal and accumulates the electrical signal, and when an amount of accumulated electrical signals reaches a preset threshold, generates a pulse signal and resets the pulse signal for accumulation again. After determining p rows of pixel cells to be read each time, sequentially gating the pixel cells of one row of the p rows of pulse data to be read out in one data frame reading period through a controller, and then reading the pulse data of the gated pixel cells in the row in the one data frame reading period through the data reading unit.

Based on the embodiment, because the pulse data of the pixel units of one row or column is gated and read every time, only one control unit and one data reading unit are required to be arranged for the pulse imaging array, so that the circuit structure can be simplified, the circuit volume can be reduced, and the miniaturization of the circuit can be realized.

Optionally, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be acquired in parallel by p data reading units and output, that is, the number of the data reading units is the same as the number of rows of one pixel region determined each time, and each data reading unit in the p data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units, so that pulse data of the p rows of pixel units may be read out in parallel by the p data reading units in one data frame reading period, thereby improving pulse data reading efficiency.

Alternatively, in some implementations, each time one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes P rows of pixel units, in operation 104, pulse data of P rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period in the P rows of pixel units may be sequentially acquired in parallel in one data frame reading period by the P data reading units in a polling manner of the P rows of pixel units, and output. The value of P is an integer greater than 1, the value of P is k times that of P, the value of k is an integer greater than 1, namely the number of rows of a pixel region determined each time is k times that of data reading units, the P data reading units read pulse data of the P rows of pixel units in a mode that the data reading units read in parallel in the same data frame reading period and poll the k times through the k data frame reading periods, each data reading unit in the P data reading units polls the k rows of pixel units in the P rows of pixel units through the k data frame reading periods, the P data reading units can read the pulse data of the P rows of pixel units through the k data frame reading periods, and the pulse data reading efficiency can be improved under the condition that circuit structures are saved by arranging fewer data reading units.

Or, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes q rows of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be acquired in parallel by q data reading units and output, that is, the number of the data reading units is the same as the number of rows of one pixel region determined each time, and each data reading unit in the q data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units, so that the pulse data of the q rows of pixel units may be read in parallel in one data frame reading period by the q data reading units, thereby improving the pulse data reading efficiency.

Alternatively, in some implementations, every time one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes Q columns of pixel units, in operation 104, pulse data of Q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period among the Q columns of pixel units may be sequentially acquired in parallel in one data frame reading period by the Q data reading units in a polling manner of the Q columns of pixel units, and output. The Q value is an integer larger than 1, the Q value is s times of the Q value, the s value is an integer larger than 1, namely the number of columns of a pixel region determined each time is s times of the number of data reading units, the Q data reading units read pulse data of the Q columns of pixel units in a mode that the Q data reading units read in parallel in the same data frame reading period and poll the Q columns of pixel units for s times through s data frame reading periods, each data reading unit in the Q data reading units polls the s columns of pixel units in the Q columns of pixel units respectively through s data frame reading periods, the Q data reading units can read the pulse data of the Q columns of pixel units through the s data frame reading periods, and the pulse data reading efficiency can be improved under the condition that circuit structures are saved by arranging fewer data reading units.

Or, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows and q columns of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of corresponding rows of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be acquired in parallel by p data reading units and output, that is, the number of the data reading units is the same as the number of rows of one pixel region determined each time, and each data reading unit in the p data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units, so that pulse data of p rows and q columns of pixel units may be read in parallel by the p data reading units in one data frame reading period, thereby improving pulse data reading efficiency.

Alternatively, in some implementations, each time one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes P rows and q columns of pixel units, in operation 104, pulse data of P rows of pixel units in the P rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be sequentially acquired in parallel in one data frame reading period by the P data reading units according to a polling manner of the P rows of pixel units, and output. The value of P is an integer larger than 1, the value of P is k times of the value of P, the value of k is an integer larger than 1, namely the line number of a pixel area determined each time is k times of the number of data reading units, the P data reading units read out the pulse data of q rows of pixel units in a mode of reading in parallel in the same data frame reading period and polling for k times through k data frame reading periods, each data reading unit in the P data reading units polls k rows of pixel units in q rows of pixel units through k data frame reading periods, the P data reading units can read out the pulse data of the q rows of pixel units through k data frame reading periods, and the pulse data reading efficiency can be improved under the condition that fewer data reading units are arranged to save circuit structures.

