PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10788361-B2
Application Number: US-201715461302-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device with obstruction-sensing color ambient light sensor

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a housing in which a display is mounted. The display may have an active area in which images are displayed by an array of pixels and an inactive area that is free of pixels. A color ambient light sensor may make color and luminance measurements on ambient light received through an ambient light sensor window in the inactive area of the display or elsewhere in the electronic device. The color ambient light sensor may have color ambient light sensor elements of different colors. The ambient light sensor elements may extend in a row along an edge of the display or may have other configurations. Analog-to-digital converter circuitry and switching circuitry may gather color ambient light sensor measurements and measurements indicative of whether or not the color ambient light sensor has been obscured by an external object from the light sensor elements.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. Color ambient light sensor circuitry, comprising:
 a color ambient light sensor having a first set of light sensor elements of a first color and a second set of light sensor elements of a second color, wherein the first set of light sensor elements includes first and second light sensor elements and wherein the second set of light sensor elements includes third and fourth light sensor elements; 
 analog-to-digital converter circuits that digitize signals from the light sensor elements; 
 control circuitry that processes the signals from the light sensor elements to determine whether the signals are uniform; and 
 switching circuitry coupled between the light sensor elements and the analog-to-digital converter circuits, wherein the switching circuitry is selectively configured to:
 route signals to a first given one of the analog-to-digital converter circuits from the first and second light sensor elements and route signals to a second given one of the analog-to-digital converter circuits from the third and fourth light sensor elements while the switching circuitry is operated in an ambient light color measurement mode; and 
 route signals to the first given one of the analog-to-digital converter circuits from the first and third light sensor elements and route signals to the second given one of the analog-to-digital converter circuits from the second and fourth light sensor elements while the switching circuitry is operated in a sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 1  wherein the first set of light sensor elements and the second set of light sensor elements are arranged in a row in the color ambient light sensor. 
     
     
       3. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 2  wherein the first set of light sensor elements include light sensor elements of at least a third additional color and a fourth additional color. 
     
     
       4. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 3  wherein each analog-to-digital converter circuit has a respective transimpedance amplifier that converts current from the first set of light sensor elements and the second set of light sensor elements to voltage and wherein there are fewer analog-to-digital converter circuits than light sensor elements. 
     
     
       5. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 4  wherein the first set of light sensor elements includes at least four light sensor elements. 
     
     
       6. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 5  the second set of light sensor elements includes at least three light sensor elements. 
     
     
       7. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 1  wherein the switching circuitry comprises:
 switches; and 
 signal paths, wherein the switches and signal paths are coupled between the light sensor elements and the analog-to-digital converter circuits. 
 
     
     
       8. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 7  wherein the switches are controlled by control signals when transitioning the switching circuitry between operating in the ambient light color measurement mode and operating in the sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode, the color ambient light sensor circuitry further comprising dummy switches coupled within the signal paths that are not switched when transitioning the switching circuitry between operating in the ambient light color measurement mode and operating in the sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode. 
     
     
       9. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 7  wherein at least some of the light sensor elements are interposed between the second sets of light sensing elements and do not supply current to the analog-to-digital converter circuits during the sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode. 
     
     
       10. The color ambient light sensor circuitry defined in  claim 9  wherein the light sensor elements comprise light sensor elements of at least six different colors. 
     
     
       11. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a display mounted in the housing; 
 an elongated color ambient light sensor that makes color and luminance ambient light measurements through an inactive area of the display, wherein the color ambient light sensor comprises a row of light sensor elements of different colors; 
 control circuitry that processes ambient light sensor signals from the elongated color ambient light sensor to determine whether part of the color ambient light sensor is obstructed by an external object, wherein the control circuitry comprises analog-to-digital converter circuits coupled to the color ambient light sensor that receive current signals from the light sensor elements; 
 switching circuitry that couples the row of light sensor elements of different colors to the analog-to-digital converter circuits, wherein the switches are operated by control signals; and 
 dummy switches coupled between at least one of the light sensor elements and the analog-to-digital converter circuits, wherein the dummy switches are not actively switched by the control circuitry. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein each of the analog-to-digital converter circuits includes a transimpedance amplifier and wherein there are fewer analog-to-digital converter circuits coupled to the color ambient light sensor than light sensor elements in the color ambient light sensor. 
