CN116249026B

CN116249026B - Signal processing device and method for image sensor

Info

Publication number: CN116249026B
Application number: CN202310533033.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑周坪; 黄锦华; 李艳庆; 徐朝圣
Original assignee: Shenzhen Senpum Electric Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Senpum Electric Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-05-12
Filing date: 2023-05-12
Publication date: 2023-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 2043-05-12
Also published as: CN116249026A

Abstract

The application discloses a signal processing device and a signal processing method of an image sensor. The device comprises: the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; a multistage amplifier for performing amplification processing of different gains on analog signals output from the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier; the processing unit is used for determining the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal and acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit; and the processing unit is also used for outputting the target digital signal. The device can improve the quality of image signals captured by the image sensor under the light intensity abrupt change scene so as to better meet the use requirements of different application scenes.

Description

Signal processing device and method for image sensor

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of image signal data processing technologies, and in particular, to a signal processing device and method for an image sensor.

Background

The main function of the image sensor is to convert an optical signal into an electrical signal. Currently, complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, CMOS) have been widely used in the industry, which are also referred to as CMOS sensors for short. The CMOS sensor can provide high-quality image data, and has advantages of low power consumption, high speed, low noise, and the like. In high-speed applications, the image captured by the CMOS sensor is subjected to abrupt changes in light intensity, which may cause the captured image to be too dark or too exposed, thereby rendering the image data output by the CMOS sensor unusable. If the exposure time of the CMOS sensor in the scene is increased to obtain a clearer image in the weak light scene, the response speed of the CMOS sensor is reduced, so that the requirement of quick response of the high-speed application scene cannot be met.

In the conventional technology, in order to solve the problem that the image captured by the CMOS sensor is too dark or too exposed in high-speed application, the following method is adopted: referring to fig. 1, an amplifier 120 is disposed between a CMOS sensor 110 and an analog signal acquisition unit 130, and the gain of the amplifier 120 is dynamically adjusted according to the light intensity. Thus, a clear low-light image can be captured with a shorter exposure time and a larger amplifier gain, while meeting the requirements for high-speed response. However, in the above method, the dynamic adjustment of the gain of the amplifier 120 and the adjustment of the exposure time of the CMOS sensor 110 are asynchronous. That is, only in the case where there is an excessively dark or overexposure phenomenon of the image output from the CMOS sensor 110, the gain of the amplifier 120 and the exposure time of the CMOS sensor 110 are adjusted. The image captured by the CMOS sensor 110 is still not clear during the adjustment phase, i.e., the image data captured by the CMOS sensor 110 during the adjustment phase is still not available, which may result in the CMOS sensor 110 not being able to utilize the data to complete the responsive output in a timely manner.

Therefore, a device is needed to improve the quality of the image signal captured by the image sensor in the abrupt light intensity scene, so as to better meet the use requirements of different application scenes.

Disclosure of Invention

The device can improve the quality of image signals captured by the image sensor under the light intensity abrupt change scene so as to better meet the use requirements of different application scenes.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor, including: the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; a multistage amplifier for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signal output from the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifiers to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifiers; the processing unit is used for determining an analog signal output by one stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier as a target analog signal and acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit; the processing unit is also used for outputting the target digital signal.

In one possible design, the processing unit includes a peak detection unit and an arbitration unit, where the peak detection unit is configured to receive an analog signal output by at least one stage of the multi-stage amplifiers, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifiers to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifiers; the arbitration unit is used for acquiring the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier output by the peak value detection unit; the arbitration unit is further configured to: determining an analog signal output from one of the multi-stage amplifiers as the target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers; the arbitration unit is further configured to: and acquiring a digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit, and outputting the target digital signal.

In one possible design, the arbitration unit is further configured to: determining a candidate output signal set according to a preset peak range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak range; and determining the candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value with a preset peak value in the candidate output signal set as the target analog signal.

In one possible design, the at least one stage amplifier includes a portion of the multi-stage amplifier, the arbitration unit further configured to: and determining the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the partial amplifier, the gain of each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier, and the connection relation among the stages of the amplifiers, so as to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier includes a first-stage amplifier having a first gain and a second-stage amplifier having a second gain, the first gain and the second gain being different, the first-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the first gain on the analog signal output by the image sensor, the second-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the second gain on the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier, a part of the amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifier being the first-stage amplifier, the arbitration unit being further configured to: and determining the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier and the second gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier further comprises a third stage amplifier having a third gain, the second gain, and the first gain being three different gains, the arbitration unit further being configured to: and determining the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier and the third gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the third-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the processing unit further includes a storage unit, and the analog signal acquisition unit is further configured to store a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers to the storage unit; the arbitration unit is further used for acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit from the storage unit.

In one possible design, the processing unit further includes an exposure control unit, where the exposure control unit is configured to adjust an exposure time of the image sensor according to a preset brightness threshold and a brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor; if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor exceeds the preset brightness threshold, reducing the exposure time of the image sensor; and if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor does not exceed the preset brightness threshold value, increasing the exposure time of the image sensor.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a signal processing method of an image sensor, which is applied to a system including the image sensor, a multi-stage amplifier, an analog signal acquisition unit and a processing unit, where the image sensor is used for performing image acquisition to obtain an analog signal; the multistage amplifier is used for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signals output by the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier; the method comprises the following steps: the processing unit is controlled to determine an analog signal output by one stage of the multistage amplifier as a target analog signal, and a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit is obtained; and controlling the processing unit to output the target digital signal.