Or, in some implementations, when one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows and q columns of pixel units each time, in operation 104, pulse data of corresponding columns of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period may be acquired in parallel by q data reading units and output, that is, the number of the data reading units is the same as the number of columns of one pixel region determined each time, and each data reading unit in the q data reading units corresponds to one column of pixel units, so that the pulse data of the p rows and q columns of pixel units may be read in parallel in one data frame reading period by the q data reading units, thereby improving the pulse data reading efficiency.

Alternatively, in some implementations, each time one pixel region determined in operation 102 includes p rows and Q columns of pixel units, in operation 104, pulse data of Q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period in the p rows and Q columns of pixel units may be sequentially acquired in parallel in one data frame reading period by Q data reading units according to a polling manner of the Q columns of pixel units, and output. The value of Q is an integer larger than 1, the value of Q is s times of the value of Q, the value of s is an integer larger than 1, namely the number of columns of a pixel region determined each time is s times of the number of data reading units, the Q data reading units read out the pulse data of the p rows of Q columns of pixel units in a mode of reading in parallel in the same data frame reading period and polling s times through s data frame reading periods, each data reading unit in the Q data reading units polls the Q columns of pixel units in the p rows of Q columns of pixel units through s data frame reading periods, the Q data reading units can read out the pulse data of the p rows of Q columns of pixel units through s data frame reading periods, and the pulse data reading efficiency can be improved under the condition that circuit structures are saved through fewer data reading units.

In the implementation shown in fig. 3, since it is necessary to sequentially gate one of the p rows of pulse data to be read out, and read the pulse data of the pixel units in the row in the one data frame reading period, the reading speed of the pulse data is affected. Based on this embodiment, a plurality of data reading units may be provided, a plurality of rows or a plurality of columns may be strobed at a time, and the pulse data of the pixel units of the strobed rows or columns may be read in parallel by the plurality of data reading units, so that the readout speed of the pulse data may be increased. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation of acquiring pulse data of multiple rows of pixel units in parallel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 4, only an example in which 2 data reading units read pulse data of gated pixel units of 2 rows or a plurality of columns in parallel is exemplarily shown, a plurality of column lines are drawn in each pixel unit, each row of pixel units is gated by a controller, and pulse data of pixel units of a row gated by 2 data reading units in parallel is output.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of another embodiment of the disclosed pulse data readout method. As shown in fig. 5, on the basis of any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to fig. 4, after operation 104, this embodiment may further include:

and 202, respectively aligning the output pulse data of each pixel unit to a corresponding pixel unit in the pulse imaging array so as to form a pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of pulse data alignment in an embodiment of the present disclosure. In fig. 6, taking the example of polling and reading out the pulse data of the pixel units of 2 rows at a time, since the pixel units of 2 rows are read out at a timeThe pulse data of the element and the pulse data of each row of pixel units are alternately appeared. In conjunction with the above example, the pulse data of the pixel cells in row 0 is read out once at the 1 st polling and once at the 1 st polling

The first half of the pulse data read in poll 1 (corresponding to row 0) can be read again in this case with the ^ h>

The second half (corresponding to row 0) of the pulse data read at the time of the sub-polling is aligned to row 0.

Based on the embodiment, the output pulse data of each pixel unit is respectively aligned to the corresponding pixel unit in the pulse imaging array, and a pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array can be obtained so as to be used for subsequent image reconstruction, target detection and other applications.

In addition, referring back to fig. 5, in a further embodiment, after forming the pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array through operation 202, the method may further include:

and 204, respectively taking each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array as a target pixel unit, and acquiring a time interval between two adjacent pulse data used for representing pulse signals generated by the pixel unit in a pulse data sequence of the target pixel unit.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the readout time interval of a single pixel unit during the whole polling process may not be the same or not be the same, and in a specific implementation, assuming that the pulse data generating the pulse signal is represented by binary symbol 1, in this operation 204, the time interval between two adjacent pulse data 1 of the pixel unit may be obtained.