     
     
       13. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a display in the housing; 
 color ambient light sensor circuitry that makes color and luminance measurements on ambient light, wherein the color ambient light circuitry has an array of light senor elements of different colors that generate current in response to ambient light, wherein the array of light sensor elements includes first and second light sensor elements of a first color and third and fourth light sensor elements of a second color; and 
 control circuitry that adjusts the display based on the color and luminance measurements, wherein the color ambient light sensor circuitry has switching circuitry and has analog-to-digital converter circuits to which the light sensor elements are coupled by the switching circuitry, wherein each of the analog-to-digital converter circuits has a transimpedance amplifier that converts current from the light sensor elements to a corresponding voltage, wherein a first analog-to-digital converter circuit receives signals from the first and second light sensor elements and a second analog-to-digital converter circuit receives signals from the third and fourth light sensor elements in response to operating the switching circuitry in an ambient light color measurement mode, and wherein the first analog-to-digital converter circuit receives signals from the first and third light sensor elements and the second analog-to-digital converter circuit receives signals from the second and fourth light sensor elements in response to operating the switching circuitry in a sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13  wherein there are fewer analog-to-digital converter circuits coupled to the light sensor elements of the color ambient light sensor circuitry than there are light sensing elements in the color ambient light sensor circuitry. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the array of light sensing elements includes at least six different colors of light sensing elements and wherein at least four of the light sensing elements of the at least six different colors of light sensing elements are sampled in a sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/319,201, filed Apr. 6, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to light sensors for electronic devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electronic devices such as laptop computers, cellular telephones, and other equipment are sometimes provided with light sensors. For example, ambient light sensors may be incorporated into a device to provide the device with information on current lighting conditions. Ambient light readings may be used in controlling the device. If, for example bright daylight conditions are detected, an electronic device may increase display brightness to compensate. 
     Ambient light conditions sometimes include significant changes in color. For example, an electronic device may be used in a cool color temperature environment such as outdoor shade or a warm color temperature environment such as an indoor environment that has been lit with incandescent lighting. Content that appears to be correctly displayed on a display in one of these environments may have an unpleasant color cast in the other environment. For example, a display that is properly adjusted in an outdoor environment may appear overly cool under incandescent lighting. 
     It may be desirable to use ambient light color measurements in operating a device such as a device with a display. If care is not taken, however, the accuracy of color measurements may be adversely affected by operating conditions. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a housing in which a display is mounted. The display may have an active area in which images are displayed by an array of pixels and an inactive area that is free of pixels. A color ambient light sensor may make color and luminance measurements on ambient light received through an ambient light sensor window in the inactive area of the display or elsewhere in the electronic device. The color ambient light sensor may have color ambient light sensor elements of different colors. The ambient light sensor elements may extend in a row along an edge of the display so that the ambient light sensor has an elongated shape or may have other configurations. 
     Analog-to-digital converter circuitry and switching circuitry may gather color ambient light sensor measurements and measurements indicative of whether or not the color ambient light sensor has been obscured by an external object from the light sensor elements. If the light sensor is not obscured, display color and brightness may be adjusted and other actions taken based on measurements from the light sensor. 
     The analog-to-digital converter circuitry may include analog-to-digital converters each of which has a transimpedance amplifier for converting current from the light sensor elements to a corresponding voltage that is digitized for use by control circuitry in the electronic device. There may be fewer analog-to-digital converter circuits coupled to the color ambient light sensor than light sensor elements in the color ambient light sensor. 