In one possible design, the processing unit includes a peak detection unit and an arbitration unit, the controlling the processing unit to determine an analog signal output by one of the multi-stage amplifiers as a target analog signal includes: the peak detection unit is controlled to receive the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier, and peak detection is carried out on the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier to obtain the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier; controlling the arbitration unit to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by at least one stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers output by the peak detection unit; controlling the arbitration unit to determine an analog signal output from one of the multi-stage amplifiers as the target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers; the controlling the processing unit to output the target digital signal includes: and controlling the arbitration unit to acquire the digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit, and outputting the target digital signal.

In one possible design, the controlling the arbitration unit to determine the analog signal output by one of the multi-stage amplifiers as the target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers includes: controlling the arbitration unit to execute the following operations: determining a candidate output signal set according to a preset peak range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak range; and determining the candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value with a preset peak value in the candidate output signal set as the target analog signal.

In one possible design, the at least one stage amplifier includes a part of the multi-stage amplifiers, and the controlling the arbitration unit to obtain the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage amplifier output by the peak detection unit includes: and controlling the arbitration unit to determine the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the partial amplifier, the gain of each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier, and the connection relation among the multi-stage amplifiers, so as to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier includes a first-stage amplifier having a first gain and a second-stage amplifier having a second gain, the first gain and the second gain being different, the first-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the first gain on the analog signal output by the image sensor, the second-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the second gain on the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier, a part of the multi-stage amplifiers being the first-stage amplifier, the determining peaks of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers except the part of the multi-stage amplifiers, comprising: and controlling the arbitration unit to determine the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier and the second gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier further includes a third stage amplifier having a third gain, the second gain, and the first gain being three different gains, the determining peaks of analog signals output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers except for the portion of the amplifiers further including: and controlling the arbitration unit to determine the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier and the third gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the third-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the processing unit further includes a storage unit, the method further including: controlling the analog signal acquisition unit to store digital signals corresponding to analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers into the storage unit; the controlling the arbitration unit to obtain the digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit includes: and controlling the arbitration unit to acquire the target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit from the storage unit.

In a third aspect, the present application also provides a signal processing device of an image sensor, comprising at least one processor for coupling with a memory, reading and executing instructions in the memory to implement the method provided in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

Optionally, the signal of the image sensor further comprises the memory.

In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method provided in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, the present application also provides a chip system comprising a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, such that a device in which the chip system is installed performs the method provided in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect described above.

The signal processing device of the image sensor provided by the embodiment of the application comprises: the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; a multistage amplifier for performing amplification processing of different gains on analog signals output from the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier; the processing unit is used for determining the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal and acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit; and the processing unit is also used for outputting the target digital signal. In the signal processing device of the image sensor, by arranging the multi-stage amplifiers with different gains between the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit, a plurality of analog signals which are obtained after the analog signals output by the image sensor are amplified for a plurality of times can be obtained in a single image data acquisition period. The signal processing device of the image sensor is further provided with a processing unit, and the processing unit is used for determining one optimal analog signal in the plurality of analog signals as a target analog signal and outputting a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal. That is, in the above-mentioned scheme, based on a plurality of analog signals obtained after performing multiple amplification processing on an analog signal output by the image sensor, it is determined that a target analog signal corresponding to a target digital signal that is finally output by the device is an optimal analog signal among the plurality of analog signals, instead of directly taking a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the image sensor as a final output result of the signal processing device of the image sensor, so that the signal processing device of the image sensor provided by the embodiment of the present application can improve quality of an image signal captured by the image sensor in a light intensity abrupt change scene, so as to better meet use requirements of different application scenes.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor provided in the conventional art.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of another image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of another image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of another image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of another image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a signal processing method of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another signal processing method of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a processing result of the signal processing method of the image sensor shown in fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular system configurations, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present application with unnecessary detail.

The term "comprises/comprising" when used herein is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or an implicit indication of the number of technical features being indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more, unless specifically defined otherwise.

For a better understanding of the methods provided herein, first, related terms referred to herein will be described.

Exposure to light

The exposure means that the optical lens absorbs light rays emitted by the scenery, and the light rays are converged and projected on the photosensitive material or the projected photoconductive material and recorded on the digital photosensitive element. The magnitude of exposure is the product of the illuminance of the light source and the exposure time, i.e., exposure = illuminance x time, depending on the illuminance of the light to the photosensitive material or photoconductive material and the exposure time. In photography, the exposure is achieved by adjusting the size of the aperture and the shutter speed. If the scene in the photograph is too bright and the bright portion has no level or detail, this is overexposure (overexposure); if the environment is too dark, the photo is dark, and the color of the scenery cannot be truly reflected, namely, the exposure is insufficient.

Pixel brightness

Each pixel has a corresponding luminance, which is independent of the hue. That is, the same brightness may be either red or green, just as an image in a black-and-white (gray-scale) television set, and it is not possible to determine whether it is red or green by one gray-scale alone. The pixel brightness value is between 0 and 255. The luminance value of the pixel close to 255 is higher, and the luminance value of the pixel close to 0 is lower. The remaining pixels belong to the halftone. This luminance distinction is an absolute distinction, i.e., pixels near 255 are highlighted, pixels near 0 are dark, and the halftone is around 128.

Analog-to-digital conversion (ADC)

Analog-to-digital conversion refers to sampling an analog signal and then quantitatively encoding the sampled analog signal into a binary digital signal.

Next, a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor provided in an embodiment of the present application is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the apparatus includes an image sensor, a multi-stage amplifier, an analog signal acquisition unit, and a processing unit. Next, the functions of the respective units included in the signal processing device of the image sensor will be described.

