Abstract:
An apparatus comprising a sensor and a processor. The sensor may be configured to capture a first video signal having a first field of view. The processor may be configured to generate a second video signal having a second field of view and a third video signal having a third field of view. The second video signal may generate the second field of view to include a first portion of the first video signal. The third video signal may generate the third field of view to include a second portion of the first video signal. The second portion may be processed to remove possible warping present on a bottom portion of the first video signal. The first and second portions may comprise an area less than the first field of view.

Description:
This application relates to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/949,624, filed Jul. 24, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cameras used in automobiles generally and, more particularly, to a surround camera to generate a parking signal and a recording signal from a single sensor. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional automobiles using surround cameras are becoming increasingly popular. Such cameras are typically used to facilitate parking by a driver. Some surround cameras are even used for automatic parking by the vehicle. In such systems, the driver is presented with a “bird&#39;s eye” view of the vehicle. These cameras typically do not support recording. At the same time, dash cameras that continuously record video in case an accident happens are growing in popularity. Such cameras use a single camera that is mounted on a windshield. 
     The view that a surround camera presents to a driver for parking assistance and the view that is presented for surround recording are different views. A parking camera needs to point relatively downward. A recording camera needs to point relatively straight. With conventional approaches, customers will need to install two separate sets of cameras, which means higher cost and installation complexity. 
     It would be desirable to implement a single surround camera that may be used to supply views for both parking and recording. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a sensor and a processor. The sensor may be configured to capture a first video signal having a first field of view. The processor may be configured to generate a second video signal having a second field of view and a third video signal having a third field of view. The second video signal may generate the second field of view to include a first portion of the first video signal. The third video signal may generate the third field of view to include a second portion of the first video signal. The second portion may be processed to remove possible warping present on a bottom portion of the first video signal. The first and second portions may comprise an area less than the first field of view. 
     The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include providing a camera that may (i) use a single sensor to generate multiple views, (ii) process a signal received by the sensor and/or (iii) be implemented in a surround camera environment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims and drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a context of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a vehicle implementing an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating various fields of view from a sensor; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating various connections; and 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a two field of view dashboard display. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a system  100  is shown in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The system  100  generally comprises a vehicle  102 , and a number of cameras  110   a ,  110   b  and  110   c . The cameras  110   a - 110   c  may be connected within the vehicle  102  through one or more busses. The busses may be implemented as CAT5, CAT6, Universal Serial Bus (USB) or other types of cables and/or connectors. The particular type of cabling used may be varied to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a top view of the system  100  is shown. The vehicle  102  is shown with a number of cameras  110   a ,  110   c ,  110   d  and  110   n . The particular number of cameras  110   a - 110   n  implemented may be varied to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. The vehicle  102  may be described as an automobile. However, the particular type of vehicle may be varied to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. For example, the vehicle  102  may be a truck, or other type of vehicle operated by a driver. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a diagram illustrating a video feed  150  from one of the cameras  110   a - 110   n  is shown. The video feed  150  generally comprises a portion  160  and a portion  170 . The portion  160  may be used for a first view. The portion  170  may be used for a second view. The portion  160  may include a field of view (e.g., a horizontal view) that may be usable for a dash mounted recorder. The view  170  includes a field of view (e.g., a surround view) that may be usable for a surround-type parking implementation. The view  160  and the view  170  may record actions (e.g., other vehicles, people, etc.) around the vehicle  102 . In some embodiments, the view  160  and the view  170  may overlap. In other embodiments, the view  160  and the view  170  may be disjoint. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a diagram of the various connections to the cameras  110   a - 110   n  are shown. A circuit  200  may have a number of inputs  180   a - 180   n . The circuit  200  generally comprises a circuit  190  and a circuit  192 . The circuit  190  may be implemented as a counter/connector circuit. The circuit  192  may be implemented as a processing and/or encoding circuit. In one example, the circuit  190  may be implemented on the same integrated circuit as the circuit  192 . In another example, the circuit  190  may be implemented as a separate integrated circuit from the circuit  192 . In another example, the circuit  190  may be hardware and/or firmware implemented as a subset of the circuit  192 . The circuit  190  may present a signal (e.g., SLVS) to the circuit  192 . The signal SLVS may be a video signal. In one example, the signal SLVS may be a selected one of the signals V 1   a /V 1   b -VNa/VNb. 