     The switching circuitry may be configured to operate in an ambient light color measurement mode in which the switching circuitry routes signals to the analog-to-digital converter circuits from respective first sets of the light sensor elements. The switching circuitry may also be configured to operate in a sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode in which the switching circuitry routes signals to the analog-to-digital converter circuits from respective second sets of the light sensor elements. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with sensors in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of an illustrative multichannel ambient light sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a graph showing how light sensor elements of different colors in a color ambient light sensor may have spectral responses that overlap in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram of circuitry of the type that may be used in gathering light sensor signals from an array of light sensor elements of different colors in a color ambient light sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is circuit diagram of illustrative circuitry that may be used in gathering light sensor information from a multichannel light sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in gathering and processing sensor data in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is an array of light sensor elements in a color ambient light sensor and associated circuitry for gathering signals from the light sensor elements in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 9 and 10  are diagrams showing how dummy ambient light sensor elements may be incorporated into a color ambient light sensor to monitor for obstruction of ambient light sensor elements in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with sensors such as color ambient light sensors. A color ambient light sensor may be used to gather color and luminance information on ambient lighting conditions. This information may be used in controlling the operation of an electronic device. For example, display brightness and color may be adjusted to compensate for changes in the color and brightness of ambient light. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may include a color ambient light sensor. Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user&#39;s head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, an accessory (e.g., earbuds, a remote control, a wireless trackpad, etc.), or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, wristwatch device or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , device  10  includes display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in housing  12 . Electronic device housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch sensor electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads, other transparent conductive structures, or other touch sensor electrode structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels or other light-emitting diode pixels, an array of electrowetting pixels, or pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, transparent ceramic, sapphire or other transparent crystalline material, or other transparent layer(s). The display cover layer may have a planar shape, a convex curved profile, a concave curved profile, a shape with planar and curved portions, a layout that includes a planar main area surrounded on one or more edge portions that are bent out of the plane of the planar main area, or other suitable shape. An opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a speaker port such as speaker port  18 . Openings may also be formed in the display cover layer and/or housing  12  to accommodate buttons such as button  16 . 
     Display  14  may have an active area AA that contains an array of pixels that display images. An inactive boarder region such as inactive area IA of  FIG. 1  may run along one or more edges of active area AA. Button  16  and speaker port  18  may be located in inactive area IA. To hide internal components in device  10  from view, the underside of the cover layer in inactive area IA may be coated with a layer of black ink or other opaque masking material. If desired, one or more transparent or partly transparent windows may be formed within the opaque masking material (e.g., openings that pass through the opaque masking material to allow light to reach sensors in device  10 , openings that are filled with infrared-light-transparent ink so that infrared sensors can make measurements through the cover layer, etc.). As an example, a window such as ambient light sensor window  26  for color ambient light sensor or other light sensor may be formed in the portion of inactive area IA between speaker port  18  and the uppermost edge of housing  12 . Ambient light sensor windows such as window  26  may also be formed in other portions of inactive area IA and/or other light transparent areas in device  10  may be formed so that an ambient light sensor such as a color ambient light sensor can make color ambient light sensor measurements for device  10 . 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with one more color ambient light sensors. As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may have control circuitry  22 . Control circuitry  22  may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device  10 . The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry  22  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . For example, the processing circuitry may adjust the brightness and color (color cast) of display  14  (e.g., to increase display brightness when ambient lighting conditions are bright, to adjust the color of display  14  depending on whether the ambient light around device  10  is cold or warm, etc.). The processing circuitry in control circuitry  22  may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry in device  10  such as input-output devices  24  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  24  may include buttons such as buttons  16  and other buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators or other components with moving parts, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc. Input-output devices  24  may include sensors such as magnetic sensors, force sensors, touch sensors, proximity sensors, accelerometers and other sensors for gathering information on orientation and/or position, etc. The sensors in input-output devices  24  may include one or more ambient light sensors that measure ambient lighting conditions. The sensors may, for example, include one or more color ambient light sensors such as color ambient light sensor  20 . Color ambient light sensors such as color ambient light sensor  20  may gather color ambient light sensor information such as ambient light sensor color data (e.g., color coordinates and/or color temperature information) and ambient light sensor intensity (luminance) information. 