And the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals.

In some implementations, the image sensor is configured to perform image acquisition during a preset acquisition period to obtain an analog signal. The length of the preset acquisition period can be set according to an actual scene, which is not particularly limited. For example, the preset acquisition period may be, but is not limited to, 60 seconds.

In the present application, the type of the image sensor is not particularly limited, and may be selected according to an actual application scenario. In some implementations, the image sensor may be, but is not limited to being: a photosensor or a laser sensor. The image sensor may be a CMOS sensor, for example.

And the multistage amplifier is used for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signals output by the image sensor.

Wherein the multi-stage amplifier is an amplifier comprising a plurality of different gains. That is, each of the multi-stage amplifiers is used to perform an amplification process of a different gain on the model signal output from the image sensor. For convenience of description, in this application, a first amplifier of the multi-stage amplifiers is referred to as a "first-stage amplifier" (also referred to as a first-stage amplifier), a second amplifier of the multi-stage amplifiers is referred to as a "second-stage amplifier", a third amplifier of the multi-stage amplifiers is referred to as a "third-stage amplifier", and so on, in a left-to-right direction.

Referring to fig. 2, the multi-stage amplifier shown in fig. 2 includes two amplifiers. The first amplifier of the multi-stage amplifier shown in fig. 2 is referred to as a first stage amplifier (i.e., a head stage amplifier), and the second amplifier of the multi-stage amplifier shown in fig. 2 is referred to as a second stage amplifier. The first-stage amplifier is used for performing amplification processing of a first gain on an analog signal output by the image sensor to obtain a result after the first amplification processing; the second-stage amplifier is used for performing second-gain amplification processing on the result after the first amplification processing output by the first-stage amplifier to obtain a result after the second amplification processing. Wherein the first gain and the second gain are two different gains. For example, gain 1 may be 1 and gain 2 may be 2.

It will be appreciated that fig. 2 is described by taking an example in which the multi-stage amplifier provided between the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit specifically includes a two-stage amplifier. Optionally, further stages (e.g. 3 or 4, etc.) of amplifiers may be provided between the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit, wherein any two of the further stages have different gains. For example, referring to fig. 6, the multi-stage amplifier illustrated in fig. 6 includes an amplifier 620a, an amplifier 620b, and an amplifier 620c, and gains of the amplifier 620a, the amplifier 620b, and the amplifier 620c are all different.

The analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier.

Referring to fig. 2, the analog signal acquisition unit is configured to perform analog-to-digital conversion on an analog signal output by the first stage amplifier to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the first stage amplifier; and the analog-to-digital conversion is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion on the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier.

After the analog signal acquisition unit obtains the digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, the digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier needs to be stored so that the corresponding digital signal can be quickly acquired in the subsequent data processing process.

In some implementations, the processing unit further includes a storage unit, and the analog signal acquisition unit is further configured to store, to the storage unit, a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers.

The apparatus shown with reference to fig. 4 comprises, by way of example: an image sensor 410, an amplifier 420a, an amplifier 420b, an analog signal acquisition unit 430, and a processing unit 440. The processing unit 440 includes an arbitration unit 441, a peak detection unit 442, and a storage unit 443. The storage unit 443 is used for storing digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier output by the analog signal acquisition unit 430.

In other implementations, the analog signal acquisition unit may also have a memory function. That is, the analog signal acquisition unit may further obtain a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each of the multiple stages of amplifiers, and store the digital signal into the analog signal acquisition unit.

And the processing unit is used for determining the analog signal output by the one-stage amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal and acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit.

In some implementations, the processing unit includes a peak detection unit and an arbitration unit. That is, in such an implementation, the peak detection unit and the arbitration unit together implement the function of the processing unit described above. In this implementation manner, the peak detection unit is configured to receive an analog signal output by at least one stage of the multi-stage amplifiers, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the at least one stage of the multi-stage amplifiers to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of the multi-stage amplifiers; an arbitration unit for acquiring the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the multi-stage amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by at least one stage of the multi-stage amplifiers output by the peak detection unit; the arbitration unit is further configured to: determining an analog signal output from one of the multi-stage amplifiers as a target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers; the arbitration unit is further configured to: and acquiring a digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit, and outputting the target digital signal.

In the above implementation manner, the arbitration unit is configured to compare peak values of signals output by each stage of amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifier, and determine which stage of amplifier the optimal signal is from. After that, the arbitration unit may also obtain a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the stage amplifier from the analog signal acquisition unit, and output the obtained digital signal for other devices to use.

The structure of the device described in the above implementation may be referred to in fig. 3, for example. The apparatus shown in fig. 3 includes: the image sensor 310, the multi-stage amplifiers (i.e., the amplifier 320a and the amplifier 320 b), the analog signal acquisition unit 330, and the processing unit 340, the processing unit 340 including a peak detection unit 342 and an arbitration unit 341. In fig. 3, in some implementations, in a case where the peak detection unit 342 is connected to the output of the amplifier 320a, the peak detection unit 342 is specifically configured to receive the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 320 a. In other implementations, in the case where the peak detection unit 342 is connected to the output of the amplifier 320a, and the peak detection unit 342 is connected to the output of the amplifier 320b, the peak detection unit 332 is specifically configured to receive the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the amplifier 220a to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 320 a; and, the peak value detecting unit is configured to receive the analog signal output by the amplifier 320b, and perform peak value detection on the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 320 b.