And 206, determining the light intensity value of the target pixel unit in the time interval based on the time interval.

Since the readout time intervals of the individual pixel units in the whole polling process may not be the same or not be the same, in determining the light intensity value of the pixel unit in the time interval, in some implementations, the time interval between two adjacent pulse data (i.e. two adjacent 1) for indicating that the pixel unit generates a pulse signal may be converted into a basic time interval (for example, the duration of a data frame reading period or the minimum time interval between two adjacent 1 in a pulse data sequence corresponding to the whole pulse imaging array) according to the pulse data sequence of the pixel unit and the dynamic change rule thereof, for example, the time interval between the pulse data 1 and the last pulse data 1 in the pulse data sequence of one pixel unit may be converted into a basic time interval according to the last five pulse data before the pulse data if the last five pulse data are all 1, and then the ratio between 1 and the basic time interval is obtained as the light intensity value of the pixel unit in the time interval; alternatively, the light intensity value of the pixel unit in the time interval may also be obtained by G =1 × Gmax/t, where G denotes the light intensity value, gmax denotes the light intensity value corresponding to the minimum time interval between two adjacent 1 in the pulse data sequence of the pixel unit, and t denotes the duration of the basic time interval.

Or, in another implementation manner, for each pixel unit, according to a readout time interval distribution sequence determined based on a window sliding manner (including r consecutive readout time intervals determined in a window sliding manner, where r is an integer greater than 2), if pulse data in a pulse data sequence corresponding to the readout time interval distribution sequence are all 1, it indicates that an optical signal in a time period corresponding to the readout time interval distribution sequence is always in a strongest state, and when readout time intervals in the readout time interval distribution sequence are not the same or not completely the same, a shortest readout time interval in the readout time interval distribution sequence may be taken as another readout time interval in the readout time interval distribution sequence, and then a ratio between 1 and the shortest readout time interval is obtained as an optical intensity value of the pixel unit in another readout time interval; or, directly taking the light intensity value corresponding to the shortest readout time interval as the light intensity value of the pixel unit in other readout time intervals.

And 208, reconstructing an image based on the light intensity value of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array in each time interval to obtain a reconstructed image sequence, wherein the reconstructed image sequence comprises a plurality of frames of reconstructed images based on a time sequence relation.

And the gray value of each pixel in the reconstructed image is the light intensity value of the corresponding pixel unit.

Alternatively, in some implementations, the image reconstruction may be performed, for example, by a pulse reconstruction algorithm (TFI) based on the inter-peak potential distance (ISI), a pulse reconstruction algorithm (TFP) based on the sliding of a fixed window, a pulse reconstruction algorithm (impulse reconstruction algorithm) based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), or the like. The disclosed embodiment does not limit the pulse reconstruction algorithm used.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, since the readout time intervals of the individual pixel units in the whole polling process may not be the same or not be the same, the light intensity values of the pixel units in the time intervals can be determined for different time intervals and pulse data sequences, so as to perform image reconstruction.

In addition, referring back to fig. 5, in a further embodiment, after obtaining the reconstructed image sequence through operation 208, the method may further include:

and 210, carrying out target detection based on the reconstructed image sequence to obtain a target detection result.

Optionally, in some implementation manners, the target detection may be performed based on a gray value in the reconstructed image sequence and a distribution rule thereof, or the target detection may be performed on the reconstructed image sequence by using a CNN obtained by pre-training, where the CNN may be obtained by pre-training based on a sample image sequence including a target to be detected.

Based on this embodiment, object detection may be achieved for a sequence of reconstructed images.

Alternatively, in yet another embodiment of the pulse data readout method of the present disclosure, after forming the pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array through operation 202, the method may further include:

based on the pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array, a pulse neural network (SNN) obtained by pre-training is utilized to perform target detection, so as to obtain a target detection result, wherein the SNN can be obtained by pre-training based on a sample pulse data sequence including a target to be detected.

