PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11750929-B2
Application Number: US-202117566463-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Camera with image sensor shifting

Abstract:
Various embodiments include a camera voice coil motor (VCM) actuator configured to shift an image sensor along multiple axes. Some embodiments include a magnet and coil arrangement. Some embodiments include a position sensing arrangement. Some embodiments include a flexure arrangement. Some embodiments include a coil structure and coil carrier assembly.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A camera, comprising:
 a lens comprising one or more lens elements; 
 an image sensor configured to capture light passing through the lens and convert the captured light into image signals; 
 a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator, comprising:
 magnets; and 
 a coil structure, including:
 an autofocus (AF) coil to shift the image sensor along an optical axis of the camera to provide AF, wherein the AF coil is located below, above, or both below and above the magnets; and 
 
 
 a flexure arrangement to guide motion of the coil structure and image sensor in a controlled manner. 
 
     
     
       2. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the magnets are stationary; and 
 the coil structure is movable relative to the magnets. 
 
     
     
       3. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein each of the magnets is a corner magnet that is located proximate a respective corner of the camera. 
     
     
       4. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein each of the magnets is a side magnet that is located proximate a respective side of the camera. 
     
     
       5. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein the AF coil is located below the magnets, the camera further comprising a top AF coil to assist in shifting the image sensor along the optical axis to provide AF, wherein the top AF coil is located above the magnets. 
     
     
       6. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein the VCM actuator further comprises:
 a substrate coupled to the coil structure and to the image sensor such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate. 
 
     
     
       7. The camera of  claim 6 , wherein the flexure arrangement further comprises:
 a bottom flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner; 
 wherein the bottom flexure comprises:
 a movable platform attached to the substrate; 
 a stationary platform attached to a stationary component of the camera; and 
 one or more flexure arms that connect the movable platform to the stationary platform. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The camera of  claim 7 , the flexure arrangement further comprising a top flexure including a leaf portion, wherein the leaf portion extends above the bottom flexure to assist in suspending and guiding the substrate. 
     
     
       9. The camera of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the bottom flexure extends along a first plane that is orthogonal to an optical axis of the camera. 
 
     
     
       10. The camera of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a coil carrier to hold the coil structure; 
 wherein:
 the coil carrier includes at least two windows; and 
 each of the at least two windows is sized to accommodate at least a portion of a respective position sensor of the camera. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The camera of  claim 1 , further comprising a first position sensor and a second position sensor that are positioned to sense AF movement. 
     
     
       12. The camera of  claim 11 , wherein the first position sensor is a Hall sensor, a GMR sensor, or a TMR sensor. 
     
     
       13. The camera of  claim 1 , wherein the coil structure is formed of a flex circuit. 
     
     
       14. A device, comprising:
 a display; 
 a camera, comprising:
 a lens comprising one or more lens elements; 
 an image sensor configured to capture light passing through the lens and convert the captured light into image signals; 
 a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator, comprising: 
 magnets; and 
 a coil structure, including: 
 an autofocus (AF) coil to shift the image sensor along an optical axis of the camera to provide AF, wherein the AF coil is located below, above, or both below and above the magnets; and 
 a flexure arrangement to guide motion of the coil structure and image sensor in a controlled manner; and 
 
 a processor configured to cause the image signals from the image sensor to be displayed on the display as an image. 
 
     
     
       15. The device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the magnets are stationary; and 
 the coil structure is movable relative to the magnets. 
 
     
     
       16. The device of  claim 14 , wherein each of the magnets is a corner magnet that is located proximate a respective corner of the camera. 
     
     
       17. The device of  claim 14 , wherein each of the magnets is a side magnet that is located proximate a respective side of the camera. 
     
     
       18. The device of  claim 14 , wherein the AF coil is located below the magnets, the camera further comprising a top AF coil to assist in shifting the image sensor along the optical axis to provide AF, wherein the top AF coil is located above the magnets. 
     
     
       19. The device of  claim 14 , wherein the VCM actuator further comprises:
 a substrate coupled to the coil structure and to the image sensor such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate. 
 
     
     
       20. The device of  claim 19 , wherein the flexure arrangement further comprises:
 a bottom flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner; 
 wherein the bottom flexure comprises:
 a movable platform attached to the substrate; 
 a stationary platform attached to a stationary component of the camera; and 
 one or more flexure arms that connect the movable platform to the stationary platform.