As described above, "arbitration unit is also used to: the method comprises the steps of acquiring the peak value of an analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by at least one of the multi-stage amplifiers output by the peak detection unit, wherein the implementation mode of acquiring the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers by the arbitration unit is associated with the analog signal of the amplifier acquired by the peak detection unit. Next, an implementation of the arbitration unit to obtain the peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers will be specifically described.

In some implementations, the at least one stage of amplifiers includes a portion of the amplifiers in a multi-stage amplifier, the arbitration unit further configured to: and determining the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifiers in the multistage amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the partial amplifiers, the gain of each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifiers in the multistage amplifier and the connection relation among the multistage amplifiers so as to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers in the multistage amplifier.

Illustratively, taking fig. 2 as an example, the partial amplifier may be the first amplifier in a multi-stage amplifier, based on which the arbitration unit is further configured to: the peak value of the analog signal output by the second one of the multi-stage amplifiers is determined based on the peak value of the analog signal output by the first one of the multi-stage amplifiers, the gain of the second one of the multi-stage amplifiers, and the last one of the multi-stage amplifiers before the first one of the multi-stage amplifiers is the second one of the multi-stage amplifiers.

In the above implementation manner, the peak detection unit is specifically configured to receive an analog signal output by a part of the amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifier, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the part of the amplifiers to obtain a peak value of the analog signal output by the part of the amplifiers. Based on this, the arbitration unit is configured to determine the peak value of the analog signal output from the amplifier other than the partial amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier based on the peak value of the analog signal output from the partial amplifier acquired at the peak detection unit, the gain of the partial amplifier, and the gain of the amplifier other than the partial amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier.

In the present application, the number of the partial amplifiers described in the above-described implementation is not particularly limited, that is, the number of the amplifiers included in the partial amplifiers may be set according to actual demands.

In some implementations, the multi-stage amplifier includes a first-stage amplifier having a first gain and a second-stage amplifier having a second gain, the first gain and the second gain being different, the first-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the first gain on the analog signal output from the image sensor, the second-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the second gain on the analog signal output from the first-stage amplifier, a part of the amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifier being the first-stage amplifier, the arbitration unit being further configured to: the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the first stage amplifier and the second gain is determined as the peak value of the analog signal output by the second stage amplifier.

Illustratively, taking fig. 3 as an example, the peak detection unit 342 is configured to obtain the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the amplifier 320a to obtain the amplification result 1. Thereafter, the arbitration unit 341 acquires the amplification result 1, and the arbitration unit 341 determines that the peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 320b is the product of the gain of the amplifier 320b and the amplification result 1, based on the amplification gain of the amplifier 320b, and that the amplifier 320b is the next amplifier after the amplifier 320a in the multi-stage amplifier.

In other implementations, the multi-stage amplifier further includes a third stage amplifier having a third gain, the second gain, and the first gain being three different gains, the arbitration unit further configured to: the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier and the third gain is determined as the peak value of the analog signal output by the third-stage amplifier.

Specific values of the third gain, the second gain and the first gain can be set according to requirements. For example, the third gain, the second gain, and the first gain may be, but are not limited to,: 1-fold, 2-fold and 5-fold.

Illustratively, taking fig. 6 as an example, the peak detection unit 642 is configured to obtain an analog signal output by the amplifier 620a, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the amplifier 620a to obtain an amplification result 1. Thereafter, the arbitration unit 241 acquires the amplification result a, and the arbitration unit 641 determines that the peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 620B is the product of the gain of the amplifier 620B and the amplification result a to obtain the amplification result B output by the amplifier 620B according to the amplification gain of the amplifier 620B and that the amplifier 620B is the next amplifier after the amplifier 620a in the multi-stage amplifier. In the same principle, the arbitration unit 641 acquires the amplification result B, and the arbitration unit 641 determines that the peak value of the analog signal output by the amplifier 620c is the product of the gain of the amplifier 620c and the amplification result B, based on the amplification gain of the amplifier 620c and that the amplifier 620c is the next amplifier after the amplifier 620B in the multi-stage amplifier.

Next, an implementation method in which the arbitration unit determines an analog signal output from one of the multi-stage amplifiers as a target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers is described.

In some implementations, the arbitration unit is further to: determining a candidate output signal set according to a preset peak range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak range; and determining the candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value between the candidate output signal set and the preset peak value as a target analog signal.

The preset peak range and the preset peak are set according to an actual scene, which is not particularly limited in the present application. For example, the preset peak range and the preset peak value may be determined according to comprehensive factors such as performance of an amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, resolution of the analog signal acquisition unit, and the like.

Optionally, in some implementations, the processing unit further includes a storage unit, and the analog signal acquisition unit is further configured to store, to the storage unit, a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each of the multiple stages of amplifiers; the arbitration unit is also used for acquiring the target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit from the storage unit.

Next, the structure of the processing unit described in the above-described implementation is described by way of example. Illustratively, referring to FIG. 4, the processing unit 440 includes: an arbitration unit 441, a peak detection unit 442, and a storage unit 443. Among them, there is a connection between the storage unit 443 and the analog signal acquisition unit 430, and a connection between the storage unit 443 and the arbitration unit 441, that is, the storage unit 443 may store the signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit 430 into the storage unit 443, so that the arbitration unit 441 reads the required signal from the storage unit 443.

In other implementations, the processing unit further includes an exposure control unit. The exposure control unit is used for adjusting the exposure time of the image sensor according to a preset brightness threshold value and the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor; if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor exceeds a preset brightness threshold value, the exposure time of the image sensor is reduced; if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor does not exceed the preset brightness threshold value, the exposure time of the image sensor is increased.

The preset brightness threshold may be set according to the acquisition environment when the image sensor acquires the image, that is, the value of the preset brightness threshold is not particularly limited.