     Color ambient light sensor  20  may be mounted in alignment with a color ambient light sensor window in inactive area IA of display  14  such as window  26  of  FIG. 1  (as an example). Color ambient light sensor  20  may have multiple sensor elements (sometimes referred to as light detectors or photodiodes) that make light measurements in different respective portions of the light spectrum (sometimes referred to as forming different color channels or sensor elements of different colors). The sensor elements may be formed from discrete components or may be integrated onto a common substrate (e.g., a silicon die). 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , color ambient light sensor  20  may have multiple color ambient light sensor elements  20 E formed in a linear array (i.e., a row) extending along a longitudinal axis on common semiconductor substrate  30  (e.g., a silicon substrate). Each element  20 E may be provided with a color filter element of a different color or may otherwise be provided with structures that allow that sensor element to exhibit a different respective sensitivity spectrum (color). If desired, sensor elements  20 E may be arranged in two-dimensional arrays, in arrays having rows and columns, in circular shapes, in shapes with a combination of curved and/or straight edges, and/or other patterns. In the example of  FIG. 3 , light sensor elements  20 E have been arranged in an elongated linear array (i.e., a row), so that color light sensor  20  has an elongated shape (strip-shape) of the type suitable for mounting under an elongated window such as illustrative elongated ambient light sensor window  26  of  FIG. 1 . This is merely illustrative. Color ambient light sensor  20  may have any suitable number of light sensor elements  20 E arranged in any suitable pattern. 
     If desired, the sensitivity profiles of each of light sensor elements  20 E may overlap, as illustrated by light sensor element profiles (spectra)  32  of  FIG. 4 . In the graph of  FIG. 4 , light sensor sensitivity (e.g., output current as a function of input light intensity) has been plotted as a function of light wavelength. Spectra  32  each have a different sensitivity peak and overlap at least somewhat so that sensor  20  can cover a desired range of wavelengths from lower wavelength WL to upper wavelength WT. The color of ambient light may be determined by determining the relative strengths of the signals measured by each of the sensors  20 E. Ambient light intensity may be measured by combining these color-specific measurements into a single total ambient light intensity reading (by combining sensor currents and/or by digitally combining sensor readings). The wavelength range of coverage for sensor  20  (i.e., the wavelength range WL-WT) may be entirely in the visible range and/or may penetrate partway into infrared and/or ultraviolet bands. Configurations in which there are wavelengths (e.g., wavelength range gaps) at which the sensitivity of sensor  20  is lower than at other wavelengths may also be used. The illustrative arrangement of  FIG. 4  in which light sensor element profiles  32  overlap and provide continuous coverage from WL to WT is merely illustrative. 
     Input-output devices  24  may include one or more displays such as display  14 . Control circuitry  22  may be used to run software on device  10  such as operating system code and applications. During operation of device  10 , the software running on control circuitry  22  may display images on display  14  using an array of pixels in display  14 . The software running on control circuitry  22  may, for example, gather color ambient light sensor information (color and/or luminance information) and may use this information in adjusting display attributes for images on display  14  (e.g., image brightness and/or image color contrast). Other suitable actions may also be taken based on measured color ambient light sensor information (e.g., color ambient light sensor information may be displayed for a user, alerts may be issued based on comparison of measured color ambient light sensor information to threshold values, etc.). 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram of illustrative circuitry of the type that may be used in gathering sensor data with a sensor element  20 E in sensor  20 . In the illustrative example of  FIG. 5 , sensor  20  includes a single sensor element  20 E that produces current on path  38  in response to received ambient light  45 . Analog-to-digital converter circuit  46  may be used in digitizing the output (current signal) from light sensor element  20 E. Circuit  46  may include circuitry  36  and  42 . 
     Circuitry  36  (e.g., a transimpedance amplifier) may be used to convert current signals on path  38  into corresponding voltage signals Vout on path  40 . Analog-to-digital converter  42  may have an input that receives analog voltage signals Vout and a corresponding output  44  at which a digital signal representing a digitized version of the sensor element reading from element  20 E is presented. In a configuration with multiple sensor elements  20 E, measurements from each of the sensor elements  20 E may be evaluated to determine the color and intensity (luminance) output for sensor  20 . The configuration of  FIG. 5  in which circuitry  36  and  42  is being used to process measurements from a single color sensor element  20 E is merely illustrative. 