Description:
This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/112,411, filed Dec. 4, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/036,838, filed Jul. 16, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,863,094, which claims benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/533,611, filed Jul. 17, 2017, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     This disclosure relates generally to architecture for a camera with image sensor shifting capabilities. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     The advent of small, mobile multipurpose devices such as smartphones and tablet or pad devices has resulted in a need for high-resolution, small form factor cameras for integration in the devices. Some small form factor cameras may incorporate optical image stabilization (OIS) mechanisms that may sense and react to external excitation/disturbance by adjusting location of the optical lens on the X and/or Y axis in an attempt to compensate for unwanted motion of the lens. Some small form factor cameras may incorporate an autofocus (AF) mechanism whereby the object focal distance can be adjusted to focus an object plane in front of the camera at an image plane to be captured by the image sensor. In some such autofocus mechanisms, the optical lens is moved as a single rigid body along the optical axis (referred to as the Z axis) of the camera to refocus the camera. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS 
     A camera may include a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator configured to shift an image sensor along multiple axes. A magnet and coil arrangement of the VCM actuator may include multiple magnets with a respective optical image stabilization (OIS) coil proximate each magnet and an autofocus (AF) coil(s) above and/or below the magnets. A flexure arrangement may suspend a coil carrier assembly holding the OIS and AF coils and a substrate holding the image sensor. Current may be driven in a controlled manner through the coils to move the coil carrier assembly and substrate to shift the image sensor for OIS and/or AF. Some embodiments include a position sensing arrangement of one or more position sensors to provide position feedback for a control loop controlling the position of the image sensor. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS.  1 A- 1 D  illustrate an example magnet and coil arrangement of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  1 A  shows a perspective view of the magnet and coil arrangement.  FIG.  1 B  shows a top view of the magnet and coil arrangement. 
         FIG.  1 C  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnet and coil arrangement.  FIG.  1 D  shows another cross-sectional view of the magnet and coil arrangement. 
         FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  2 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  2 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  3 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  3 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  4 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  4 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  5 A and  5 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  5 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  5 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  6 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  6 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout of a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  7 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout.  FIG.  7 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout. 
         FIGS.  8 A- 8 C  illustrate an example position sensing arrangement that may be used to determine positioning of one or more components (e.g., of a camera that includes a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes), in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  8 A  shows a perspective view of the position sensing arrangement.  FIG.  8 B  shows a top view of the position sensing arrangement.  FIG.  8 C  shows a cross-sectional view of the position sensing arrangement. 
         FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  illustrate an example flexure arrangement  900 , in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  9 A  shows a perspective view of the flexure arrangement.  FIG.  9 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the flexure arrangement in a camera that includes a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes. 
         FIGS.  10 A- 10 C  illustrate example compliance provided by the example flexure arrangement of  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  in response to different types of motion, in accordance with some embodiments. In various embodiments, the flexure arrangement may help guide motion of a substrate (to which an image sensor may be attached) and/or the image sensor in a controlled manner. 
         FIGS.  11 A and  11 B  illustrate perspective views of an example camera and example locations within for placement of a viscoelastic material within the camera for damping purposes, in accordance with some embodiments. In various embodiments, the camera may include a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes), in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  12 A  illustrates a perspective view of an example coil structure and coil carrier assembly, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  12 B  illustrates a perspective view of an example coil carrier, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIGS.  12 C and  12 D  illustrate perspective views of an example coil structure, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  13    illustrates a block diagram of a portable multifunction device that may include a camera, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  14    depicts a portable multifunction device that may include a camera, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  15    illustrates an example computer system that may include a camera, in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     This specification includes references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner consistent with this disclosure. 
     “Comprising.” This term is open-ended. As used in the appended claims, this term does not foreclose additional structure or steps. Consider a claim that recites: “An apparatus comprising one or more processor units . . . .” Such a claim does not foreclose the apparatus from including additional components (e.g., a network interface unit, graphics circuitry, etc.). 
     “Configured To.” Various units, circuits, or other components may be described or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicating that the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs those task or tasks during operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the task even when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currently operational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used with the “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits, memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component. Additionally, “configured to” can include generic structure (e.g., generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware (e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) to operate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue. “Configure to” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g., a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g., integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one or more tasks. 
     “First,” “Second,” etc. As used herein, these terms are used as labels for nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering (e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.). For example, a buffer circuit may be described herein as performing write operations for “first” and “second” values. The terms “first” and “second” do not necessarily imply that the first value must be written before the second value. 
     “Based On.” As used herein, this term is used to describe one or more factors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose additional factors that may affect a determination. That is, a determination may be solely based on those factors or based, at least in part, on those factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.” While in this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of A, such a phrase does not foreclose the determination of A from also being based on C. In other instances, A may be determined based solely on B. 
     It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact, without departing from the intended scope. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact. 
     The terminology used in the description herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Some embodiments include camera equipment outfitted with controls, magnets, and voice coil motors to improve the effectiveness of a miniature actuation mechanism for a compact camera module. More specifically, in some embodiments, compact camera modules include actuators to deliver functions such as autofocus (AF) and/or optical image stabilization (OIS). One approach to delivering a very compact actuator for OIS is to use a voice coil motor (VCM) arrangement, which uses the selective flow of current through a coil to repel or attract a corresponding magnet, which in turn may produce relative movement between the coil and the magnet. In various embodiments, AF movement may comprise movement of an image sensor along an optical axis. Furthermore, OIS movement may comprise lateral movement of the image sensor relative to the optical axis. As used herein, the optical axis may be the path of light as it impinges on the image sensor. The optical axis is generally referred to herein as the z-axis of a coordinate system (such that AF movement may occur along the z-axis) and the x- and y-axes of the coordinate system may represent a plane perpendicular to the optical axis along which the OIS movement may occur. 
     Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. 
       FIGS.  1 A- 1 D  illustrate an example magnet and coil arrangement  100  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  1 A  shows a perspective view of the magnet and coil arrangement  100 .  FIG.  1 B  shows a top view of the magnet and coil arrangement  100 .  FIG.  1 C  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnet and coil arrangement  100 .  FIG.  1 D  shows another cross-sectional view of the magnet and coil arrangement  100 . In some embodiments, the magnet and coil arrangement  100  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  2 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnet and coil arrangement  100  may include one or more magnets  102 , one or more optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  104 , and one or more autofocus (AF) coils  106 . For example, as shown in  FIGS.  1 A and  1 B , the magnet and coil arrangement  100  may include four magnets  102   a - 102   d  (which may also be configured and referred to as corner magnets), four OIS coils  104   a - 104   d  (which may also be configured and referred to as corner OIS coils or corner coils), and a single AF coil  106 . The magnets  102  may be located proximate the OIS coils  104 . For instance, each of the magnets  102  may be located to a respective side of a respective OIS coil  104 . Specifically, the corresponding magnet  102  for a given OIS coil is the magnet that provides the primary magnetic force to the OIS coil when a current is driven through the coil (it may be desirable for the magnets and OIS coils to be spaced from each other so that magnet corresponding to a first OIS coil has negligible impact on a second OIS coil corresponding to a different magnet). Furthermore, the magnets  102  may be located proximate the AF coil  106 . For instance, the magnets  102  may be located above the AF coil  106 , e.g., as shown in  FIG.  1 A . The AF coil  106  may be located proximate a plurality of magnets, and thus multiple magnets may provide magnetic forces for moving the AF coil  106  when current is driven through the coil. 
     When the magnet and coil arrangement  100  is integrated into a camera as described below, in some embodiments the AF coil  106  may be oriented in a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the camera (e.g., optical axis  910  described herein with reference to  FIG.  9 B ). The OIS coils  104  may be positioned in respective planes each parallel to the optical axis. When the magnet and coil arrangement comprises two or more OIS coils (e.g., first, second, third, and fourth OIS coils  104   a - 104   d ), some OIS coils may be parallel to each other. For example, in the embodiment shown in  FIG.  1 B , the first and third OIS coils  104   a  and  104   c  may be parallel to each other (i.e., the first OIS coil  104   a  may be positioned in a first plane that is parallel to a second plane in which the third OIS coil  104   c  is positioned). Similarly, the second and fourth OIS coils  104   b  and  104   d  may be parallel to each other. 
     The AF coil  106  may be sized to surround the image sensor, although the AF coil  106  need not be in the same plane as the image sensor. Accordingly, the magnet and coil arrangement  100  may be positioned within a camera such that the AF coil  106  circumscribes a portion of the light path of light imaged by the image sensor, which may allow the AF coil  106  to provide autofocus actuation without limiting or otherwise impinging on the field of view of the camera. 
     As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the one or more magnets  102  may be configured as corner magnets. In these variations the corner magnets  102  may have respective polarity alignments (depicted by arrows  103   a - d  in  FIGS.  1 B and  1 C ) in respective directions that are angled (e.g., at 45 degrees) relative to at least one side of a camera module. In various embodiments, a camera module may include four sides that define rectangle when viewed from above, and the respective directions of the respective polarity alignments of the corner magnets  102  may be angled relative to at least one of the four sides of the camera module. This may facilitate placement of the magnets  102  in the corners of the camera module (and in some instances one or more of the magnets  102  may optionally have a trapezoidal cross-section along the x-y plane which may further facilitate placement of the magnets  102  in the corners of the camera module). Additionally, or alternatively, the respective directions of the respective polarity alignments of the corner magnets  102  may be coincident with respective planes that are orthogonal to the AF coil  106  and that intersect with respective corners of a camera module. 
     In some embodiments, opposing pairs of the OIS coils  104  may be used to provide OIS movement in different directions. Typically the coils of an opposing pair of OIS coils may be positioned within respective parallel planes. Additionally, in some variations each the coils of an opposing pair of OIS coils may further be centered along a line that is perpendicular to the parallel planes. For instance, two OIS coils (e.g., the first and third OIS coils  104   a  and  104   c  depicted in  FIGS.  1 A and  1 B ) may form a first opposing pair of OIS coils  104  that provide OIS movement in a first direction, e.g., as indicated by arrow B 1 . When the magnets associated with the first and third OIS coils  104   a  and  104   c  (e.g., the first and third magnets  102   a  and  102   c ) are configured as corner magnets in a camera module, this first direction B 1  may intersect two corners of the camera module. Two additional OIS coils (e.g., second and fourth OIS coils  104   b  and  104   d ) may form a second opposing pair of OIS coils  104  that provide OIS movement in a second direction, e.g., as indicated by arrow B 2 . In some instances, the first direction B 1  may be orthogonal to the second direction B 2 . Again, when the magnets associated with the second and fourth OIS coils  104   b  and  104   d  (e.g., the second and fourth magnets  102   b  and  102   d ) are configured as corner magnets in a camera module, this first direction B 2  may intersect two corners of the camera module. In these embodiments, the device may activate one or both of the first opposing pair of OIS coils  104  (i.e., by driving current through the coil or coils) to control movement along direction B 1  and may activate one or both of the second opposing pairs of OIS coils  104  to control movement along direction B 2 . Collectively, the two sets of opposing pairs of OIS coils may provide two-dimensional movement in the x-y plane. 
     Some variations of the embodiments described here need not comprise opposing pairs of OIS coils, but there may be advantages to including opposing pairs of OIS coils. For example, an opposing pair of OIS coils may provide a more linear force response as compared to a single OIS coil. Typically, when a driven coil moves away from the magnet, the magnetic force between the coil and magnet decreases and thus may require a non-linear increase in driving current to continue to move the coil away from the magnet. With an opposing pair of OIS coils, a first coil of a pair may push away from its respective magnet while the second coil of the pair may pull towards its respective magnet. While it may take more current to provide the pushing force as the separation between the first coil and its respective magnet increases, it will take less current to provide the pulling force as the separation between the second coil and its magnet decreases. Additionally, driving opposing pairs of OIS coils may help to cancel out torques that may otherwise be provided to the coil arrangement by driving a single OIS coil. 