In the implementation manner, the signal output by the image sensor is corrected in a feedback adjustment manner, so that the quality of the signal output by the image sensor is improved.

The structural schematic of the device described in the above implementation is described below by way of example.

The apparatus shown with reference to fig. 5 includes, for example: an image sensor 510, multi-stage amplifiers (i.e., amplifier 520a and amplifier 520 b), an analog signal acquisition unit 530, and a processing unit 540. The processing unit 540 includes an arbitration unit 541, a peak detection unit 542, a storage unit 543, and an exposure control unit 544. The apparatus includes an exposure control unit 544 for acquiring an analog signal output by the image sensor 510, and determining whether an exposure time of the image sensor 510 needs to be adjusted according to a preset brightness threshold. Thereafter, the exposure control unit 544 is also used to control the image sensor 510 to adjust the exposure time.

It should be understood that the signal processing device of the image sensor shown in fig. 2 is merely schematic, and does not constitute any limitation on the signal processing device of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the application, by arranging the multi-stage amplifier with different gains between the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit, which are included in the signal processing device of the image sensor, a plurality of analog signals after the analog signals output by the image sensor are amplified for a plurality of times can be acquired in a single image data acquisition period. A processing unit is provided in a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor, and is configured to determine an optimal one of a plurality of analog signals as a target analog signal and output a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal. In the above scheme, the target analog signal corresponding to the target digital signal finally output by the device is determined based on a plurality of analog signals obtained after the analog signals output by the image sensor are amplified for a plurality of times, wherein the target analog signal corresponding to the target digital signal is an optimal analog signal in the plurality of analog signals, and the digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the image sensor is not directly used as the final output result of the signal processing device of the image sensor.

Illustratively, as shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus includes an image sensor 610, an amplifier 620a, an amplifier 620b, an amplifier 620c, an analog signal acquisition unit 630, a processing unit 640, and a processor 650. Wherein the processing unit 640 includes: an arbitration unit 641, a peak detection unit 642, a storage unit 643, and an exposure control unit 644.

The function of the image sensor 200 shown in fig. 6 is the same as that of the image sensor shown in fig. 2, and details not described here in detail can be found in the above description of fig. 2.

The amplifiers (i.e., the amplifier 620a, the amplifier 620b, and the amplifier 620 c) are used to amplify the analog signal output from the image sensor 610. Specifically, the apparatus includes an amplifier 620a, an amplifier 620b, and an amplifier 620c that are two amplifiers having different gains. The gains of the amplifiers 620a, 620b and 620c may be set according to actual scene needs, which are not particularly limited. For example, the gain of the amplifier 620a may be 1, the gain of the amplifier 620b may be 2, and the gain of the amplifier 620b may be 5.

The function of the peak detection unit 642 is the same as that described in the apparatus provided in fig. 2 above, and details not described here in detail can be found in the related description in fig. 2 above.

The storage unit 643 is configured to store the signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit 630. Alternatively, in other implementations, the system shown in fig. 6 may not include the storage unit 630, in which case the analog signal acquisition unit 630 also has a storage function, i.e., the analog signal acquisition unit 630 may store the obtained digital signal.

The function of the arbitration unit 641 shown in fig. 6 is the same as that described in the device provided in fig. 2 above, and details not described here in detail can be found in the relevant description in fig. 2 above. The processor 650 shown in fig. 6 may be used to further utilize the digital signal output by the arbitration unit 641.

The exposure control unit 644 is used to form an asynchronous negative feedback mechanism. Specifically, the exposure control unit 644 brings the image signal to be sampled next to a more ideal state by adjusting the exposure time of the image sensor 610.

In this application, the exposure control unit 644 determines how to adjust the exposure time of the image sensor according to the analog signal output by the image sensor 610, and the adjustment principle is the same as the exposure time adjustment principle described in fig. 2, and details not described herein may be found in the related description.

In other implementations, the apparatus shown in fig. 6 may also not include the exposure control unit 644.

It is understood that the peak detection unit 642, the storage unit 643, and the arbitration unit 641 shown in fig. 6 may be three independent units. Alternatively, in some implementations, the peak detection unit 642, the storage unit 643, and the arbitration unit 641 shown in fig. 6 may be two separate units having the functions of the peak detection unit 642, the storage unit 643, and the arbitration unit 641, respectively. For example, one of the two independent units has the function of the peak detection unit 642 and the function of the storage unit 643, and the other unit specifically arbitrates the function of the unit 641. Alternatively, in still other implementations, the peak detection unit 642, the storage unit 643, and the arbitration unit 641 shown in fig. 6 may be the same unit, i.e., the same unit has the function of the peak detection unit 642, the function of the storage unit 643, and the function of the arbitration unit 641.

It should be understood that the signal processing device of the image sensor shown in fig. 2 to 6 is only schematic, and does not constitute any limitation on the structure of the signal processing device of the image sensor provided in the embodiments of the present application. It will be appreciated that in any of the devices shown in fig. 2 to 6, at least two stages or three stages of amplifiers are provided in the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit, and the arbitration unit determines an optimal signal according to the peak value of the output signal of the at least two stages or three stages of amplifiers, and transmits the optimal signal to the processor for subsequent processing. The devices obtained after modification of the system shown in the above figures 2 to 6 are also claimed in the present application.

The signal processing device of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 2 to 6. Next, a signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 7 to 9.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a signal processing method of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application. By way of example, the signal processing method of the image sensor shown in fig. 7 may be applied to, but is not limited to, a signal processing apparatus of the image sensor shown in any one of fig. 2 to 6. Referring to fig. 7, the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application includes S710 and S720. Next, S710 and S720 will be described in detail.