     The circuit  200  may be connected to a block (or circuit)  152  and/or a block (or circuit)  154 . The circuit  152  may be implemented as a storage device. For example, the circuit  152  may be implemented as be a SD card, a built-in drive, or other storage medium. The circuit  154  may be a connectivity device, such as a Wi-Fi device, a 3G/4G device, or other device that may be used to transmit the video signal SLVS to/from the processing and/or encoding circuit  192 . The processing and/or encoding circuit  192  may present a signal to the display  150  (for viewing), a signal to the storage device  152  (for storage), or a signal to the connectivity circuit  154  (for connection to external devices, such as the Internet). 
     The circuits  110   a - 110   n  may be implemented as camera modules. The circuit  110   a  may be implemented having a sensor  194   a  and a processing chip  196   a . The sensor  194   a  may include a lens. The cameras  110   b - 110   n  may have similar implementations. The circuits  196   a - 196   n  may be implemented as serial/deserial (SERDES) circuits. The circuits  196   a - 196   n  may be used to transmit the video signals V 1   a /V 1   b -VNa/VNb to the circuit  200 . 
     The system  100  may provide a design to generate a number of surround camera views as well as a number of horizontal views for recording. Each of the cameras  110   a - 110   n  may present a first view (e.g., V 1   a -VNa) for recording, and a second view (e.g., V 1   b -VNb) for viewing. The circuit  192  may be used to process one or more of video signals V 1   a -VNb. The processing may provide de-warping and/or other processing to remove potential distortions found in a wide angle lens-type sensor. The de-warping may be implemented on one of the views (e.g.,  170 ) without interrupting the generation of another of the views (e.g.,  160 ). 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the diagram of a dashboard  300  is shown. The dashboard  300  includes a screen (or display)  310  and a screen (or display)  320 . In one example, the screen  310  and the screen  320  may be implemented as separate views on a single screen. In another example, the screen  310  and the screen  320  may be separate screens. 
     Each of the cameras  110   a - 110   n  may include a wide angle (e.g., 180 degree field of view or more) lens that may include full high definition (HD) (or higher) resolution sensors, pointed slightly downward. For example, a fish eye lens-type sensor may be implemented. The bottom portion of the video feed may be cropped and corrected for geometric distortion in the circuit  192  to generate the view  170  showing the ground near the vehicle  102 . In some embodiments, a central portion of the video feed may be cropped to generate the view  160 . The resolution of each of the views  160  and/or  170  may be increased or decreased, but may be sufficient for presenting a “bird&#39;s eye” display. For example, the feeds V 1   a /V 1   b -VNa/VNb may be 1920×600 lines of resolution. The SoC circuit  190  may combine a number of such feeds (e.g., 2, 4, 8, etc.) into a single bird&#39;s eye view. Standard resolutions used for recording (e.g., the view  160 ) may include 1920×1080, 1280×720, 640×480, 720×576, 720×480, etc. However, the particular resolution implemented may be varied to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. For the parking view (e.g., the view  170 ), resolutions such as 640×480 or 800×600 or 1280×720 may be used. The parking view may be based on either the rear camera view, or by stitching together two or more smaller views in the circuit  190  from the various cameras  110   a - 110   n . Each parking view may be relatively small, such as 640×200 or 480×200. 
     The circuit  200  may generate a full view by processing with a “dewarp” engine. A recorded frame may also be implemented for the various feeds. The recording signals V 1   a -VNa do not normally need to be interrupted for displaying the parking mode signals V 1   b -VNb. One or more of the recording signals V 1   a -VNa may be used to provide driver assist analytics. For example, a lane departure warning may be implemented. 
     The circuit  200  may implement a calibration process. For example, the cameras  110   a - 110   n  may slightly move during the life of the vehicle  102 . The processor  190  may compensate for such movement. The particular type of compensation implemented may be varied to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.