     In some examples, the OIS coils  104  and the AF coil  106  may be part of a common coil structure  108 , e.g., as described below with reference to  FIGS.  12 C and  12 D . The coil structure may comprise a holding structure (e.g., a frame or the like) which may hold the OIS coils  104  and AF coil in a fixed relationship, such as discussed in more detail below. When the magnet and coil arrangement  100  is integrated into a camera module, the arrangement may be integrated such that the coils (OIS coils  104  and AF coil  106 ) are moveable relative to the magnets  102 . In some embodiments, the coil structure  108  may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the magnets  102  may be stationary (e.g., held in a fixed relationship to the camera module). 
     In some embodiments, the OIS coils  104  may be oriented orthogonal to the AF coil  106 . For example, the OIS coils  104  may be vertically oriented (i.e., positioned in a plane that is oriented parallel to the optical/z-axis), while the AF coil  106  may be horizontally oriented (i.e., positioned in a plane that is perpendicular to the optical/z-axis). 
       FIG.  1 D  illustrates one embodiment of the polarity alignment of a magnet  102  relative to an OIS coil  104  and AF coil  106 . For example,  FIG.  1 D  may illustrated the magnet and coils on the left side of  FIG.  1 C . In an embodiment in which the magnet and coil arrangement  100  is included in a camera, the magnet  102  may be attached to a non-moving structure of the camera module. As illustrated, the north-south polarity alignment of magnet  102  is in a direction (as shown by arrow  103  in  FIG.  1 C ) perpendicular to a plane in which OIS coil  104  lies and parallel to a plane in which AF coil  106  lies, with the north pole closer to OIS coil  104  and the south pole close to an outer perimeter of the magnet and coil arrangement  100 . While the illustrated embodiment shows the north pole of magnet  102  facing OIS coil  104 , in other embodiments, the polarity may be reversed such that the south pole faces OIS magnet  104 . In such an embodiment, for a given direction of movement, the current by be driven in the opposite direction in OIS coil  104  and AF coil  106  than for the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  1 D . 
     When a magnet and coil arrangement is incorporated into a camera module, the magnets and coils may have different orientations relative to each other and relative to the rest of the camera module. In some instances, a magnet and coil arrangement may be configured to have a first AF coil that is positioned below the magnets (relative to the direction of incoming light), and one or more OIS coils that are each positioned between a corresponding magnet and the optical axis.  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  illustrate one such example of a magnetic layout  200  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  200  is shown incorporated into a housing  210  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  2 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  200 .  FIG.  2 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  200  taken along a diagonal of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  200  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A,  1 B, and  3 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  200  may include a plurality of magnets  202  configured as corner magnets, one or more inside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  204 , and a bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  206 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  200  may include four corner magnets  202  that are each located proximate a respective corner of a camera module. Each of the corner magnets  202  may have a respective side that faces inward, e.g., in a direction opposite the respective corner of the camera module and/or in a direction toward a central portion of the camera module. The magnetic layout  200  may include a plurality of inside OIS coils  204  (e.g., four OIS coils) that are each located proximate an inward-facing side of a respective corner magnets  202 , such that the OIS coil is positioned between the respective corner magnet and the optical axis, and the respective corner magnet is positioned between the OIS coil and the housing  210 . The bottom side AF coil  206  may be located below the corner magnets  202 . 
     When an element is described here as being positioned “above” or “below” another element, this relative positioning is based on an orientation where the imaging side of the image sensor faces a top side of the camera module and faces away from a bottom side of the camera module. Accordingly, if a first element is above a second element, the first element is closer to the top side of the camera module. For example, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B , magnets  202  may be closer to a top side  212  of the housing  210  and the AF coil  206  may be closer to the bottom side  214  of the housing  210 , and thus the AF coil  206  is considered to be below the magnets  202 . While  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  show the AF coil  206  being a bottom side AF coil (i.e., positioned below the magnets  202 ), it should be appreciated that in other instances the AF coil  206  may be a top side AF coil where the AF coil is positioned above the magnets  202 . 
     As mentioned above with respect to  FIGS.  1 A- 1 D , in some examples, the inside OIS coils  204  and the bottom side AF coil  206  may be part of a common coil structure (not shown) that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the corner magnets  202  may be stationary. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the inside OIS coils  204  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  206  (i.e., a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to the plane in which the AF coil is positioned, such as discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  1 A- 1 D ). For example, the inside OIS coils  204  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  206  may be horizontally oriented. In some instances when an OIS coil is positioned proximate a corner magnet (such as shown in  FIG.  2 A ), the plane in which the OIS coil is positioned may be perpendicular to a diagonal of the camera module. 
     Example directions of current flow through the inside OIS coils  204  and the bottom side AF coil  206  are indicated in  FIG.  2 B  using crosses (Xs) and dots (•s). The crosses indicate current flowing “into the page,” and the dots indicate current flowing “out of the page.” This convention carries over in all embodiments. Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the corner magnets  202 . 
     In variations where the OIS coils  204  include one or more sets of opposing OIS coil pairs (such as the two OIS coils depicted in  FIG.  2 B ), the current direction through each coil is chosen to achieve a given direction of movement of the OIS coils relative to the magnets. For example, in the cross-section shown in  FIG.  2 B , the magnets on opposite sides of the optical axis have reverse polarities (e.g., the north pole of each magnet faces the closest exterior corner of the housing  210 ). In these instances, current may be driven in the same direction in each of the opposing pair of OIS coils to create magnetic forces in a common direction. For example, as current is driven through the left OIS coil  204  in the direction shown in  FIG.  2 B , the left OIS coil  204  is attracted to the left magnet  202  (which would pull the OIS coil  204  toward the left). As current is driven through the right OIS coil  204 , the right OIS coil  204  is repelled by the right magnet  202 , which would push the right OIS coil  204  to the left. When the left and right OIS coils are connected to a common structure, this may result in leftward movement of the coil structure. The current direction may be reversed to move the OIS coils to the right. It should be appreciated, both in this embodiment and the other magnet and coil arrangement embodiments described here, that changing the North/South orientation of a given magnet or the relative positioning between an OIS coil and its respective magnet may require a change in current direction needed to move the OIS coil in a certain direction. 
     While the magnetic layout  200  shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  depict a single AF coil, it should be appreciated that in some instance a magnet and coil arrangement may comprise a plurality of AF coils.  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout  300  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  300  is shown incorporated into a housing  310  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  3 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  300 .  FIG.  3 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  300  taken along a diagonal of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  300  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 2 B and  4 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  300  may include a plurality magnets  302  configured as corner magnets, one or more inside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  304 , a first bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  306 , and a second top side AF coil  308 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  300  may include four corner magnets  302  that are each located proximate a respective corner of a camera module. Each of the corner magnets  302  may have a respective side that faces inward, e.g., in a direction opposite the respective corner of the camera module and/or in a direction toward a central portion of the camera module. The magnetic layout  300  may include a plurality of inside OIS coils  304  (e.g., four OIS coils) that are each located proximate an inward-facing side of a respective corner magnets  302 , such that the OIS coil is positioned between the respective corner magnet and the optical axis and the respective corner magnet is positioned between the OIS coil and the housing  310 . The bottom side AF coil  306  may be located below the corner magnets  302 . The top side AF coil  308  may be located above the corner magnets  302 . 
     In some examples, the inside OIS coils  304 , the bottom side AF coil  306 , and/or the top side AF coil  308  may be part of a common coil structure (not shown) that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the corner magnets  302  may be stationary. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the inside OIS coils  304  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  306  and/or the top side AF coil  308 . In other words, a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to a plane in which the top side or bottom side AF coil is positioned. When the bottom side AF coil  306  and top side AF coil  308  are positioned in first and second parallel planes, a given OIS coil may be positioned in a respective plane that is perpendicular to both the first and second parallel planes. For example, the inside OIS coils  304  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  306  and/or the top side AF coil  308  may be horizontally oriented. 
     Example directions of current flow through the inside OIS coils  304 , the bottom side AF coil  306 , and the top side AF coil  308  are indicated in  FIG.  3 B . In some embodiments, current may flow through the bottom side AF coil  306  and the top side AF coil  308  in the same direction, which may promote forces in a common direction between the bottom side AF coil  306  and magnets  302  and between the top side AF coil  308  and magnets  302 . Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the corner magnets  302 . 
     While the magnets discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  2 A,  2 B,  3 A, and  3 C  are configured as corner magnets, in other instances one or more magnets may be configured as side magnets.  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  illustrate an example magnetic layout  400  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  400  is shown incorporated into a housing  410  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  4 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  400 .  FIG.  4 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  400  taken along a direction parallel to a side of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  400  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 3 B and  5 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  400  may include a plurality of magnets  402  configured as side magnets, one or more inside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  404 , and a bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  406 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  400  may include four side magnets  402  that are each located proximate a respective side of a camera module. Each of the side magnets  402  may have a respective side that faces inward, e.g., in a direction opposite the respective side of the camera module and/or in a direction toward a central portion of the camera module. In some embodiments the inward-facing side of a side magnet may be parallel to the respective side of the camera module. In some embodiments, the side magnets  402  may have respective polarity alignments in respective directions that are orthogonal to at least one side of the camera module. In various embodiments, the camera module may include four sides that define rectangle when viewed from above, and the respective directions of the respective polarity alignments of the side magnets  402  may be angled relative to at least one of the four sides of the camera module. 
     The magnetic layout  400  may include a plurality of inside OIS coils  404  (e.g., four inside OIS coils  404 ) that are each located proximate a respective inward-facing side of the side magnets  402 , such that the inside OIS coil is positioned between the respective side magnet and the optical axis and the respective side magnet is positioned between the OIS coil and the housing  410 . The bottom side AF coil  406  may be located below the side magnets  402 . While  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  show the AF coil  406  being a bottom side AF coil (i.e., positioned below the magnets  402 ), it should be appreciated that in other instances the AF coil  406  may be a top side AF coil where the AF coil is positioned above the magnets  402 . 
     In some examples, the inside OIS coils  404  and the bottom side AF coil  406  may be part of a common coil structure (not shown) that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the side magnets  402  may be stationary. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the inside OIS coils  404  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  406  (i.e., a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to the plane in which the AF coil is positioned, such as discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  1 A- 1 D ). For example, the inside OIS coils  404  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  406  may be horizontally oriented. In some instances when an OIS coil is positioned proximate a side magnet (such as shown in  FIG.  4 A ), the plane in which the OIS coil is positioned may be parallel to a respective side of the camera module. 
     Example directions of current flow through the inside OIS coils  404  and the bottom side AF coil  406  are indicated in  FIG.  4 B . Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the side magnets  402 . 
       FIGS.  5 A and  5 B  illustrate another example magnetic layout  500  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  500  is shown incorporated into a housing  510  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  5 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  500 .  FIG.  5 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  500  taken along a direction parallel to a side of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  500  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 4 B and  6 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  500  may include a plurality of magnets  502  configured as side magnets, one or more inside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  504 , a bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  506 , and a top side AF coil  508 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  5 A and  5 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  500  may include four side magnets  502  that are each located proximate a respective side of a camera module. Each of the side magnets  502  may have a respective side that faces inward, e.g., in a direction opposite the respective side of the camera module and/or in a direction toward a central portion of the camera module. In some embodiments the inward-facing side of a side magnet may be parallel to the respective side of the camera module. The magnetic layout  500  may include a plurality of inside OIS coils  504  (e.g., four) that are each located proximate a respective inward-facing side of the side magnets  502 , such that the inside OIS coil is positioned between the respective side magnet and the optical axis and the respective side magnet is positioned between the OIS coil and the housing  510 . The bottom side AF coil  506  may be located below the side magnets  502 . The top side AF coil  508  may be located above the side magnets  502 . 
     In some examples, the inside OIS coils  504 , the bottom side AF coil  506 , and/or the top side AF coil  508  may be part of a common coil structure (not shown) that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the side magnets  502  may be stationary. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the inside OIS coils  504  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  506  and/or the top side AF coil  508 . In other words, a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to a plane in which the top side or bottom side AF coil is positioned. When the bottom side AF coil  506  and top side AF coil  508  are positioned in first and second parallel planes, a given OIS coil may be positioned in a respective plane that is perpendicular to both the first and second parallel planes. For example, the inside OIS coils  504  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  506  and/or the top side AF coil  508  may be horizontally oriented. In some instances when an OIS coil is positioned proximate a side magnet (such as shown in  FIG.  5 A ), the plane in which the OIS coil is positioned may be parallel to a respective side of the camera module. 