Based on the embodiment, the target detection can be directly carried out based on the pulse data sequence of the pulse imaging array without image reconstruction, so that the calculation resource is saved, and the target detection efficiency is improved.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a pulse data readout device according to the present disclosure. The pulse data reading device of the embodiment of the disclosure can be used for realizing the above pulse data reading method embodiments of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 7, the pulse data readout device of this embodiment includes a first determination unit 302 and an acquisition unit 304. Wherein:

the first determining unit 302 is configured to sequentially determine a pixel area from the pulse imaging array in a pixel area polling manner, where the pixel area is a target pixel area for reading a pulse signal this time. The pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, wherein the values of m and n are integers which are larger than 1 respectively; one pixel region may include any one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than n.

And an obtaining unit 304, configured to obtain and output pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period, where the pulse data is used to indicate whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a realization scheme for reading out pulse data in a multi-row polling mode, or multi-column polling mode, or multi-row and multi-column polling mode, and because only the pulse data of a part of pixel units in a pulse imaging array is read and output each time in the polling mode, aiming at the condition that the number of times of pulse sending in a short time is excessive, the phenomenon that the pulse data loses a pulse sending event in the process of external output due to the limitation of output bandwidth can be avoided, and the accuracy and the integrity of the pulse data are effectively ensured; in addition, the embodiment of the disclosure adopts a scheme of implementing reading out of pulse data in a multi-row polling mode, or multi-column polling mode, or multi-row and multi-column polling mode, and compared with a single-row polling mode, the embodiment of the disclosure can detect a pulse issuing event in a shorter time interval, improve the maximum detectable light intensity, thereby expanding the dynamic range of the pulse sequence type image sensor and capturing and recording light intensity information in a scene more completely.

Optionally, in some implementations, the obtaining unit 304 is specifically configured to respectively obtain whether each pixel unit in the target pixel region generates a pulse signal in a current data frame period, determine pulse data in the current data frame period, and output the pulse data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the first determining unit 302 is specifically configured to:

when the pixel region comprises p rows of pixel units, sequentially determining p rows of pixel units from the pulse imaging array in a pixel region polling mode, wherein at least two rows of the p rows are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the pixel region comprises q rows of pixel units, determining q rows of pixel units from the pulse imaging array in sequence according to a pixel region polling mode, wherein at least two rows of the q rows are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the pixel region comprises p rows and q columns of pixel units, determining the pixel units corresponding to p rows and q columns from the pulse imaging array in sequence according to a pixel region polling mode, wherein at least two rows of the p rows are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array, and/or at least two columns of the q columns are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array.

Optionally, in some implementations, adjacent ones of the p rows are sequentially different in number from one another

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Different from each other, or partially or totally identical. Or adjacent column numbers of the q columns differ ^ er in turn>

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Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the pulse data readout device according to the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 8, on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the obtaining unit 304 specifically includes a data reading unit 3042. The pulse data read-out arrangement further comprises a control unit 402 for: when the one pixel region includes p rows of pixel units, the control data reading unit 3042 sequentially obtains and outputs pulse data of one row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period; or, when the one pixel region includes q rows of pixel units, the control data reading unit 3042 sequentially obtains and outputs pulse data of one row of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period; alternatively, when the one pixel region includes p rows and q columns of pixel units, the control data reading unit 3042 sequentially obtains and outputs pulse data of one row of pixel units or one column of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the pulse data readout device according to the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 9, on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 7 described above, the pulse data readout device of this embodiment further includes a control unit 402.

In some implementations, the one pixel region includes p rows of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes p data reading units 3044. A control unit 402, configured to control the p data reading units 3044 to obtain and output pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period, where each data reading unit 3044 in the p data reading units 3044 corresponds to a row of pixel units respectively.

Or, in some implementation manners, the one pixel region includes P rows of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes P data reading units 3044, where a value of P is an integer greater than 1, a value of P is k times a value of P, and k is an integer greater than 1. A control unit 402, configured to control the P data reading units 3044 to sequentially and concurrently acquire and output pulse data of P rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period in a polling manner of the P rows of pixel units in the data frame reading period, where each data reading unit 3044 in the P data reading units 3044 polls k rows of pixel units in the P rows of pixel units in k data frame reading periods respectively.