The signal processing method of the image sensor is applied to a system comprising the image sensor, a multistage amplifier, an analog signal acquisition unit and a processing unit, wherein the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; a multistage amplifier for performing amplification processing of different gains on analog signals output from the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier. The structure of the above system may be, for example, what is illustrated in any one of fig. 2 to 6.

S710, the control processing unit determines an analog signal output by one stage of the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal, and acquires a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit.

S720, controlling a processing unit to output a target digital signal.

In one possible design, the processing unit includes a peak detection unit and an arbitration unit, and the control processing unit determines an analog signal output from a first amplifier of the multi-stage amplifiers as a target analog signal, including: the peak detection unit is controlled to receive the analog signal output by at least one stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier, and perform peak detection on the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier to obtain the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier; the control arbitration unit obtains the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by at least one stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers output by the peak value detection unit; the control arbitration unit determines an analog signal output by one of the multi-stage amplifiers as a target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers; a control processing unit outputting a target digital signal, comprising: the control arbitration unit acquires a digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit and outputs the target digital signal.

In one possible design, the control arbitration unit determines the analog signal output by one of the multi-stage amplifiers as the target analog signal based on a peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers, comprising: the control arbitration unit performs the following operations: determining a candidate output signal set according to a preset peak range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak range; and determining the candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value between the candidate output signal set and the preset peak value as a target analog signal.

In one possible design, the at least one stage of amplifiers includes a part of amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifiers, and the control arbitration unit obtains a peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifiers based on the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifiers output by the peak detection unit, including: the control arbitration unit determines the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the partial amplifiers except the partial amplifiers according to the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the partial amplifiers, the gain of each of the multistage amplifiers except the partial amplifiers, and the connection relationship between the multistage amplifiers, so as to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multistage amplifiers.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier includes a first-stage amplifier having a first gain and a second-stage amplifier having a second gain, the first gain and the second gain being different, the first-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the first gain on an analog signal output from the image sensor, the second-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the second gain on the analog signal output from the first-stage amplifier, a part of the multi-stage amplifiers being the first-stage amplifier, a peak value of the analog signal output from each of the multi-stage amplifiers excluding the part of the multi-stage amplifiers being determined, including: the control arbitration unit determines the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier and the second gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the multi-stage amplifier further includes a third stage amplifier having a third gain, the second gain, and the first gain being three different gains, the peak value of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers except for a portion of the amplifiers being determined, further comprising: the control arbitration unit determines the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier and the third gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the third-stage amplifier.

In one possible design, the processing unit further includes a storage unit, the method further including: the analog signal acquisition unit is controlled to store digital signals corresponding to analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers into the storage unit; the control of the arbitration unit to obtain the digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit comprises the following steps: the control arbitration unit acquires a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit from the storage unit.

It will be appreciated that details not described in detail in fig. 7 above may be referred to the relevant description in fig. 2 to 6 above.

It should be understood that the signal processing method of the image sensor shown in fig. 7 is only schematic, and does not constitute any limitation on the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the present application.

In the embodiment of the application, by arranging the multi-stage amplifier with different gains between the image sensor and the analog signal acquisition unit, the control processing unit can acquire a plurality of analog signals after the analog signals output by the image sensor are amplified for a plurality of times in a single image data acquisition period. Further, the control processing unit determines an optimal one of the plurality of analog signals as a target analog signal, and outputs a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal. That is, in the above-mentioned scheme, based on a plurality of analog signals obtained after performing multiple amplification processing on an analog signal output by the image sensor, it is determined that a target analog signal corresponding to a target digital signal finally output by the device is an optimal analog signal among the plurality of analog signals, instead of directly taking a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by the image sensor as a final output result of the signal processing device of the image sensor, so that the signal processing method of the image sensor provided by the embodiment of the present application can improve quality of an image signal captured by the image sensor in a light intensity abrupt change scene, so as to better meet use requirements of different application scenes.

By way of example, a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor shown in fig. 6 is taken as an example, and another signal processing method of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 8. It should be understood that the signal processing method of the image sensor described in fig. 8 is a specific example of the signal processing method of the image sensor described in fig. 7, and the method described in fig. 8 is merely illustrative, and does not limit the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another signal processing method of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 8, the method includes S810 to S860. Next, S810 to S860 will be described in detail.

S810, the analog signal acquisition unit 630 acquires the output signal of the amplifier 620a, the output signal of the amplifier 620B, and the output signal of the amplifier 620C respectively in an acquisition period, and performs analog-to-digital conversion processing on the acquired output signals to obtain a digital signal a corresponding to the output signal of the amplifier 620a, a digital signal B corresponding to the output signal of the amplifier 620B, and a digital signal C corresponding to the output signal of the amplifier 620C.

In the embodiment of the present application, the gains of the amplifier 620a, the amplifier 620b, and the amplifier 620c are respectively: 1. 2 and 10. That is, the amplifier 620a is for amplifying the image signal output from the image sensor 610 by 1 time in the acquisition period; the amplifier 620b is configured to amplify the signal output from the amplifier 620a by 2 times; the amplifier 620c is configured to amplify the signal output from the amplifier 620b by 10 times. The length of the acquisition period is not particularly limited, and can be set according to actual requirements. For example, the acquisition period may be 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or the like.

After performing S810 described above, the analog signal acquisition unit 630 may store the obtained digital signals (i.e., the digital signal a, the digital signal B, and the digital signal C) to the storage unit 643.