     Example directions of current flow through the inside OIS coils  504 , the bottom side AF coil  506 , and the top side AF coil  508  are indicated in  FIG.  5 B . In some embodiments, current may flow through the bottom side AF coil  506  and the top side AF coil  508  in the same direction, which may promote forces in a common direction between the bottom side AF coil  506  and magnets  502  and between the top side AF coil  508  and magnets  502 . Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  5 A and  5 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the side magnets  502 . 
     While an OIS coil of a magnet and coil arrangement may be configured as an inside OIS coil as described in more detail above, it should be appreciated that in other instances an OIS coil may be configured as an outside OIS coil.  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  illustrate one such example of a magnetic layout  600  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  600  is shown incorporated into a housing  610  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  6 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  600 .  FIG.  6 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  600  taken along a direction parallel to a side of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  600  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 5 B and  7 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  600  may include a plurality of magnets  602  configured as side magnets, one or more outside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  604 , and a bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  606 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  600  may include four side magnets  602  that are each located proximate a respective side of a camera module. Each of the side magnets  602  may have a respective side that faces outward, e.g., in a direction toward the respective side of the camera module and/or in a direction opposite a central portion of the camera module. In some embodiments the outward-facing side of a side magnet may be parallel to the respective side of the camera module. 
     The magnetic layout  600  may include a plurality of outside OIS coils  604  (e.g., four outside OIS coils  604 ) that are each located proximate a respective outward-facing side of the side magnets  602 , such that the respective side magnet is positioned between the outside OIS coil and the optical axis, and the OIS coil is positioned between the respective side magnet and the housing  610 . The bottom side AF coil  606  may be located below the side magnets  602 . While  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  show the AF coil  606  being a bottom side AF coil (i.e., positioned below the magnets  602 ), it should be appreciated that in other instances the AF coil  406  may be a top side AF coil where the AF coil is positioned above the magnets  602 . 
     In some examples, the outside OIS coils  604  and the bottom side AF coil  606  may be part of a common coil structure (not shown) that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the side magnets  602  may be stationary. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the outside OIS coils  604  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  606  (i.e., a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to the plane in which the AF coil is positioned, such as discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  1 A- 1 D ). For example, the outside OIS coils  604  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  606  may be horizontally oriented. In some instances when an OIS coil is positioned proximate a side magnet (such as shown in  FIG.  6 A ), the plane in which the OIS coil is positioned may be parallel to a respective side of the camera module. 
     Example directions of current flow through the outside OIS coils  604  and the bottom side AF coil  606  are indicated in  FIG.  6 B . Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the side magnets  602 . 
       FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  illustrate another example magnetic layout  700  of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes, in accordance with some embodiments. Magnetic layout  700  is shown incorporated into a housing  710  of a camera module, although other elements of the camera module (e.g., an image sensor, lens, or the like) are not shown here.  FIG.  7 A  shows a top view of the magnetic layout  700 .  FIG.  7 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic layout  700  taken along a direction parallel to a side of the camera module. In some embodiments, the magnetic layout  700  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 6 B and  8 A- 15   . 
     In various embodiments, the magnetic layout  700  may include a plurality of magnets  702  configured as side magnets, one or more outside optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  704 , a bottom side autofocus (AF) coil  706 , and a top side AF coil  708 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  7 A and  7 B . For instance, the magnetic layout  700  may include four side magnets  702  that are each located proximate a respective side of a camera module. Each of the side magnets  702  may have a respective side that faces outward, e.g., in a direction toward the respective side of the camera module and/or in a direction opposite a central portion of the camera module. In some embodiments the outward-facing side of a side magnet may be parallel to the respective side of the camera module. 
     The magnetic layout  700  may include a plurality of outside OIS coils  704  (e.g., four OIS coils) that are each located proximate a respective outward-facing side of the side magnets  702  such that the respective side magnet is positioned between the outside OIS coil and the optical axis and the OIS coil is positioned between the respective side magnet and the housing  710 . The bottom side AF coil  706  may be located below the side magnets  702 . The top side AF coil  708  may be located above the side magnets  702 . 
     In some examples, the outside OIS coils  704 , the bottom side AF coil  706 , and/or the top side AF coil  708  may be part of a same coil structure that may be movable to provide OIS and/or AF movement, while the side magnets  702  may be stationary. 
     Furthermore, in some embodiments, the outside OIS coils  704  may be oriented orthogonal to the bottom side AF coil  706  and/or the top side AF coil  708 . In other words, a given OIS coil may be positioned within a respective plane that is perpendicular to a plane in which the top side or bottom side AF coil is positioned. When the bottom side AF coil  706  and top side AF coil  708  are positioned in first and second parallel planes, a given OIS coil  704  may be positioned in a respective plane that is perpendicular to both the first and second parallel planes. For example, the outside OIS coils  704  may be vertically oriented, while the bottom side AF coil  706  and/or the top side AF coil  708  may be horizontally oriented. In some instances when an OIS coil is positioned proximate a side magnet (such as shown in  FIG.  7 A ), the plane in which the OIS coil is positioned may be parallel to a respective side of the camera module. 
     Example directions of current flow through the outside OIS coils  704 , the bottom side AF coil  706 , and the top side AF coil  708  are indicated in  FIG.  7 B . In some embodiments, current may flow through the bottom side AF coil  706  and the top side AF coil  708  in the same direction, which may promote forces in a common direction between the bottom side AF coil  706  and magnets  702  and between the top side AF coil  708  and magnets  702 . Furthermore, hatching/shading as shown in the legend is used in  FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  to indicate example North and South pole orientations of the side magnets  702 . 
     While the embodiments of magnet and coil arrangements depicted above have generally showed embodiments having the same number of magnets and OIS coils, it should be appreciated that in some embodiments the number of OIS coils may be different than the number of magnets. For example, in some embodiments there may be fewer OIS coils than magnets. In these embodiments, there may be one or more magnets that does not have a corresponding OIS coil positioned in proximity thereof (and thus may not materially add to the x-y movement of the coils), but these magnets still may assist with movement of the AF coil. 
     It should be further appreciated that the magnet and coil arrangements described here may comprise any suitable number of magnets for moving the coils as well as different combinations of corner and side magnets and inside and outside OIS coils. For example, while certain embodiments described above show four side magnets (one positioned adjacent each side of the camera module), there may be fewer than four side magnets (e.g., one or more of the sides may not have a magnet positioned adjacent thereto) or more than four magnets (e.g., more than one magnet may be positioned adjacent to each of one or more sides of the camera module). Additionally or alternatively, a camera module may have a magnet and coil arrangement comprising a combination of one or more side magnets and one or more corner magnets. Additionally or alternatively, a camera module may have a magnet and coil arrangement comprising a combination of inside OIS coils and outside OIS coils. As an example, a magnet and coil arrangement may comprise two opposing pairs of OIS coils positioned along the same direction. In this embodiment, a first opposing pair of OIS coils may comprise a first and second outer OIS coils and the second opposing pair of OIS coils may comprise first and second inner OIS coils. In these embodiments, a first magnet be position between the first inner OIS coil and the first outer OIS coil while a second magnet may be positioned between the second inner OIS coil and the second outer OIS coil. Having two pairs of opposing OIS coils along a common direction may increase the stability and responsiveness of the VCM actuator, but increases device complexity. 
     The magnet and coil arrangements of the voice coil motors described here may further comprise one or more position sensors for detecting the relative position of one or more coils (or coil-holding structures) within a camera module.  FIGS.  8 A- 8 C  illustrate an example position sensing arrangement  800  that may be used to determine positioning of one or more components (e.g., of a camera that includes a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes), in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  8 A  shows a perspective view of the position sensing arrangement  800 .  FIG.  8 B  shows a top view of the position sensing arrangement  800 .  FIG.  8 C  shows a cross-sectional view of the position sensing arrangement  800  incorporated into a camera module  816 . In some embodiments, the position sensing arrangement  800  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 7 B and  9 - 15   . 
     In some embodiments, the position sensing arrangement  800  may include one or more position sensors  802 . In various examples, the position sensors  802  may be magnetic field sensors (e.g., Hall sensors, tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors, etc.). Each of the position sensors  802  may be attached to or otherwise located proximate a respective coil (e.g., an optical image stabilization (OIS) coil  104 ) and/or a respective magnet of a VCM actuator. The magnet and coil arrangement  100  is shown in  FIGS.  8 A- 8 C  for the purpose of illustration, although it should be appreciated that the position sensing arrangement described here may be used with any of the magnet and coil arrangements discussed above. For instance, the position sensing arrangement  800  may include two position sensors  802 —a first position sensor  802   a  and a second position sensor  802   b . In various embodiments, when magnet and coil arrangement are incorporated into the camera module, the OIS coils  104  may be movable, and the magnets  102  may be stationary. 
     For OIS, the quantity being sensed may be the magnetic field produced by the magnet  102 . For example,  FIG.  8 C  indicates magnetic field lines  804  coming out of the magnet  102 . The magnetic field may include a first magnetic field component in a first direction, e.g., as indicated by arrow  806 . As the position sensor  802  moves along the first direction toward the magnet  102  or away from the magnet  102  (e.g., during OIS operations), the intensity of the first magnetic field component that is sensed by the position sensor  802  may change. For instance, as the position sensor  802  moves along the first direction  806  toward the magnet  102 , the intensity of the first magnetic field component, as sensed by the position sensor  802 , may increase. As the position sensor  802  moves along the first direction  806  away from the magnet  102 , the intensity of the first magnetic field component, as sensed by the position sensor  802 , may decrease. 
     For AF, the quantity being sensed may be an angle  808  between the first magnetic field component and a second magnetic field component of the magnetic field produced by the magnet  102 . The magnet may produce the second magnetic field component in a second direction, e.g., as indicated by arrow  810 . In some examples, the second direction may be orthogonal to the first direction. In some instances, the position sensor  802  may be centered with the magnet  102 , e.g., centered along a z dimension of the magnet  102 . In such instances, the second magnetic field component may be zero (to the position sensor  802 ). That is, in some embodiments, the position sensor  802  may sense the first magnetic field component but not the second magnetic field component in instances in which the position sensor  802  is centered with the magnet  102 . As the position sensor  802  moves up or down along the second direction  810  (e.g., during AF operations), the second magnetic field component at the position sensor  802  location may changes, and thus the position sensor  802  may sense changes in the angle  808  between the first magnetic field component and the second magnetic field component. 
     In some variations, in order to sense the OIS movement and the AF movement, each of the first position sensor  802   a  and the second position sensor  802   b  may be configured to output two different signals, each of which responds primarily to motion in different directions across the range of motion of the coil arrangement (i.e., the range of motion that can be achieved during typical operation of the device). Specifically, when a given signal responds primarily to motion in a first direction, the sensitivity of the signal in response to movement across the range of motion in the first direction (in other words, the magnitude of signal change across the stroke in the first direction) should be greater than the sensitivity of the signal in response to movement across the respective range of motions in directions orthogonal to the first direction. The ratio of sensitivities to motion in a first direction relative to a second direction is referred to herein as a “cross-coupling ratio.” When a signal described here responds primarily to motion in a primary direction, the cross-coupling ratios between a primary direction and directions orthogonal to the primary direction may be selected based on the sensitivity of the system, but it is generally desirable to set the cross-coupling ratio (sensitive in the orthogonal direction divided by sensitivity in the primary direction) to be as small as possible. For example, in some instances it may be desirable for the cross coupling ratio to be less than 0.25 (i.e., the signal is at least 4 times as sensitive in the primary direction than it is in an orthogonal direction), or more preferable less than 0.1 (i.e., as sensitive in the primary direction than it is in an orthogonal direction). 
     Each of the first position sensor  802   a  and the second position sensor  802   b  may output two signals, a first signal that responds primarily to motion in a first direction (e.g., the z direction) and a second signal that responds primarily to motion in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (e.g., a direction in the x-y plane). For example, in the arrangement of  FIGS.  8 A- 8 C , the first position sensor  802   a  may output a first signal that primarily responds to motion in the z-direction (not shown) and second signal that primarily responds to motion in a first direction  812  in the x-y plane. The second position sensor  802   b  may output a first signal that primarily responds to motion in the z-direction and a second signal that primarily responds to motion in a second direction  814 , the second direction  814  being in the x-y plane and perpendicular to the first direction  812 . It should be noted that the first position sensor  802   a  and/or the second position sensor  802   b  may each comprise two or more discrete sensor elements that each may be positioned or otherwise configured to be sensitive primarily to magnetic field changes in a particular direction, and may collectively provide the first and second output signals for the respective position sensor. 