Alternatively, in some implementations, the one pixel region includes q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes q data reading units 3044. A control unit 402, configured to control q data reading units 3044 to obtain and output pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period in parallel, where each data reading unit 3044 in the q data reading units 3044 corresponds to a row of pixel units respectively.

Or, in some implementations, the one pixel region includes Q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes Q data reading units 3044, where a value of Q is an integer greater than 1, a value of Q is s times a value of Q, and s is an integer greater than 1. The control unit 402 is configured to control the Q data reading units 3044 to sequentially and parallelly acquire and output pulse data of Q rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period according to a polling manner of the Q rows of pixel units, where each data reading unit 3044 of the Q data reading units 3044 polls s rows of pixel units in the Q rows of pixel units through s data frame reading periods.

Alternatively, in some implementations, the one pixel region includes p rows and q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes p data reading units 3044. A control unit 402, configured to control p data reading units 3044 to obtain and output pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in a data frame reading period, where each data reading unit 3044 in the p data reading units 3044 corresponds to a row of pixel units respectively.

Or, in some implementation manners, the one pixel region includes P rows and q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes P data reading units 3044, where a value of P is an integer greater than 1, a value of P is k times a value of P, and k is an integer greater than 1. A control unit 402, configured to control the P data reading units 3044 to sequentially and concurrently acquire and output pulse data of P rows of pixel units in the P rows and q columns of pixel units in a data frame reading period according to a polling manner of the P rows of pixel units, where each data reading unit 3044 in the P data reading units 3044 polls k rows of pixel units in the P rows and q columns of pixel units through k data frame reading periods, respectively.

Alternatively, in some implementations, the one pixel region includes p rows and q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes q data reading units 3044. A control unit 402, configured to control q data reading units 3044 to obtain and output pulse data of a corresponding row of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in a data frame reading period, where each data reading unit 3044 in the q data reading units 3044 corresponds to a column of pixel units respectively.

Or, in some implementations, the one pixel region includes p rows and Q columns of pixel units, and the obtaining unit 304 includes Q data reading units 3044, where a value of Q is an integer greater than 1, a value of Q is s times a value of Q, and s is an integer greater than 1. The control unit 402 is configured to control the Q data reading units 3044 to sequentially and parallelly acquire and output pulse data of Q columns of pixel units in the p rows and Q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period according to a polling manner of the Q columns of pixel units, where each data reading unit 3044 of the Q data reading units 3044 polls s columns of pixel units in the p rows and Q columns of pixel units in s data frame reading periods respectively.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the disclosed pulse data readout system. The pulse data reading system of the embodiment of the disclosure can be used for realizing the above pulse data reading method embodiments of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 10, the pulse data readout system of this embodiment includes a pulse imaging array 502 and a pulse data readout device 504. Wherein:

pulse imaging array 502 includes m × n pixel cells arranged in m rows and n columns, where m and n are integers greater than 1.

Each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 502 is used for converting the received optical signal into an electrical signal and accumulating the electrical signal, and when the accumulation amount of the electrical signal reaches a preset threshold value, generating a pulse signal and resetting the pulse signal so as to accumulate the electrical signal again.

A pulse data reading device 504, configured to determine a pixel region from the pulse imaging array 502 in sequence in a pixel region polling manner, where the pixel region is used as a target pixel region for reading a pulse signal this time; one pixel region includes any one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer which is larger than 1 and not larger than n; and acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame reading period, wherein the pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

The pulse data reading device 504 in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented by the structure described in any one of the embodiments of fig. 7 to 9 of the present disclosure, and details thereof are not repeated here.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the disclosed pulse data readout system. As shown in fig. 11, on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 10, the pulse data readout system of this embodiment further includes an alignment unit 506, configured to align the output pulse data of each pixel unit to a corresponding pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 502, so as to form a pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 502.

In addition, referring back to fig. 11, in yet another embodiment of the pulse data readout system, the method may further include: a judgment unit 508, a second determination unit 510 and an image reconstruction unit 512. The determining unit 508 is configured to take each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 502 as a target pixel unit, and obtain a time interval between two adjacent pulse data in a pulse data sequence of the target pixel unit, where the two adjacent pulse data are used to indicate that the pixel unit generates a pulse signal. A second determining unit 510 for determining the light intensity value of the target pixel cell within the time interval based on the time interval. And the image reconstruction unit 512 is configured to perform image reconstruction based on the light intensity value of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 512 in the time interval, so as to obtain a reconstructed image sequence.