     If a user&#39;s finger or other external object obscures part of sensor  20 , sensor  20  may produce erroneous readings. For example, if a blue color sensor element  20 E is obscured, color measurements from sensor  20  may be abnormally warm (yellowish) or if a yellow color sensor element  20 E is obscured, color measurements from sensor  20  may be abnormally cold (bluish). To ensure that color measurements are accurate, control circuitry in device  10  may process signals from sensor elements  20 E to determine whether any part of sensor  20  (e.g., any of sensor elements  20 E) appear to be blocked. If signals are obscured in a portion of sensor  20 , the control circuitry  22  can ignore the light sensor readings and can instead use default readings or historical readings in controlling device  10 . 
     Illustrative circuitry of the type that may be used to gather information from sensor elements  20 E for processing is shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , sensor  20  may have multiple sensor elements  20 E. Sensor elements  20 E may include sensor elements of different colors (i.e., sensitivity profiles that peak at different wavelengths in the visible light spectrum, etc.), as shown in  FIG. 4 . There may be one or more sensor elements  20 E for each different wavelength range of interest. For example, in a sensor with sensor elements of three colors (e.g., red, green, and blue), there may be one or more red sensor elements, one or more green sensor elements, and one or more blue sensor elements). In general, there may be any suitable number of sensor elements  20 E of different colors. There may be, for example, 2-10 different colors of sensor elements  20 E, two or more different colors of sensor elements  20 E, three or more different sensor element colors, four or more different sensor element colors, more than five sensor element colors, six or more than six sensor element colors, fewer than ten sensor element colors, 5-10 different colors of sensor elements  20 E, etc. There may, in turn, be 1-3, 2-5, more than two, fewer than five, or other suitable number of sensor elements  20 E of each of these different colors in sensor  20 . In some situations, sensor elements  20 E may include white light sensor elements (i.e., clear sensor elements that measure light intensity over all visible wavelengths or other wavelengths of interest). 
     Sensor elements  20 E of sensor  20  may supply output signals to switching circuitry  48  using signal lines (see, e.g., path  38 ). Switching circuitry  48  may contain signal paths and switches (e.g., transistor-based switches) that are controlled by control signals from control circuitry  22 . Switching circuitry  48  may be coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuitry  52  via signal lines (see, e.g., path  50 ). Analog-to-digital converter circuitry  52  may include multiple analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  each of which may include a transimpedance amplifier such as transimpedance amplifier  36  of  FIG. 5  and an analog-to-digital converter such as converter  42  of  FIG. 5 . Each analog-to-digital converter circuit  46  (which may sometimes be referred to as forming an analog-to-digital converter channel), may be used in digitizing a separate respective current signal from one or more sensor elements  20 E. Switching circuitry  48  may be use to route the current signals to respective analog-to-digital converter circuits  46 . 
     In some configurations, there may be a sufficient number of analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  so that each sensor element  20 E may simultaneously provide output signals to a respective analog-to-digital converter circuit  46  in parallel. In this type of arrangement, switching circuitry  48  can be omitted and sensor signals from elements  20 E processed digitally. To ensure sensor accuracy, sensor data from sensors  20 E can be processed by circuitry  22  to determine whether there are any unexpected variations in intensity across sensor  20  that indicate that sensor  20  is being obscured by a user&#39;s finger or other external object. If sensor  20  is not being obscured, the data from the sensor elements  20 E may be processed by circuitry  22  to produce ambient light sensor color and luminance data. Suitable action may then be taken based on the color and luminance data. 
     To conserve resources, it may be desirable to provide circuitry  52  with a reduced number of analog-to-digital converters  46 . For example, there may be fewer analog-to-digital converters  46  in circuitry  52  than sensor elements  20 E in sensor  20 . In this type of configuration, switching circuitry  48  may be placed in different configurations to either evaluate sensor non-uniformity (partial blocking) or to gather color and luminance readings. 