     The four signals (i.e., the first and second signals of the first position sensor  802   a  and the first and second signals of the second position sensor  802   b ) may be used to determine the position (and in some instances orientation) of the coil arrangement relative to the magnets  102  (and thus the rest of the camera). For example, the signals that respond primarily to movement in the z direction may be used to detect autofocus movement such as described in more detail above. In some instances, only one of the first and second position sensors may provide a signal that responds primarily to movement in the z direction, although instances where both position sensors output such a signal may increase reliability, as well as allow for the calculation of tilt of the coil arrangement in a given direction by measuring a difference between the signals. Additionally, the signals that respond primarily to movement in the first direction  812  and the second direction  814  may be used to detect OIS motion. 
     In some embodiments, the position sensing arrangement  800  may include a position sensor  802  for each pair of opposing magnets  102 . In some examples, the first position sensor  802   a  may be attached to one OIS coil  104  of a pair of opposing OIS coils  104 , and the second position sensor  802   b  may be attached to one OIS coil  104  of another pair of opposing OIS coils  104 . As shown in  FIGS.  8 A and  8 B , the position sensing arrangement  800  may include two position sensors  802 , each of which may sense OIS movement in a respective direction. The first position sensor  802   a  may be used to sense OIS movement in a first direction, and the second position sensor  802   b  may be used to sense OIS movement in a second direction. In various embodiments, the second direction may be orthogonal to the first direction. Each of the position sensors  802  may be used to sense AF movement. Furthermore, the position sensors  802  may be used to sense tilt movement about at least one axis. 
     Although not shown in  FIGS.  8 A and  8 B , the position sensing arrangement  800  may include a position sensor  802  for each magnet in some embodiments. In some examples, each of the position sensors  802  may be attached to a respective OIS coil. A first pair of position sensors  802  that correspond to a first pair of opposing magnets may be used to sense OIS movement in a first direction  812 , and a second pair of position sensors  802  that correspond to a second pair of opposing magnets may be used to sense OIS movement in a second direction  814 . In various embodiments, the second direction  814  may be orthogonal to the first direction  812 . Each of the position sensors  802  may be used to sense AF movement. Furthermore, the first pair of position sensors  802  may be used to sense tilt movement about a first axis, and the second pair of position sensors  802  may be used to sense tilt movement about a second axis. In various embodiments, the second axis may be orthogonal to the first axis. 
     In some embodiments, the position sensing arrangement  800  may additionally, or alternatively, include one or more position sensors  802  underneath a substrate portion that carries the AF coil  106 . 
     In various embodiments, the position sensors  802  of the position sensing arrangement  800  may sense magnetic field components of the drive magnets  102  as discussed above, without the need to include separate probe magnets for the position sensors  802  to sense. 
     In various embodiments, the position sensing arrangement  800  described herein may mitigate cross coupling sensed by the position sensors  802  during OIS and AF operations compared to some other position sensing arrangements. 
     One or more portions of the magnet and coil arrangements discussed above may be supported by a flexure arrangement that may help control relative movement between the magnets and coils.  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  illustrate an example flexure arrangement  900  (e.g., for a camera that includes a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes), in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  9 A  shows a perspective view of the flexure arrangement  900 .  FIG.  9 B  shows a cross-sectional view of the flexure arrangement  900  in a camera  902  that includes a VCM actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes. In some embodiments, the flexure assembly  900  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 8 C and  10 A- 15   .  FIG.  9 B  show the camera  902  as comprising a position sensing arrangement  800  as described above with respect to  FIGS.  8 A- 8 C , although it should be appreciated that the camera  902  may incorporate any suitable position sensing system for monitoring the relative movement of the VCM actuator. 
     According to various embodiments, the camera  902  may include a lens  904 , an image sensor  906 , and a VCM actuator  908 . The lens  904  may include one or more lens elements that define an optical axis  910 . The image sensor  906  may be configured to capture light passing through the lens  904  and convert the captured light into image signals. The path of light as it impinges on the image sensor  906  may be referred to as the optical axis  910 . In various embodiments, the VCM actuator  908  may include the flexure arrangement  900 , one or more magnets  912 , one or more optical image stabilization (OIS) coils  914 , one or more autofocus (AF) coils  916 , and a coil carrier  918 . The one or more magnets  912 , one or more OIS coils, and one or more AF coils may have any suitable arrangement as discussed above, such as, for example, one of the arrangements described above with relation to  FIGS.  1 A- 7 B . 
     The magnets  912  and the coils  914 ,  916  may magnetically interact, e.g., to produce Lorentz forces that cause the coil carrier  918  to shift along multiple axes. For instance, the coil carrier  918  may move in directions orthogonal to the optical axis  910  (e.g., along the x-y plane) to provide OIS. Additionally, or alternatively, the coil carrier  918  may move along the optical axis  910  (e.g., along the z axis) to provide AF. 
     In various embodiments, the image sensor  906  may be configured to shift together with, and in a similar manner as, the coil carrier  918 . In these embodiments, the one or more AF coils  916 , the one or more OIS coils  914 , and image sensor  906  may be held in a fixed relationship (referred to herein as the coil-sensor arrangement). The coil-sensor arrangement may be connected in any suitable manner, and the coil-sensor arrangement may comprise one or more holding structures for holding the coils and image sensor. For instance, the image sensor  906  may be attached to a substrate  920  of the camera  902  (and/or of the VCM actuator  908 ), and the substrate  920  may in turn be attached to the coil carrier  918  (either directly or via one or more intermediate structures). In variations where the AF coil  916  is a bottom AF coil (as shown in  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B ), the AF coil  916  (or a flex circuit holding the AF coil  916 ) may be directly connected to the substrate  920 , which in some instances may allow for one or more electrical signals to be provided to one or more of the coils via electrical connections on the substrate  920 . In some examples, the image sensor  906  may be attached to a bottom portion of the substrate  920 . The substrate  920  may be attached to a bottom portion of the coil carrier  918  in some embodiments. Furthermore, the substrate  920  may be attached to a movable portion of the flexure arrangement  900 , e.g., to the movable platform  928  discussed below. In other embodiments, the image sensor may be connected directly to the coil carrier. In some instances, the camera  902  may comprise one or more additional structures such as a bumper  950 . The bumper  950  may be connected to a portion of the coil-sensor arrangement (e.g., an underside of the substrate  920 ), and may provide a stop for movement of the coil-sensor arrangement toward a bottom of the camera. 
     In various embodiments, the magnets  912  may be attached to a magnet holder  922 . The magnet holder  922  may be a stationary component within the camera  902 . As such, the magnets  912  may be stationary relative to one or more moving components of the camera  902 . 
     In various embodiments, the OIS coils  914  and the AF coils  916  may be formed of a common coil structure, e.g., as described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 1 D and  12 A- 12 D . For instance, the coil structure may be formed of a flex circuit. In various embodiments, the coil structure may be manufactured as a flat coil structure with tab portions that are foldable, e.g., as described herein with reference to  FIGS.  12 A- 12 D . In some embodiments, the tab portions hold or include the OIS coils  914 . Furthermore, the tab portions may extend from a base portion that holds or includes the AF coil(s)  916 . In some cases, the base portion and/or the AF coil(s)  916  may form a ring around, or otherwise surround, the coil carrier  918  and/or the lens  904 . The flex circuit may in turn be connected to the coil holder  918 , such as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  12 A- 12 D . As mentioned above, a portion of the flex circuit may also be connected to the substrate  920 . 
     The flexure arrangement  900  may be configured to suspend the coil-sensor arrangement (or a coil-lens embodiment in instances where the coil arrangement moves the lens  904  within camera  902 ). In some embodiments, the flexure arrangement  900  may include a bottom flexure  924  and a top flexure  926 . The bottom flexure  924  and the top flexure  926  may, in some cases, cooperatively provide compliance for movement (e.g., of the image sensor) in directions orthogonal to the optical axis  910  (e.g., for OIS) and/or along the optical axis  910  (e.g., for AF). According to various embodiments, the bottom flexure  924  and the top flexure  926  help guide motion of the substrate  920  (to which the image sensor  906  may be attached) and/or the image sensor  906  in a controlled manner. In some examples, the bottom flexure portion  924  may primarily provide guidance for OIS movement, and the top flexure portion  926  may primarily provide guidance for AF movement. 
     In some examples, the bottom flexure  924  may include a movable platform  928 , a stationary platform  930 , and one or more flexure arms  932  that connect the movable platform  928  to the stationary platform  930 . The stationary platform  930  may be connected to a stationary component of the camera  902 . For instance, the stationary platform  930  may be attached to a base  934  of the camera  902 . In some embodiments, the substrate  920  may be attached to the movable portion  928  of the bottom flexure  924 , and the image sensor  906  may be attached to the substrate  920 . For example, in some variations moveable portion  928  may be connected to a bottom surface of the substrate  920 . The substrate  920  and the image sensor  906  may move along with, and in the same manner as, the movable portion  928  of the bottom flexure  924  in some embodiments. 
     In some examples, the top flexure  926  may include a leaf portion  936  and a wire portion comprising one or more wires  938 . The leaf portion  936  may be made of a sheet, which may be etched into a specific pattern. Generally, the leaf portion  936  may be suspended in the camera such that the leaf portion  936  (not flexed) is positioned within a plane that is perpendicular to the optical axis of the camera  902 . Specifically, the one or more wires  938  of the may connect the leaf portion  936  to another portion of the camera  902  (e.g., a stationary portion of the camera) to suspend the leaf portion  936 . In some embodiments, the leaf portion  936  may be attached to the top ends of the wires  938  and the bottom ends of the wires  938  may be attached to a stationary component  944  of the camera  902  (which may be any stationary portion of the camera  902 ) such that the leaf portion  936  is positioned above the wires  938 . In other embodiments the bottom ends of the wires  938  are attached to the leaf portion  906  while the top ends of the wires  938  are attached to a stationary portion of the camera  902  such that the leaf portion is positioned below the wires  938 . In still other embodiments, the leaf portion  906  may be attached to an intermediate portion of the wires  938  (i.e., near the middle of the wires). In these embodiments, one or both ends of each wire  938  may be connected to stationary portions of the camera. It should also be appreciated that different wires  938  may have different attachment approaches of those discussed above (e.g., the leaf portion  906  may be connected to the top end or ends of a first wire or group of wires and may be connected to the bottom end or ends of a second wire or group of wires). The wires  938  may be attached to the leaf portion  936  or stationary portions of the camera  902  any suitable manner, such as, for example, via solder  942 . 
     The leaf portion  936  may be formed with any suitable cross-sectional pattern. In the embodiment shown in  FIG.  9 A , the leaf portion  936  may comprise a plurality of petals  937 , each of which may connect to a different respective wire  938  of the wire portion. Each petal  937  may comprise two arms that branch from the connection with a respective wire  938 , and connect to a portion of the coil-sensor (or coil-lens) arrangement, either directly or via an inside ring portion  946  discussed in more detail below. While shown in  FIG.  9 A  as having two branching arms, it should be appreciated that a petal may have any suitable number of arms (e.g., one, two, or three or more) connecting the respective wire  938  to the coil-sensor arrangement. Additionally, while shown in  FIG.  9 A  as having four petals each forming an irregular pentagon shape, the leaf portion  936  may have any suitable number of petals (e.g., two, three, four, or five or more) and may have either all petals having the same shape or different petals having different shapes. Suitable shapes include, but are not limited to semicircles, triangles, irregular polygons and the lie. 
     In some embodiments, the leaf portion  936  of the top flexure  926  may include an inside ring portion  946 . The inside ring portion  946  may be connected to a top portion or surround an exterior portion of the coil carrier  918 . While the inside ring portion  946  is shown in  FIG.  9 A  as fully circumscribing the optical axis of the camera  902 , it should be appreciated that the leaf portion  936  may only partially surround the optical axis of the camera  902 . Indeed, in some variations the leaf portion  936  may comprise a plurality of separate pieces that are individually and independently attached to the coil-sensor arrangement. For example, in some variations each petal of leaf portion  936  may be formed from a separate piece and may be separately connected to the coil-sensor arrangement. 
     Collectively the top flexure  926  and bottom flexure  924  may suspend the coil-sensor arrangement relative to the rest of the camera  902 . For example, the top flexure  926  may be connected to the coil carrier  918  while the bottom flexure  924  may be connected to the substrate  920  to which the image sensor  906  may be connected. The substrate  920  may be connected to the coil carrier  918 . The coil carrier  918  may bridge the top flexure  926  with the bottom flexure  924  in some embodiments. 
     In various embodiments, the top flexure  926  and/or bottom flexure  924  may advantageously be used to route one or more signals to or from the coil-sensor arrangement, but need not (e.g., one or more flex circuits may carry traces between the coil-sensor arrangement and a stationary portion of the camera). For example, image sensor data from the image sensor may be routed from the coil-sensor arrangement to other processing circuitry elsewhere in the camera or a device into which the camera is incorporated. Additionally, power and other signals used to drive the AF and OIS coils may be routed to the coil-sensor arrangement. For example, signals from the image sensor may be conveyed to the substrate  920 , which in turn may be conveyed to the flexure arrangement. For example, one or more signals may be routed via traces on one or more of the flexures arms  932 . As an example, image signals may be conveyed from the substrate  920  to the movable platform  928 , and from the movable platform  928  to the stationary platform  930  via electrical traces on the flexure arms  932 . Not every flexure arm  932  need have a trace depending on the number of traces needed, and a given flexure arm  932  may have a single or multiple traces. Additionally or alternatively, top flexure  926  may carry one or more signals. In these variations, a wire  938  of the wire portion may be conductive or otherwise carry a conductive trace, which in turn may be connected to a conductive portion of the leaf portion  936  (e.g., the leaf portion may be formed from a conductive material and/or may have a conductive trace deposited thereon), which in turn may be connected to and route signals via a portion of the coil-sensor arrangement (e.g., a conductive portion of the coil carrier  918 ). 
     It should be appreciated that electrical signals within the coil-signal arrangement may be routed in any suitable manner. For example, the substrate  920  may provide one or more electrical pathways for connecting the image sensor to traces on the bottom flexure. Additionally or alternatively, the substrate  920  may comprise one or more electrical pathways that connect a flex circuit of the coil arrangement to one or more traces on the bottom flexure (which may allow for signals to be passed to one or more of the coils via the flex circuit). Additionally or alternatively the substrate  920  may comprise one or more electrical pathways that electrically connect one or more traces on the bottom flexure to a coil carrier  918  (which in turn may be used to route signals to one or more coils such as described in more detail below). Similarly the coil carrier  918  may comprise one or more electrical pathways for connecting the top flexure to other components (e.g., one or more coils, the image sensor, or one or more additional electrical components supported by the coil-sensor arrangement). 