In addition, referring back to fig. 11, in yet another embodiment of the pulse data readout system, the method may further include: a first object detection unit 514, configured to perform object detection based on the reconstructed image sequence.

Alternatively, in yet another embodiment of the pulse data readout system, the second target detection unit 516 may be further included, and is configured to perform target detection by using a pre-trained pulse neural network based on the pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array 502.

In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, which includes the pulse data reading apparatus or the pulse data reading system according to any one of the above embodiments of the present disclosure, and the pulse data reading method according to any one of the above embodiments of the present disclosure is implemented by executing an instruction to control the time sequence signal processing apparatus.

Optionally, in some possible implementations, the electronic device may include, for example and without limitation, any one of the following: pulse cameras, high-speed cameras, vision cameras, audio players, video players, navigation devices, fixed-position terminals, entertainment units, smart phones, communication devices, mobile devices, devices in motor vehicles, on-board cameras, cell phone cameras, motion or wearable cameras, traffic cameras, industrial detection cameras, cameras mounted on flyable objects, medical cameras, security cameras, or home appliance cameras, to name a few.

Next, an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to fig. 12. The electronic device may be either or both of the first device and the second device, or a stand-alone device separate from them, which stand-alone device may communicate with the first device and the second device to receive the acquired input signals therefrom.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an application of the electronic device of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 12, the electronic device includes one or more processors 602 and memory 604.

The processor 602 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or other form of processing unit having data processing capabilities and/or instruction execution capabilities, and may control other components in the electronic device to perform desired functions.

Memory 604 may store one or more computer program products, and memory 604 may include various forms of computer-readable storage media, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include, for example, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory (cache), and/or the like. The non-volatile memory may include, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, etc. One or more computer program products may be stored on the computer-readable storage medium and executed by processor 602 to implement the pulse data readout methods of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above and/or other desired functions.

In one example, the electronic device may further include: an input device 606 and an output device 608, which are interconnected by a bus system and/or other form of connection mechanism (not shown).

The input device 606 may also include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like.

The output device 608 may output various information including the determined distance information, direction information, and the like to the outside. The output devices 608 may include, for example, a display, speakers, a printer, and a communication network and remote output devices connected thereto, among others.

Of course, for simplicity, only some of the components of the electronic device relevant to the present disclosure are shown in fig. 12, omitting components such as buses, input/output interfaces, and the like. In addition, the electronic device may include any other suitable components, depending on the particular application.

In addition to the above-described methods and apparatus, embodiments of the present disclosure may also be a computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps in the pulse data readout method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above-mentioned part of the specification.

The computer program product may write program code for carrying out operations for embodiments of the present disclosure in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computing device, partly on the user's device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computing device and partly on a remote computing device, or entirely on the remote computing device or server.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present disclosure may also be a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps in the pulse data readout method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above section of this specification.

The computer-readable storage medium may take any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may include, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The foregoing describes the general principles of the present disclosure in conjunction with specific embodiments, however, it is noted that the advantages, effects, etc. mentioned in the present disclosure are merely examples and are not limiting, and they should not be considered essential to the various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the foregoing disclosure of specific details is for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be limiting, since the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific details so described.

In the present specification, the embodiments are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same or similar parts in the embodiments are referred to each other. For the system embodiment, since it basically corresponds to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and for the relevant points, reference may be made to the partial description of the method embodiment.

The block diagrams of devices, apparatuses, devices, systems involved in the present disclosure are only given as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the connections, arrangements, configurations must be made in the manner shown in the block diagrams. These devices, apparatuses, devices, systems may be connected, arranged, configured in any manner, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Words such as "including," "comprising," "having," and the like are open-ended words that mean "including, but not limited to," and are used interchangeably herein. The words "or" and "as used herein mean, and are used interchangeably with, the word" and/or, "unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The word "such as" is used herein to mean, and is used interchangeably with, the phrase "such as but not limited to".

The methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented in a number of ways. For example, the methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above-described order for the steps of the method is for illustration only, and the steps of the method of the present disclosure are not limited to the order specifically described above unless specifically stated otherwise. Further, in some embodiments, the present disclosure may also be embodied as programs recorded in a recording medium, the programs including machine-readable instructions for implementing the methods according to the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure also covers a recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to the present disclosure.

It is also noted that in the apparatus, devices, and methods of the present disclosure, various components or steps may be broken down and/or re-combined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be considered equivalents of the present disclosure.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, the description is not intended to limit embodiments of the disclosure to the form disclosed herein. While a number of example aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, alterations, additions and sub-combinations thereof.

Claims

1. A method of pulsed data readout, comprising:

and acquiring and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel area in a corresponding data frame reading period, wherein the pulse data is used for indicating whether the pixel unit generates a pulse signal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array converts the received optical signal into an electric signal and accumulates the electric signal, and when the accumulation amount of the electric signal reaches a preset threshold value, a pulse signal is generated and reset so as to accumulate again;

acquiring pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in a corresponding data frame period, wherein the pulse data comprises the following steps:

respectively acquiring whether each pixel unit in the target pixel area generates a pulse signal in a corresponding data frame period, and determining and outputting pulse data of each pixel unit in the corresponding data frame period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a pixel region from the pulsed imaging array comprises one of:

when the one pixel region comprises p rows of pixel cells, determining p rows of pixel cells from the pulsed imaging array, wherein at least two rows of the p rows are not adjacent in the pulsed imaging array;

when the one pixel region includes q columns of pixel cells, determining q columns of pixel cells from the pulse imaging array, wherein at least two columns of the q columns are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array;

when the pixel region comprises p rows and q columns of pixel units, determining pixel units corresponding to p rows and q columns from the pulse imaging array, wherein at least two rows of the p rows are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array, and/or at least two columns of the q columns are not adjacent in the pulse imaging array.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein adjacent row numbers of the p rows are sequentially different from each other

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Wherein is present>

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Different from each other, or partially or totally identical; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

adjacent column numbers in the q columns are sequentially different from each other in phase

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Different from each other, or partially or totally identical.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the obtaining and outputting of the impulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in the corresponding data frame reading period comprises one of:

when the pixel region comprises p rows of pixel units, pulse data of one row of pixel units in the p rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period are sequentially acquired and output;

when the pixel area comprises q rows of pixel units, pulse data of one row of pixel units in a data frame reading period in the q rows of pixel units are sequentially acquired and output;

when the pixel area comprises p rows and q columns of pixel units, pulse data of one row of pixel units or one column of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in one data frame reading period are sequentially acquired and output.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the obtaining and outputting of the impulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in the corresponding data frame reading period comprises one of:

when the pixel region comprises p rows of pixel units, pulse data of the pixel units in the corresponding row in the p rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period are acquired in parallel through p data reading units and output, wherein each data reading unit in the p data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units respectively;

when the pixel region comprises P rows of pixel units, pulse data of the P rows of pixel units in the data frame reading period are sequentially and parallelly acquired in a data frame reading period through the P data reading units in a polling mode of the P rows of pixel units, and are output, wherein the value of P is an integer larger than 1, the value of P is k times of the value of P, the value of k is an integer larger than 1, and each data reading unit in the P data reading units polls the k rows of pixel units in the P rows of pixel units respectively through k data frame reading periods; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

when the pixel area comprises q rows of pixel units, pulse data of corresponding rows of pixel units in the q rows of pixel units in a data frame reading period are acquired in parallel through q data reading units and output, wherein each data reading unit in the q data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units respectively;

when the pixel area comprises Q rows of pixel units, pulse data of the Q rows of pixel units in the Q rows of pixel units in one data frame reading period are sequentially and parallelly acquired in one data frame reading period through Q data reading units in a polling mode of the Q rows of pixel units and output, wherein the value of Q is an integer larger than 1, the value of Q is s times of the value of Q, and the value of s is an integer larger than 1;