     For example, switching circuitry  48  may be placed in a first configuration in which sensor element signals are gathered to produce ambient light color and luminance measurements and may be placed in a second configuration in which position-sensitive sensor element readings are gathered to determine whether part of sensor  20  (e.g., at least one sensor element  20 E on one of the ends of the array of sensor elements  20 E in sensor  20 ) is being obscured. If sensor elements  20 E are not being obscured, circuitry  22  can confidently use the color and luminance measurements that have been gathered. 
     In the first configuration for switching circuitry  48 , sensor data from sensor elements  20 E may be combined according to sensor element color to conserve analog-to-digital converter resources. For example, red sensor signals (i.e., the currents from red sensor elements  20 E) may be combined and routed to a first analog-to-digital converter  46  via switching circuitry  48 , green sensor signals (i.e., the currents from green sensor elements  20 E) may be combined and routed to a second analog-to-digital converter  46  via switching circuitry  48 , etc. Red sensor data may then be gathered by digitizing the combined red sensor element current, green sensor data may be gathered by digitizing the combined green sensor element current, etc. By gathering a different signal for each of the different colors of elements  20 E in sensor  20 , color and luminance information can be derived from the sensor measurements. 
     In the second configuration, switching circuitry  48  may be reconfigured to route signals from sensor elements  20 E to analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  in a pattern that preserves sensor element location information. In this way, control circuitry  22  can determine (using the digitized sensor information on path  54  from analog-to-digital converter circuitry  52 ) whether there are variations in intensity across sensor  20  that depend on location and are indicative of shadowing by a user&#39;s finger or other external object (i.e., sensor element output signal variations of more than 5% in intensity or other suitable threshold amount). If data processing reveals that sensor elements  20 E are not obscured (i.e., the illumination of sensor  20  is uniform across elements  20 E), the sensor data can be trusted. If data processing reveals that sensor elements  20 E are at least partly obstructed (i.e., sensor elements  20 E are being non-uniformly illuminated), the readings from sensor  20  can be momentarily ignored. Once processing reveals that the variation in signal intensity across elements  20 E at different locations is no longer present, control circuitry  22  can again trust the sensor data from sensor  20 . 
       FIG. 7  is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in operating device  10  using circuitry of the type shown in  FIG. 6 . At step  56 , switching circuitry  48  may be placed in a configuration that allows analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  to gather separate output signals for each of the different colors of sensor elements  20 E of sensor  20  (i.e., a separate signal for each spectral profile  32  of  FIG. 4 ). In arrangements in which there are multiple elements  20 E associated with a given color (i.e., a given spectral sensitivity profile  32 ), circuitry  48  may combine the signals from each of those elements  20 E onto a single input path for a single respective analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 . The sensor element data from sensor elements  20 E may be digitized by circuitry  52  and provided to control circuitry  22  for processing. Switching circuitry  48  may then be placed in a configuration that allows position sensitive information to be extracted from sensor elements  20 E of sensor  20 . In particular, circuitry  48  may be configured to route signals from sensor elements  20 E to analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  in a pattern that allows circuitry  22  to determine whether signals at different locations along the length of sensor  20  (i.e., along its longitudinal axis) are varying more than expected. 
     Circuitry  22  may be configured to perform uniformity detection operation at step  58 . During the processing operation of step  58 , which may sometimes be referred to as gradient detection, non-uniformity detection, occlusion detection, or obstruction detection, circuitry  22  may process the data received from sensor elements  20 E when switching circuitry  48  is in the configuration that allows sensor element location information to be extracted from sensor elements  20 E. In performing non-uniformity detection, for example, circuitry  22  can compare the relative intensities of the signals from different sets (segments) of sensors  20 E along the length of sensor  20 . If it is determined that the lowest output from sensors  20 E (i.e., the output of one or more sensors  20 E at a given end of sensor  20 ) is more than 5% less (or other suitable amount less) than the largest output from sensors  20 E (i.e., the output of one or more corresponding sensors  20 E at a different portion of sensor  20  such as at the middle of sensor  20  or at an opposing end of sensor  20 ), or if other criteria are satisfied that are indicative of sensor element non-uniformity that is indicative of sensor obstruction, circuitry  22  can conclude that the user&#39;s finger or other external object is shadowing one or more of sensors  20 E (e.g., one or more of sensors  20 E at the given end of the sensor are being blocked). In this scenario, color and luminance information from sensor  20  may not be accurate, because part of sensor  20  is being obstructed. Each set of sensor elements  20 E may have two or more sensor elements of different colors, three or more sensor elements of different colors, four or more sensor elements of different colors, five or more sensor elements of different colors, six or more sensor elements of different colors, etc. 