     In some cases, the lens  904  may be held by a lens holder  946 . The lens  904  and/or the lens holder  946  may be connected to a stationary component of the camera  902  such that the lens  904  may be fixed relative to moving components of the camera  902 . For instance, the lens  904  and/or the lens holder  946  may be connected to the shield can  940 , the magnet holder  922 , and/or the substrate  920  (which may be connected to the shield can  940 ). 
     In some embodiments, the bottom flexure  924  may include one or more flexure stabilizers  948  to stabilize movement of the flexure arms  932 . For instance, the flexure stabilizers  948  may prevent the flexure arms  932  from colliding or otherwise interfering with one another. 
       FIGS.  10 A- 10 C  illustrate example compliance provided by the example flexure arrangement  900  of  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  in response to different types of motion, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  10 A  shows an example of how the flexure arrangement  900  may move in response to autofocus (AF) motion. During AF motion, as the coil-sensor arrangement (not shown) moves up or down in the z-direction, some or all of the flexure arms  932  of the bottom flexure  924  may flex in the z-direction and one or more segments of the leaf portion  936  (e.g., the petals  937 ) may flex in the z-direction.  FIG.  10 B  shows an example of how the flexure arrangement  900  may move in response to optical image stabilization (OIS) motion in a first direction.  FIG.  10 C  shows an example of how the flexure arrangement  900  may move in response to OIS motion in a second direction that is opposite the first direction. During OIS motion while the coil-sensor arrangement (not shown) moves in the x-y plane, some or all of the flexure arms 932 of the bottom flexure  924  will flex in the x-y plane, while the wires  938  of the top flexure will flex in the direction that the coil-sensor arrangement moves. Generally the leaf portion  936  is stiffer than the wires  938  in the x and y directions while the wires  938  are stiffer than the leaf portion  936  in the z direction, which is why the leaf portion  936  will primarily flex during the AF movement and the wires  938  will primarily flex during the OIS movement. The relative flexibility of the components of the top and bottom flexures may be selected to provide different levels of support/resistance to movement in different directions. In some embodiments, the examples of compliance provided by the example flexure arrangement  900  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 9 B and  11 A- 15   . 
     In some variations, the camera may be configured to damp movement of one or both of the top and bottom flexures of the flexure arrangements described here.  FIGS.  11 A and  11 B  illustrate perspective views of an example camera  1100  and example locations within for placement of a viscoelastic material (e.g., a gel) within the camera  1100  for damping purposes, in accordance with some embodiments. In various embodiments, the camera  1100  may include a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for shifting an image sensor along multiple axes), in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the example locations and/or the camera  1100  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 10 C and  12 A- 15   . Various components described above with respect to  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  are shown in these figures, and are labeled accordingly. 
       FIG.  11 A  shows a first set of one or more locations  1102  and a second set of one or more locations  1104  for placement of the viscoelastic material for damping. In some embodiments, the first set of locations  1102  may be between a magnet holder  922  (or other stationary portion of the camera  1100 ) and a wire  938  (which may move) of a wire portion of the top flexure  926 . In some examples, the second set of locations  1104  may be between the magnet holder  922  (or other stationary portion of the camera  1100 ) and a leaf portion  936  (which may move) of the top flexure  926 . 
       FIG.  11 B  shows a third set of one or more locations  1106  for placement of the viscoelastic material for damping. In some embodiments, the third set of locations  1106  may be between flexure arms  932  (which may move) of the bottom flexure  924  and a base component  934  (which may be stationary). It should be understood, however, that in various embodiments the viscoelastic material may additionally or alternatively be placed in other locations between moving and stationary components for damping purposes. 
     While flexure arrangement  900  has been discussed as configured to suspend a coil and image sensor arrangement, in other embodiments a flexure arrangement including any or all the features described herein and shown in  FIGS.  9 A-B ,  10 A-C and  11 A-B may be configured to suspend a coil-lens assembly (e.g., in instances where the coil arrangement moves lens  904  within camera  902 ). Modifications as would be evident having benefit of this disclosure may be needed in regard to the shape, size, thickness, etc. of certain features of the flexure arrangement in embodiments in which the flexure arrangement is configured to suspend a lens or lens stack within a camera. 
       FIG.  12 A  illustrates a perspective view of an example coil assembly  1200  by which one or more optical image stabilization coils and one or more autofocus coils may be held in a fixed relationship, in accordance with some embodiments.  FIG.  12 B  illustrates a perspective view of an example coil carrier  1202 , in accordance with some embodiments.  FIGS.  12 C and  12 D  illustrate perspective views of an example coil structure  1204 , in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the coil structure and coil carrier assembly  1200 , the coil carrier  1202 , and/or the coil structure  1204  may be used in conjunction with one or more of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 11 B and  13 - 15   . 
     In some embodiments, the coil assembly  1200  may include the coil carrier  1202  and the coil structure  1204 . The coil carrier  1202  comprises a body that may hold and support the coil structure  1204 , and may provide a connection point for the coil assembly  1200  to other components of the camera (e.g., the top and/or bottom flexure of a flexure arrangement, and/or a substrate, such as those described above in relation to  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B ). The coil carrier  1202  may be formed from a single monolithic piece of material, or may be assembled from a plurality of discrete pieces. In some embodiments the coil carrier  1202  may comprise one or more traces or electrical interconnects, which may be used to route electrical signals (e.g., drive signals for the coils) to coil structure  1204  or other components in the camera. According to some embodiments, the coil carrier  1202  may be configured to surround at least a portion of a lens and/or a lens holder of a camera. For example, coil carrier  1202  may define an aperture  1228  extending through the coil carrier  1202 . When the coil carrier  1202  is incorporated into a coil-sensor arrangement of a camera, as discussed in more detail above, the coil carrier  1202  may be positioned such that light to be captured by the camera needs to pass through the aperture to reach and be measured by the image sensor. The coil carrier may be further positioned within the camera such that at least a portion of a lens and/or a lens holder of a camera extends at least partially through the aperture. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  12 C and  12 D , in various embodiments, the coil structure  1204  may include a base portion  1206  and one or more tab portions  1208 . The base portion  1206  may define an aperture  1230  extending at least partially therethrough, and that may allow light to pass through the coil structure  1204  to reach the image sensor (in instances where the image sensor is positioned beneath the base portion  1206 . The base portion  1206  may include one or more autofocus (AF) coils  1210 . In some embodiments, the base portion  1206  may include a single AF coil  1210 , e.g., as shown in  FIGS.  12 A- 12 C . In some examples, the base portion  1206  and the AF coil  1210  may be ring shaped. Furthermore, in some examples, the base portion  1206  and/or the AF coil  1210  may be attached to a bottom portion of the coil carrier  1202  in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the coil carrier  1202  may include one or more protrusions  1212  to which the base portion  1206  and/or the AF coil  1210  may be attached. In some of these embodiments, one or more the protrusions  1212  may be used to route electrical signals to the AF coil  1210  and/or the OIS coils. 
     In some embodiments, each of the tab portions  1208  may include a respective optical image stabilization (OIS) coil  1214 . The tab portions  1208  may extend from the base portion  1206 . In some embodiments (such as the one shown in  FIGS.  12 C and  12 D ), one or more of the tab portions  1208  may extend from an interior of the base portion  1206 , which may in turn be used to create a magnet and coil arrangement having inner OIS coils (such as those embodiments discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  2 A- 5 B ). In these instances, a given OIS coil may be positioned between a magnet and the coil carrier  1202 . In other variations, one or more of the tab portions may extend from an exterior of the base portion  1206 , which may be used to create a magnet and coil arrangement having outer OIS coils (such as those embodiments discussed above with respect to  FIGS.  6 A- 7 B ). In these variations, a given OIS coil may have a magnet positioned between the OIS coil and the coil carrier  1202 . 
     In some embodiments of the coil assembly  1200 , one or more OIS coils  1214  may be attached to and/or located proximate one or more outer surfaces of the coil carrier  1202 . When an OIS coil is attached to an outer surface of the coil carrier  1202 , this attachment may also provide an electrical connection between the coil carrier  1202  and the OIS coil  1214 . In some examples, the coil carrier  1202  may include one or more recesses  1216  within which at least a portion of the OIS coils  1214  may be located. 
     In various embodiments, the coil structure  1204  may be constructed of a single flat circuit, e.g., as illustrated in  FIG.  12 C . For instance, the AF coil  1210 , the OIS coils  1214 , and/or other components may be formed on a substrate  1218  in an additive deposition process to produce a flat circuit in some embodiments. 
     In some examples, the tab portions  1208  of the coil structure  1204  may include fold portions  1220  at which the tab portions  1208  may be folded to orient the OIS coils  1214  at an angle relative to the AF coil  1210 , e.g., as shown in  FIG.  12 D . In some embodiments, the OIS coils  1214  may be oriented vertically and the AF coil  1210  may be oriented horizontally. Each of the OIS coils  1214  may define a respective plane that is orthogonal to a plane defined by the AF coil  1210 . 
     In variations where a coil arrangement  1200  comprises one or more position sensor  1222  (e.g., the position sensors  802  discussed herein with reference to  FIGS.  8 A- 8 C ), the position sensor may be attached to either the coil structure  1204  or the coil carrier  1202 . For example, in some variations, the position sensors may be mounted to a portion of the coil structure  1204 , such as the circuit substrate on which the coils are built. For example, a small finger of substrate material  1218  may extend into the center region of one or more of the coils, such as shown at  1222 . One or more of the position sensors may be mounted to the finger(s)  1222  of coil structure  1204 , and signals to and/or from the position sensors may be routed through the circuit substrate material of coil structure  1204 . In some of these embodiments, the coil carrier  1202  may include one or more recesses and/or windows  1224 . In some embodiments, a position sensor may be located at least partially within a window  1224  to save space in the x and/or y dimensions of a camera that includes the coil structure and coil carrier assembly  1200 . In other instances, one or more position sensors may be connected directly to the coil carrier  1202  (e.g., within a window or recess) and the coil carrier  1202  may include one or more electrical traces for carrying signals to and/or from the position sensor. 
       FIG.  13    illustrates a block diagram of an example portable multifunction device  1300  that may include one or more cameras, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, at least one camera of the portable multifunction device  1300  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 12 D,  14 , and  15   . 
     Camera(s)  1364  is sometimes called an “optical sensor” for convenience, and may also be known as or called an optical sensor system. Device  1300  may include memory  1302  (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), memory controller  1322 , one or more processing units (CPUs)  1320 , peripherals interface  1318 , RF circuitry  1308 , audio circuitry  1310 , speaker  1311 , touch-sensitive display system  1312 , microphone  1313 , input/output (I/O) subsystem  1306 , other input or control devices  1316 , and external port  1324 . Device  1300  may include one or more optical sensors  1364 . These components may communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines  1303 . 
     It should be appreciated that device  1300  is only one example of a portable multifunction device, and that device  1300  may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in  FIG.  13    may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. 
     Memory  1302  may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory  1302  by other components of device  1300 , such as CPU  1320  and the peripherals interface  1318 , may be controlled by memory controller  1322 . 
     Peripherals interface  1318  can be used to couple input and output peripherals of the device to CPU  1320  and memory  1302 . The one or more processors  1320  run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory  1302  to perform various functions for device  1300  and to process data. 
     In some embodiments, peripherals interface  1318 , CPU  1320 , and memory controller  1322  may be implemented on a single chip, such as chip  1304 . In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips. 
     RF (radio frequency) circuitry  1308  receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry  1308  converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry  1308  may include well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RF circuitry  1308  may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a variety of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for e-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document. 
     Audio circuitry  1310 , speaker  1311 , and microphone  1313  provide an audio interface between a user and device  1300 . Audio circuitry  1310  receives audio data from peripherals interface  1318 , converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker  1311 . Speaker  1311  converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. Audio circuitry  1310  also receives electrical signals converted by microphone  1313  from sound waves. Audio circuitry  1310  converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to peripherals interface  1318  for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory  1302  and/or RF circuitry  1308  by peripherals interface  1318 . In some embodiments, audio circuitry  1310  also includes a headset jack (e.g.,  1412 ,  FIG.  14   ). The headset jack provides an interface between audio circuitry  1310  and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone). 
     I/O subsystem  1306  couples input/output peripherals on device  1300 , such as touch screen  1312  and other input control devices  1316 , to peripherals interface  1318 . I/O subsystem  1306  may include display controller  1356  and one or more input controllers  1360  for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers  1360  receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices  1316 . The other input control devices  1316  may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s)  1360  may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g.,  1408 ,  FIG.  14   ) may include an up/down button for volume control of speaker  1311  and/or microphone  1313 . The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g.,  1406 ,  FIG.  14   ). 
     Touch-sensitive display  1312  provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. Display controller  1356  receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen  1312 . Touch screen  1312  displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects. 
     Touch screen  1312  has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. Touch screen  1312  and display controller  1356  (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory  1302 ) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen  1312  and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that are displayed on touch screen  1312 . In an example embodiment, a point of contact between touch screen  1312  and the user corresponds to a finger of the user. 