S820, peak detecting section 642 acquires the output signal of amplifier 620a, and performs peak detection on the output signal of amplifier 620a to obtain the peak value of the output signal of amplifier 620 a.

The step S820 of obtaining the output signal of the amplifier 620a by the peak detecting unit 642, and obtaining the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a by peak detecting the output signal of the amplifier 620a is performed, and includes: the peak detection unit 642 acquires the output signal of the amplifier 620a from the amplifier 620 a; peak detection section 642 performs peak detection on the output signal of amplifier 620a using a peak detection algorithm to obtain a peak value of the output signal of amplifier 620 a.

S830, the arbitration unit 641 determines the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier other than the amplifier 620a based on the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a acquired from the peak detection unit 642 and the gain of the amplifier other than the amplifier 620 a.

In an embodiment of the present application, referring to the system shown in fig. 6, the amplifier other than the amplifier 620a includes: an amplifier 620b and an amplifier 620c. Based on this, the above-described S840 is performed, that is, the arbitration unit 641 determines the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier other than the amplifier 620a from the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a acquired from the peak detection unit 642 and the gain of the amplifier other than the amplifier 620a, including: the arbitration unit 641 determines the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620b based on the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a acquired from the peak detection unit 642 and the gain of the amplifier 620 b; the arbitration unit 641 determines the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620c based on the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a acquired from the peak detection unit 642 and the gain of the amplifier 620c. In the embodiment of the present application, the gains of the amplifier 620a, the amplifier 620b, and the amplifier 620c are respectively: 1. 2 and 10. Based on this, the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620b is 2 times the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620 a; the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620c is 10 times the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620 a.

S840, the arbitration unit 641 determines a target output signal from the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a, the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620b, and the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620c, and sends the digital signal corresponding to the target output signal obtained from the storage unit 643 to the processor 650.

In performing S840 described above, the arbitration unit 641 may determine a target output signal that is one of the output signals of the amplifier 620a, the above output signal of the amplifier 620b, and the output signal of the amplifier 620c, and that is the optimal one of the output signals of the three amplifiers. It will be appreciated that the target output signal is a signal that is not overexposed or underexposed, i.e., the image to which the target output signal corresponds is not overexposed or underexposed.

The above S840 is performed, that is, the arbitration unit 641 determines a target output signal from the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620a, the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620b, and the peak value of the output signal of the amplifier 620c, including: determining signals within a preset signal peak value range in the output signals of the plurality of amplifiers as candidate output signals; and determining a candidate signal with the minimum peak value difference value between the plurality of candidate signals and the preset signal as a target output signal. The preset signal peak value range and the preset signal peak value are set according to actual application scenes, and specific values of the preset signal peak value range and specific values of the preset signal peak value are not limited in the embodiment of the application.

The preset signal peak is 2.5V, and the preset peak range is 1V to 4V. The peaks of the output signals output by the amplifiers 620a, 620b, and 620c are respectively: 0.3V, 0.6V, 3V. Based on this, it is known that the peak value of the signal output from the amplifier 620c is closest to the preset signal peak value, in which case the signal output from the amplifier 620c can be determined as the target output signal.

S850, the processor 650 performs a corresponding task using the digital signal corresponding to the target output signal.

In other implementations, S850 may not be executed after S810 to S840 are executed, that is, the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application may be ended after S810 to S840 are executed.

Optionally, in some implementations, after performing S810 to S850 described above, S860 may also be performed. Next, S860 is described in detail.

In S860, the exposure control unit 644 adjusts the exposure time of the image sensor 610 according to the preset brightness threshold and the brightness of the image signal output from the image sensor 610.

The above S860 is performed, that is, the exposure control unit 644 adjusts the exposure time of the image sensor 610 according to the preset brightness threshold and the brightness of the image signal output by the image sensor 610, including: in the case where it is determined that the luminance peak value of the image signal output from the image sensor 610 is greater than the preset luminance threshold value, the exposure control unit 644 decreases the exposure time of the image sensor 610; alternatively, in the case where it is determined that the luminance peak value of the image signal output from the image sensor 610 is smaller than the preset luminance threshold value, the exposure control unit 644 increases the exposure time of the image sensor 610. The preset brightness threshold is set according to an actual application scene, and the value of the preset brightness is not particularly limited. It will be appreciated that the exposure control unit 644 adjusts the exposure time of the image sensor 610 so that the brightness peak of the image signal output by the image sensor 610 is as close to the preset brightness threshold as possible.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a processing result of the signal processing method of the image sensor shown in fig. 8, for example. Referring to fig. 9, x1 shown in (1) in fig. 9 is a peak variation of the output signal of the amplifier 620a actually detected by the peak detection unit 642; x2 shown in (2) in fig. 9 is a signal peak value output by the amplifier 620b pushed out by the arbitration unit 641; x10 shown in (3) of fig. 9 is a signal peak value output by the amplifier 620c pushed out by the arbitration unit 641; the output shown in (4) in fig. 9 is the peak value of the optimal image (i.e., the target output signal) determined by the arbitration unit 641, and referring to (4) in fig. 9, it can be seen that the peak value of the optimal image is always kept in the range of about 1v to 4v, neither over-darkness nor over-exposure.

It should be understood that the method shown in fig. 8 is merely an example, and does not constitute any limitation on the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the present application. For example, fewer (e.g., 2) or more (e.g., 4 or 5, etc.) amplifiers may also be included between the image sensor 610 and the analog signal acquisition unit 630.