when the pixel region comprises p rows and q columns of pixel units, pulse data of the pixel units in the corresponding row in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in a data frame reading period are acquired in parallel through p data reading units and output, wherein each data reading unit in the p data reading units corresponds to one row of pixel units respectively;

when the pixel region comprises P rows and q columns of pixel units, pulse data of the P rows of pixel units in the P rows and q columns of pixel units in the data frame reading period are sequentially and parallelly acquired in a data frame reading period through the P data reading units in a polling mode of the P rows of pixel units, and are output, wherein the value of P is an integer larger than 1, the value of P is k times of the value of P, the value of k is an integer larger than 1, and each data reading unit in the P data reading units polls the k rows of pixel units in the P rows and q columns of pixel units respectively through k data frame reading periods;

when the pixel region comprises p rows and q columns of pixel units, pulse data of corresponding columns of pixel units in the p rows and q columns of pixel units in a data frame reading period are acquired in parallel through q data reading units and output, wherein each data reading unit in the q data reading units corresponds to one column of pixel units respectively;

when the pixel region comprises p rows and Q columns of pixel units, pulse data of the Q columns of pixel units in the p rows and Q columns of pixel units in the data frame reading period are sequentially and parallelly acquired and output in a data frame reading period through Q data reading units according to a mode of polling the Q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of Q is an integer larger than 1, the value of Q is s times of the value of Q, the value of s is an integer larger than 1, and each data reading unit in the Q data reading units polls the s columns of pixel units in the p rows and Q columns of pixel units respectively through s data frame reading periods.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein after acquiring and outputting the pulse data of each pixel unit in the target pixel region in the corresponding data frame reading period, the method further comprises:

and respectively aligning the output pulse data of each pixel unit to a corresponding pixel unit in the pulse imaging array so as to form a pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein after forming the pulse data sequence for each pixel element in the pulsed imaging array, further comprising:

respectively taking each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array as a target pixel unit, and acquiring a time interval between two adjacent pulse data which are used for representing pulse signals generated by the pixel units in a pulse data sequence of the target pixel unit;

determining a light intensity value of the target pixel cell within the time interval based on the time interval;

and performing image reconstruction based on the light intensity value of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array in the time interval to obtain a reconstructed image sequence.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein after obtaining the sequence of reconstructed images, further comprising:

and carrying out target detection based on the reconstructed image sequence.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein after forming the pulse data sequence for each pixel element in the pulsed imaging array, further comprising:

and based on the pulse data sequence of each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array, performing target detection by using a pulse neural network obtained by pre-training.

11. A pulsed data readout device, comprising:

the first determining unit is used for sequentially determining a pixel area from the pulse imaging array in a pixel area polling mode to be used as a target pixel area of a pulse signal to be read; the pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, and the values of m and n are integers which are larger than 1 respectively; the one pixel region includes one of: the pixel array comprises p rows of pixel units, q columns of pixel units and p rows of q columns of pixel units, wherein the value of p is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than m, and the value of q is an integer larger than 1 and not larger than n;

12. A pulsed data readout system comprising a pulsed imaging array and a pulsed data readout device; wherein:

the pulse imaging array comprises m × n pixel units which are arranged into m rows and n columns, wherein the values of m and n are integers greater than 1 respectively;

each pixel unit in the pulse imaging array is respectively used for converting the received optical signal into an electric signal and accumulating the electric signal, and when the accumulation amount of the electric signal reaches a preset threshold value, generating a pulse signal and resetting the pulse signal so as to accumulate the electric signal again;

13. An electronic device comprising the pulse data readout device according to claim 11 or the pulse data readout system according to claim 12, wherein the pulse data readout device or the pulse data readout system is controlled by executing instructions to implement the pulse data readout method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the electronic device comprises any one of: pulse cameras, high-speed cameras, vision cameras, audio players, video players, navigation devices, fixed-position terminals, entertainment units, smart phones, communication devices, mobile devices, devices in motor vehicles, on-board cameras, cell phone cameras, motion or wearable cameras, traffic cameras, industrial detection cameras, cameras mounted on flyable objects, medical cameras, security cameras, or home appliance cameras.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored therein, which when executed, cause a computer to perform the pulse data readout method of any one of claims 1-10.