     Touch screen  1312  may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. Touch screen  1312  and display controller  1356  may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a variety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen  1312 . In an example embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used. 
     Touch screen  1312  may have a video resolution in excess of 800 dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution of approximately 860 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen  1312  using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user. 
     In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device  1300  may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from touch screen  1312  or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen. 
     Device  1300  also includes power system  1362  for powering the various components. Power system  1362  may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices. 
     Device  1300  may also include one or more optical sensors or cameras  1364 .  FIG.  13    shows an optical sensor  1364  coupled to optical sensor controller  1359  in I/O subsystem  1306 . Optical sensor  1364  may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. Optical sensor  1364  receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module  1343  (also called a camera module), optical sensor  1364  may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor  1364  is located on the back of device  1300 , opposite touch screen display  1312  on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display  1312  may be used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user&#39;s image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. At least one, several, or all cameras  1364  of the portable multifunction device  1300  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 12 D,  14   , and  15 . 
     Device  1300  may also include one or more proximity sensors  1366 .  FIG.  13    shows proximity sensor  1366  coupled to peripherals interface  1318 . Alternately, proximity sensor  1366  may be coupled to input controller  1360  in I/O subsystem  1306 . In some embodiments, the proximity sensor  1366  turns off and disables touch screen  1312  when the multifunction device  1300  is placed near the user&#39;s ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). 
     Device  1300  includes one or more orientation sensors  1368 . In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  include one or more accelerometers (e.g., one or more linear accelerometers and/or one or more rotational accelerometers). In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  include one or more gyroscopes. In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  include one or more magnetometers. In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  include one or more of global positioning system (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and/or other global navigation system receivers. The GPS, GLONASS, and/or other global navigation system receivers may be used for obtaining information concerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of device  1300 . In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  include any combination of orientation/rotation sensors.  FIG.  13    shows the one or more orientation sensors  1368  coupled to peripherals interface  1318 . Alternately, the one or more orientation sensors  1368  may be coupled to an input controller  1360  in I/O subsystem  1306 . In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display  1312  in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more orientation sensors  1368 . 
     In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory  1302  include operating system  1326 , communication module (or set of instructions)  1328 , contact/motion module (or set of instructions)  1330 , graphics module (or set of instructions)  1332 , text input module (or set of instructions)  1334 , Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions)  1335 , arbiter module  1358  and applications (or sets of instructions)  1336 . Furthermore, in some embodiments memory  1302  stores device/global internal state  1357 . Device/global internal state  1357  includes one or more of: active application state, indicating which applications, if any, are currently active; display state, indicating what applications, views or other information occupy various regions of touch screen display  1312 ; sensor state, including information obtained from the device&#39;s various sensors and input control devices  1316 ; and location information concerning the device&#39;s location and/or attitude. 
     Operating system  1326  (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components. 
     Communication module  1328  facilitates communication with other devices over one or more external ports  1324  and also includes various software components for handling data received by RF circuitry  1308  and/or external port  1324 . External port  1324  (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector. 
     Contact/motion module  1330  may detect contact with touch screen  1312  (in conjunction with display controller  1356 ) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). In some embodiments, contact/motion module  1330  and display controller  1356  detect contact on a touchpad. Contact/motion module  1330  may detect a gesture input by a user. Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contact patterns. Graphics module  1332  includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on touch screen  1312  or other display, including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like. Text input module  1334 , which may be a component of graphics module  1332 , provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts, e-mail, and any other application that needs text input). GPS module  1335  determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications  1336  (e.g., to a camera application as picture/video metadata). 
     Applications  1336  may include one or more modules (e.g., a contacts module, an email client module, a camera module for still and/or video images, etc.) Examples of other applications  1336  that may be stored in memory  1302  include other word processing applications, other image editing applications, drawing applications, presentation applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication. Each of the modules and applications correspond to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more functions described above and the methods described in this application (e.g., the computer-implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory  1302  may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory  1302  may store additional modules and data structures not described above. 
       FIG.  14    depicts illustrates an example portable multifunction device  1300  that may include a camera, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the portable multifunction device  1300  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 13  and  15   . 
     The device  1300  may have a touch screen  1312 . The touch screen  1312  may display one or more graphics within user interface (UI)  1400 . In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers  1402  (not drawn to scale in the figure) or one or more styluses  1403  (not drawn to scale in the figure). 
     Device  1300  may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home” or menu button  1404 . As described previously, menu button  1404  may be used to navigate to any application  1336  in a set of applications that may be executed on device  1300 . Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu button  1404  is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen  1312 . 
     In one embodiment, device  1300  includes touch screen  1312 , menu button  1404 , push button  1406  for powering the device on/off and locking the device, volume adjustment button(s)  1408 , Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card slot  1410 , head set jack  1412 , and docking/charging external port  1324 . Push button  1406  may be used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device  1300  also may accept verbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone  1313 . 
     It should be noted that, although many of the examples herein are given with reference to optical sensor(s)/camera(s)  1364  (on the front of a device), one or more rear-facing cameras or optical sensors that are pointed opposite from the display may be used instead of, or in addition to, an optical sensor(s)/camera(s)  1364  on the front of a device. At least one, several, or all cameras  1364  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 12 D,  13 , and  15     
       FIG.  15    illustrates an example computer system  1500  that may include one or more cameras, in accordance with some embodiments. At least one, several, or all cameras of computer system  1500  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 14   . In some embodiments, the computer system  1500  may include one or multiple features, components, and/or functionality of embodiments described herein with reference to  FIGS.  1 A- 14   . 
     The computer system  1500  may be configured to execute any or all of the embodiments described above. In different embodiments, computer system  1500  may be any of various types of devices, including, but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer, laptop, notebook, tablet, slate, pad, or netbook computer, mainframe computer system, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, a camera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumer device, video game console, handheld video game device, application server, storage device, a television, a video recording device, a peripheral device such as a switch, modem, router, or in general any type of computing or electronic device. 
     Various embodiments of a camera motion control system as described herein, including embodiments of magnetic position sensing, as described herein may be executed in one or more computer systems  1500 , which may interact with various other devices. Note that any component, action, or functionality described above with respect to  FIGS.  1 - 14    may be implemented on one or more computers configured as computer system  1500  of  FIG.  15   , according to various embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, computer system  1500  includes one or more processors  1510  coupled to a system memory  1520  via an input/output (I/O) interface  1530 . Computer system  1500  further includes a network interface  1540  coupled to I/O interface  1530 , and one or more input/output devices  1550 , such as cursor control device  1560 , keyboard  1570 , and display(s)  1580 . In some cases, it is contemplated that embodiments may be implemented using a single instance of computer system  1500 , while in other embodiments multiple such systems, or multiple nodes making up computer system  1500 , may be configured to host different portions or instances of embodiments. For example, in one embodiment some elements may be implemented via one or more nodes of computer system  1500  that are distinct from those nodes implementing other elements. 
     In various embodiments, computer system  1500  may be a uniprocessor system including one processor  1510 , or a multiprocessor system including several processors  1510  (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitable number). Processors  1510  may be any suitable processor capable of executing instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors  1510  may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86, PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. In multiprocessor systems, each of processors  1510  may commonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA. 
     System memory  1520  may be configured to store camera control program instructions  1522  and/or camera control data accessible by processor  1510 . In various embodiments, system memory  1520  may be implemented using any suitable memory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory. In the illustrated embodiment, program instructions  1522  may be configured to implement a lens control application  1524  incorporating any of the functionality described above. Additionally, existing camera control data  1532  of memory  1520  may include any of the information or data structures described above. In some embodiments, program instructions and/or data may be received, sent or stored upon different types of computer-accessible media or on similar media separate from system memory  1520  or computer system  1500 . While computer system  1500  is described as implementing the functionality of functional blocks of previous Figures, any of the functionality described herein may be implemented via such a computer system. 
     In one embodiment, I/O interface  1530  may be configured to coordinate I/O traffic between processor  1510 , system memory  1520 , and any peripheral devices in the device, including network interface  1540  or other peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices  1550 . In some embodiments, I/O interface  1530  may perform any necessary protocol, timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from one component (e.g., system memory  1520 ) into a format suitable for use by another component (e.g., processor  1510 ). In some embodiments, I/O interface  1530  may include support for devices attached through various types of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/O interface  1530  may be split into two or more separate components, such as a north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in some embodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface  1530 , such as an interface to system memory  1520 , may be incorporated directly into processor  1510 . 
     Network interface  1540  may be configured to allow data to be exchanged between computer system  1500  and other devices attached to a network  1585  (e.g., carrier or agent devices) or between nodes of computer system  1500 . Network  1585  may in various embodiments include one or more networks including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g., an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network, or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, network interface  1540  may support communication via wired or wireless general data networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example; via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networks or digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks such as Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/or protocol. 
     Input/output devices  1550  may, in some embodiments, include one or more display terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices, voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable for entering or accessing data by one or more computer systems  1500 . Multiple input/output devices  1550  may be present in computer system  1500  or may be distributed on various nodes of computer system  1500 . In some embodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate from computer system  1500  and may interact with one or more nodes of computer system  1500  through a wired or wireless connection, such as over network interface  1540 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  15   , memory  1520  may include program instructions  1522 , which may be processor-executable to implement any element or action described above. In one embodiment, the program instructions may implement the methods described above. In other embodiments, different elements and data may be included. Note that data may include any data or information described above. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system  1500  is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of embodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may include any combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicated functions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances, PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system  1500  may also be connected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality provided by the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, in some embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additional functionality may be available. 
     Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while being used, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data integrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of the software components may execute in memory on another device and communicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computer communication. Some or all of the system components or data structures may also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on a computer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by an appropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. In some embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible medium separate from computer system  1500  may be transmitted to computer system  1500  via transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments may further include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible medium. Generally speaking, a computer-accessible medium may include a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium or memory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc. In some embodiments, a computer-accessible medium may include transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as network and/or a wireless link. 
     The following clauses further describe various embodiments that may include various features as described above and/or illustrated in the Figures: 
     Clause 1. A coil structure, comprising: 
     