     At step  60 , control circuitry  22  can take suitable action based on the sensor data and/or the outcome of the non-uniformity test. For example, if it was determined from the operations of steps  56  and  58  that the color and luminance data from sensor  20  is trustworthy, circuitry  22  can adjust display brightness and/or color for display  14  based on the color and luminance information from color ambient light sensor  20  or may otherwise take action based on the data from color ambient light sensor  20 . If, on the other hand, an obstruction of sensor  20  was detected, circuitry  22  can decline to make any brightness and/or color adjustments to display  14  and/or can use other color ambient light sensor information in making these adjustments. For example, circuitry  22  can revert to using default color and luminance settings (e.g., average values) and/or can use historical color and luminance data (e.g., an average of the last five accurate readings from sensor  20 , the last reading from sensor  20 , etc.). Processing may then loop back to step  56 , as indicated by line  62 . 
       FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram showing illustrative circuitry of the type that may be used to implement sensor  20 , switching circuitry  48 , and analog-to-digital converter circuitry  52  of  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , sensor  20  may include multiple sensor elements  20 E. Sensor elements  20 E may, for example, be arranged in a linear array (i.e., a row of sensor elements  20 E in an elongated sensor configuration) that extends along dimension X (i.e., a dimension parallel to the longitudinal axis of sensor  20 ). The length of sensor  20 E along dimension X may be 2.5 mm, may be 2-3 mm, may be more than 1 mm, may be less than 5 mm, or may be any other suitable length. The width of sensor  20  (i.e., the longer dimension of each element  20 E) may be about 0.45 mm, 0.3-0.6 mm, more than 0.2 mm, more than 0.1 mm, less than 1 mm, less than 4 mm, or other suitable width. Non-rectangular shapes for sensor elements  20 E and for sensor  20  may be used, if desired. The illustrative configuration of sensor  20  in  FIG. 8  is shown as an example. 
     Switching circuitry  48  may include switches  48 A and signal routing paths  48 I (sometimes referred to as lines, signal paths, interconnects, etc.). Switches  48 A and paths  48 I may be used to couple various sets of sensor elements  20 E to respective analog-to-digital converter circuits  46 . Analog-to-digital converter circuitry  52  may use analog-to-digital converters  46  to provide digitized sensor signals to control circuitry  22  via path(s)  54 . There are  24  sensor elements  20 E with six different spectral response profiles  32  (sensor element colors C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , C 5 , and C 6 ) and six analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  (i.e., analog-to-digital converter circuits  46 - 1 ,  46 - 2 ,  46 - 3 ,  46 - 4 ,  46 - 5 , and  46 - 6 ) in the example of  FIG. 8 . Sensor elements  20 E are arranged so that the six colors of elements  20 E repeat along the length of sensor  20  in dimension X. This arrangement is merely illustrative. Other numbers of sensor elements  20 E and/or analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  may be used and different patterns of colors may be used, if desired. 
     Switches  48 A each have a first terminal coupled to a respective sensor element  20 E and have second and third terminals to which the first terminal can be selectively coupled in response to control signals from control circuitry  22 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the second and third terminals of switches  48 A may be coupled to paths  48 I so that signals can be routed to analog-to-digital converter circuits  46  in different patterns. Some of sensor elements  20 E may be coupled to routing paths  48 I without passing through any actively controlled switches  48 A. To equalize capacitive loading between these sensor elements  20 E and the sensor elements coupled to switches  48 A, switching circuitry  48  may be provided with dummy switches  48 D (i.e., switch structures that are similar or identical to switches  48 A, but which are not actively switched by control circuitry  22 ). 