In the above, the signal processing device of the image sensor and the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the present application are described in detail with reference to fig. 2 to 9. Next, a signal processing apparatus of an image sensor provided in the present application is described with reference to fig. 10. It should be understood that the signal processing method of the image sensor above corresponds to the signal processing apparatus of the image sensor below, and details not described below can be found in the related description in the above method embodiments.

Corresponding to the signal processing method of the image sensor provided in the embodiment of the application, the embodiment of the application provides a signal processing device of the image sensor.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device of an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the signal processing apparatus 1000 of the image sensor includes a control unit 1010.

The device 1000 is applied to a system comprising an image sensor, a multistage amplifier, an analog signal acquisition unit and a processing unit, wherein the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; the multistage amplifier is used for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signals output by the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is configured to perform analog-to-digital conversion processing on an analog signal output by each of the multiple stages of amplifiers, to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal output by each of the multiple stages of amplifiers, and the control unit 1010 is configured to: the control processing unit determines an analog signal output by a first-stage amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal, and acquires a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit; the control unit 1010 is further configured to: and the control processing unit outputs a target digital signal.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method provided by the method embodiments described above.

The application also provides a chip system, which comprises a processor and is used for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a device provided with the chip system executes the method provided by the embodiment of the method.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided by the method embodiments described above.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A signal processing apparatus of an image sensor, the apparatus comprising:

the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals;

a multistage amplifier for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signal output from the image sensor;

the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifiers to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifiers;

the processing unit is used for determining the analog signal output by one stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal according to a preset peak value range, a preset peak value and the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, and acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit;

the processing unit is also used for outputting the target digital signal;

the processing unit is configured to determine, according to a preset peak range, a preset peak value, and an analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers, an analog signal output by a stage of the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal, where the processing unit includes:

Determining a candidate output signal set according to the preset peak value range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak value range;

and determining a candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value between the candidate output signal set and the preset peak value as the target analog signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises a peak detection unit and an arbitration unit,

the peak detection unit is used for receiving the analog signals output by at least one stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifiers, and carrying out peak detection on the analog signals output by the at least one stage of amplifier to obtain peak values of the analog signals output by the at least one stage of amplifier;

the arbitration unit is used for acquiring the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by the at least one stage of amplifier output by the peak value detection unit;

the arbitration unit is further configured to: determining an analog signal output by one of the multi-stage amplifiers as the target analog signal based on the preset peak range, the preset peak, and a peak of the analog signal output by each of the multi-stage amplifiers;

The arbitration unit is further configured to: and acquiring a digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit, and outputting the target digital signal.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one stage of amplifiers comprises a portion of the multi-stage amplifiers,

the arbitration unit is further configured to:

and determining the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier according to the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the partial amplifier, the gain of each stage of the amplifiers except the partial amplifier, and the connection relation among the stages of the amplifiers, so as to acquire the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of the amplifiers.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the multi-stage amplifier includes a first-stage amplifier having a first gain and a second-stage amplifier having a second gain, the first gain and the second gain being different, the first-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the first gain on the analog signal output from the image sensor, the second-stage amplifier being configured to perform amplification processing of the second gain on the analog signal output from the first-stage amplifier, a part of the amplifiers in the multi-stage amplifier being the first-stage amplifier,

The arbitration unit is further configured to:

and determining the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the first-stage amplifier and the second gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the multi-stage amplifier further comprises a third stage amplifier having a third gain, the second gain, and the first gain being three different gains,

the arbitration unit is further configured to:

and determining the product of the peak value of the analog signal output by the second-stage amplifier and the third gain as the peak value of the analog signal output by the third-stage amplifier.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing unit further comprises a memory unit,

the analog signal acquisition unit is further used for storing digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier to the storage unit;

the arbitration unit is further used for acquiring a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit from the storage unit.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing unit further comprises an exposure control unit,

The exposure control unit is used for adjusting the exposure time of the image sensor according to a preset brightness threshold value and the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor;

if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor exceeds the preset brightness threshold, reducing the exposure time of the image sensor;

and if the brightness of the analog signal output by the image sensor does not exceed the preset brightness threshold value, increasing the exposure time of the image sensor.

8. The signal processing method of the image sensor is characterized by being applied to a system comprising the image sensor, a multistage amplifier, an analog signal acquisition unit and a processing unit, wherein the image sensor is used for acquiring images to obtain analog signals; the multistage amplifier is used for performing amplification processing of different gains on the analog signals output by the image sensor; the analog signal acquisition unit is used for carrying out analog-to-digital conversion processing on the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier to obtain digital signals corresponding to the analog signals output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier;

The method comprises the following steps:

the processing unit is controlled to determine the analog signal output by one stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier as a target analog signal according to a preset peak value range, a preset peak value and the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multi-stage amplifier, and acquire a target digital signal corresponding to the target analog signal output by the analog signal acquisition unit;

controlling the processing unit to output the target digital signal;

the control unit determines an analog signal output by a stage amplifier in the multistage amplifier as a target analog signal according to a preset peak value range, a preset peak value and an analog signal output by each stage amplifier in the multistage amplifier, and the control unit comprises:

controlling the processing unit to determine a candidate output signal set according to the preset peak range and the peak value of the analog signal output by each stage of amplifier in the multistage amplifier, wherein the peak value of each candidate analog signal included in the candidate output signal set does not exceed the preset peak range;

and controlling the processing unit to determine a candidate analog signal with the smallest difference value between the candidate output signal set and the preset peak value as the target analog signal.

9. A signal processing device of an image sensor, comprising at least one processor for coupling with a memory, reading and executing instructions in the memory to implement the steps of the method of claim 8.

10. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps of the method according to claim 8.