         
         
           
             a base portion that includes an autofocus (AF) coil to provide AF to a camera; and 
             tab portions that extend from the base portion, wherein each of the tab portions includes:
           a respective optical image stabilization (OIS) coil to provide OIS to the camera; and   a respective fold portion between the base portion and the respective OIS coil, wherein the coil structure is folded at the respective fold portion to orient the respective OIS coil at an angle relative to the AF coil.
 
Clause 2. The coil structure of clause 1, wherein:
   
         
             the AF coil defines a first plane; 
             the respective OIS coil defines a second plane; and 
             the first plane is orthogonal to the second plane.
 
Clause 3. The coil structure of clause 1, wherein the AF coil is sized to surround an image sensor of the camera.
 
Clause 4. The coil structure of clause 1, wherein coil structure is formed of a flex circuit.
 
Clause 5. The coil structure of clause 1, further comprising:
 
             a substrate; 
             wherein the AF coil and the respective OIS coil are formed on the substrate via an additive deposition process.
 
Clause 6. A voice coil motor (VCM) actuator to shift an image sensor of a camera along multiple axis, the VCM actuator comprising:
 
             a magnet; 
             a plurality of coils; 
             a substrate to couple with an image sensor of a camera such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate; 
             a top flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner, wherein the top flexure comprises:
           a leaf portion; and   a wire portion, comprising:
               a top end attached to the leaf portion; and   a bottom end attached to a first stationary component of the camera.
 
Clause 7. The VCM actuator of clause 6, further comprising:
   
               
         
             a bottom flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner; 
             wherein the bottom flexure comprises:
           a movable platform attached to the substrate;   a stationary platform attached to the first stationary component or a second stationary component of the camera; and   one or more flexure arms that connect the movable platform to the stationary platform.
 
Clause 8. The VCM actuator of clause 6, wherein the leaf portion is formed of an etched sheet.
 
Clause 9. The VCM actuator of clause 8, wherein the leaf portion comprises:
   
         
             outer corner portions; and 
             an inner ring portion attached to a movable component of the camera.
 
Clause 10. The VCM actuator of clause 9, wherein the top end of the wire portion is attached to at least one of the outer corner portions.
 
Clause 11. The VCM actuator of clause 9, wherein the inner ring portion is attached to a coil carrier of the camera, and wherein the coil carrier holds the plurality of coils.
 
Clause 12. The VCM actuator of clause 6, wherein the magnet and the plurality of coils are configured to magnetically interact to:
 
             move the image sensor in a plurality of directions orthogonal to an optical axis of the camera; and 
             move the image sensor along the optical axis.
 
Clause 13. The VCM actuator of clause 7, wherein:
 
             the bottom flexure extends along a first plane that is orthogonal to an optical axis of the camera; 
             the leaf portion of the top flexure extends along a second plane that is orthogonal to the optical axis; and 
             the first plane is closer to the image sensor than the second plane.
 
Clause 14. The VCM actuator of clause 6, wherein:
 
             the plurality of coils include an autofocus (AF) coil and optical image stabilization (OIS) coils; and 
             the VCM actuator further comprises:
           a coil structure, including:
               a base portion that includes the AF coil; and   tab portions that extend from the base portion, wherein each of the tab portions includes:
                   a respective OIS coil of the OIS coils; and   
                   a respective fold portion between the base portion and the respective OIS coil, wherein the coil structure is folded at the respective fold portion to orient the respective OIS coil to be orthogonal to the AF coil.
 
Clause 15. The VCM actuator of clause 14, wherein:
   
               
         
             the coil structure further comprises a first position sensor mounting portion and a second position sensor mounting portion; and 
             the first position sensor mounting portion extends from a first OIS coil of the OIS coils such that a first position sensor mounted to the first position sensor mounting portion is capable of sensing OIS movement in a first direction; and 
             the second position sensor mounting portion extends from a second OIS coil of the OIS coils such that a second position sensor mounted to the second position sensor mounting portion is capable of sensing OIS movement in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction.
 
Clause 16. A camera, comprising:
 
             a lens comprising one or more lens elements; 
             an image sensor configured to capture light passing through the lens and convert the captured light into image signals; 
             a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator, comprising:
           magnets; and   a coil structure, including:
               a bottom autofocus (AF) coil to shift the image sensor along an optical axis of the camera to provide AF, wherein the bottom AF coil is located below the magnets; and   optical image stabilization (OIS) coils to shift the image sensor in directions orthogonal to the optical axis to provide OIS, wherein each of the OIS coils is located proximate a respective magnet of the magnets, and wherein the OIS coils are orthogonal to the bottom AF coil.
 
Clause 17. The camera of clause 16, wherein:
   
               
         
             the magnets are stationary; and 
             the coil structure is movable relative to the magnets.
 
Clause 18. The camera of clause 16, wherein each of the magnets is a corner magnet that is located proximate a respective corner of the camera.
 
Clause 19. The camera of clause 16, wherein each of the magnets is a side magnet that is located proximate a respective side of the camera.
 
Clause 20. The camera of clause 16, further comprising a top AF coil to shift the image sensor along the optical axis to provide AF, wherein the top AF coil is located above the magnets.
 
Clause 21. The camera of clause 16, wherein the bottom AF coil is sized to form a first periphery that is larger than a second periphery formed by the image sensor.
 
Clause 22. The camera of clause 16, wherein the VCM actuator further comprises:
 
             a substrate coupled to the image sensor such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate; and 
             a top flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner, wherein the top flexure comprises:
           a leaf portion; and   a wire portion, comprising:
               a top end attached to the leaf portion; and   a bottom end attached to a stationary component of the camera.
 
Clause 23. The camera of clause 16, wherein the VCM actuator further comprises:
   
               
         
             a substrate coupled to the image sensor such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate; and 
             a bottom flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner; 
             wherein the bottom flexure comprises:
           a movable platform attached to the substrate;   a stationary platform attached to a stationary component of the camera; and   one or more flexure arms that connect the movable platform to the stationary platform.
 
Clause 24. The camera of clause 16, wherein the VCM actuator further includes:
   
         
             a substrate coupled to the image sensor such that the image sensor moves together with the substrate; 
             a top flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner, wherein the top flexure comprises:
           a leaf portion; and   a wire portion, comprising:
               a top end attached to the leaf portion; and   a bottom end attached to a first stationary component of the camera; and   
               
         
             a bottom flexure to guide motion of the substrate in a controlled manner, wherein the bottom flexure comprises:
           a movable platform attached to the substrate;   a stationary platform attached to the first stationary component or a second stationary component of the camera; and   one or more flexure arms that connect the movable platform to the stationary platform.
 
Clause 25. The camera of clause 16, wherein:
   
         
             the magnets include four magnets; 
             the OIS coils include four OIS coils; and 
             each of the four OIS coils is located proximate a respective one of the four OIS coils.
 
Clause 26. The camera of clause 16, further comprising:
 
             a coil carrier to hold the coil structure; 
             wherein:
           the coil carrier includes at least two windows; and   each of the at least two windows is sized to accommodate at least a portion of a respective position sensor of the camera.
 
Clause 27. The camera of clause 16, further comprising:
   
         
             a first position sensor disposed proximate a first OIS coil of the OIS coils; and 
             a second position sensor disposed proximate a second OIS coil of the OIS coils.
 
Clause 28. The camera of clause 27, wherein:
 
             the first OIS coil is part of a first pair of opposing OIS coils that contribute to OIS movement in a first direction; 
             the first position sensor is positioned to sense the OIS movement in the first direction; 
             the second OIS coil is part of a second pair of opposing OIS coils that contribute to OIS movement in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction; and 
             the second position sensor is positioned to sense the OIS movement in the second direction.
 
Clause 29. The camera of clause 28, wherein the first position sensor and the second position sensor are positioned to sense AF movement.
 
Clause 30. The camera of clause 27, wherein the first position sensor is a Hall sensor, a GMR sensor, or a TMR sensor.
 
Clause 31. A mobile device, comprising:
 
             a camera module, including:
           a lens comprising one or more lens elements;   an image sensor configured to capture light passing through the lens and covert the captured light into image signals;   magnets;   an autofocus (AF) coil that magnetically interacts with the magnets to shift the image sensor along an optical axis of the camera module; and   optical image stabilization (OIS) coils that magnetically interact with the magnets to shift the image sensor in directions orthogonal to the optical axis;   a first position sensor located proximate a first magnet of the magnets, wherein the first position sensor is positioned to sense at least one of:
               OIS movement based on a first magnetic field component produced by the first magnet in a first direction that is orthogonal to the optical axis; or   AF movement based on the first magnetic field component and a second magnetic field component produced by the first magnet in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction;   
               
         
             a display; and 
             one or more processors configured to:
           determine a first position of the image sensor based at least in part on at least one of the OIS movement or the AF movement sensed by the first position sensor;   cause the VCM actuator to move the image sensor, relative to an optical axis of the camera module, to a second position; and   cause the camera module to capture an image while the image sensor is at the second position; and   cause the display to present the image.
 
Clause 32. The mobile device of clause 31, wherein the camera module further comprises:
   
         
             a second position sensor located proximate a second magnet of the magnets, wherein the second position sensor is positioned to sense at least one of:
           OIS movement based on a third magnetic field component produced by the second magnet in a third direction that is orthogonal to the optical axis and the first direction; or   AF movement based on the third magnetic field component and a fourth magnetic field component produced by the second magnet in a fourth direction that is orthogonal to the third direction.   
         
           
         
       
    
     The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, the order of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elements may be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Various modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The various embodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided for components described herein as a single instance. Boundaries between various components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally, structures and functionality presented as discrete components in the example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in the claims that follow.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20211230
Publication Date: 20230905
Grant Date: 20230905
Priority Date: 20170717
Inventors: SHARMA, SHASHANK
MILLER, SCOTT W.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04N23/687", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B7/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B27/646", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B3/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0354", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/55", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/57", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6815", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0069", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K2201/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6812", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/54", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B7/08", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/687", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0354", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B3/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B27/646", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0356", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B7/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K2201/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0015", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0069", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/57", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/55", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6815", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6812", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/687", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K2201/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B3/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0069", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B27/646", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0354", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0015", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0356", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/57", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6812", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/687", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B27/646", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K41/0354", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02B7/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02K2201/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B3/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B2205/0069", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/55", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/57", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6815", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/6812", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 65000271