Patent ID: 9642215
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: G01D,H05B,Y02B

Claim:
1. A method for use with an optical sensor including a light detector, the optical sensor for use with a light source that may or may not be part of the optical sensor, the method comprising: (a) selectively driving the light source to emit light; (b) during a first period of time, during which the light source is not driven to emit light, using the light detector and an ambient light detection analog-to-digital converter (ALD-ADC) to produce ambient light data primarily indicative of ambient light detected by the light detector during the first period of time; (c) during a second period of time, during a first portion of which the light source is driven at a first level to emit light, during a second portion of which the light source is not driven to emit light, and during both the first and second portions of which the ambient light data is converted to an analog ambient light compensation signal, using the light detector and an interference light detection analog-to-digital converter (ILD-ADC) to produce interference light data primarily indicative of interference light detected by the light detector during the second period of time; and (d) during a third period of time, during a first portion of which the light source is driven at a second level to emit light, during a second portion of which the light source is not driven to emit light, and during both the first and second portions of which the ambient light data is converted to the analog ambient light compensation signal and a gained up version of the interference light data is converted to an analog interference light compensation signal, using the light detector and a proximity detection analog-to-digital converter (ProxD-ADC) to produce proximity data primarily indicative of a proximity of an object relative to the optical sensor, with at least a majority of ambient light and interference light detected by the light detector during the third period of time compensated for, wherein the second level is greater than the first level.