     In a normal operating mode (sometimes referred to as ambient light color sensing mode), paths  481  and switches  48 A may be configured to group sensor elements  20 E in six different sets, each with four elements  20 E of the same color. The output (current) from the sensor elements  20 E in each of these six different sets of four elements  20 E is routed to a different respective analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 . For example, the signals from the four elements  20 E of color Cl in  FIG. 8  are all routed to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 1 , the four elements  20 E of color C 2  are coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 2 , the four elements  20 E of color C 3  are coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 3 , the four elements  20 E of color C 4  are coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 4 , the four elements  20 E of color C 5  are coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 5 , and the four elements  20 E of color C 6  are coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 6 . In general, any suitable number of elements of the same color may be included in each set of elements  20 E, e.g., three or more elements  20 E of the same color, four or more elements  20 E of the same color, fewer than ten elements  20 E of the same color, etc. The use of four commonly colored elements  20 E in each of the six illustrative sets of elements  20 E in the example of  FIG. 8  is illustrative. 
     In a second mode (sometimes referred to as non-uniformity detection mode or sensor illumination non-uniformity detection mode), sensor elements  20 E are organized in four different sets (segments SG 1 , SG 2 , SG 3 , and SG 4 ) each of which is located at a different position along the length of sensor  20  (i.e., a different location in dimension X). Some of the sensor elements  20 E of sensor  20  are not included in these four sets and serve as unused buffer sensor elements during non-uniformity detection operations. During non-uniformity detection mode, switches  48 A are configured to route sensor signals (current) from each of the four sets of sensor elements  20 E to a respective one of four of analog-to-digital converter circuits  46 . In the illustrative arrangement of  FIG. 8 , each of the sensor elements  20 E in segment SG 1  is coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 2 , each of sensor elements  20 E in segment SG 2  is coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 3 , each of the sensor elements  20 E in segment SG 3  is coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 4 , and each of the sensor elements  20 E in segment SG 4  is coupled to analog-to-digital converter circuit  46 - 5 . Each of the four segments (sets) includes elements of colors C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , and C 5 , so that the spectral response of each of the segments is the same (and may cover all or part of the visible spectrum or other suitable wavelength range). 
     By comparing the intensity of the signal from each segment, segments that are obscured by a user&#39;s finger or other external object can be identified (i.e., non-uniform ambient light illumination conditions can be detected) and appropriate corrective action taken (e.g., by ignoring data from sensor  20  until a uniform condition is detected, etc.). In general, any suitable number of elements of different colors that are clustered together at different locations to provide position information within sensor  20  may be included in each set of elements  20 E during non-uniformity detection mode (e.g., two or more elements  20 E of different colors, three or more elements  20 E of different colors, four or more elements  20 E of different colors, fewer than ten elements  20 E of different colors, representative elements  20 E of a single color—i.e., solitary elements  20 E each forming a single color set, etc.). The use of four colored elements  20 E (with colors C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , and C 5 ) in each of four illustrative sets (segments) of elements  20 E in the configuration of  FIG. 8  is illustrative. 
     If desired, circuitry  22  can detect non-uniform illumination conditions using additional sensor elements such as white (clear) sensor elements that have broad spectral profiles (e.g., spectral responses that cover all or most of the visible light spectrum and, if desired, that extend into infrared and/or ultraviolet wavelengths). As an example, clear sensor elements  20 EW may be interspersed with colored sensor elements  20 EC along the length of sensor  20  as shown in  FIG. 9 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 10 , sensor  20  includes a row of colored elements  20 EC for making color ambient light sensor measurements and has a supplemental row of clear elements  20 EW. In these types of arrangements, the outputs from sensors  20 EW may be processed by circuitry  52  and circuitry  22  to determine whether a non-uniform lighting condition exists for sensor  20  (i.e., whether part of sensor  20  has been obscured by an external object). During normal operation, sets of commonly colored sensor elements  20 EC may be routed to respective analog-to-digital converter circuits  46 , as described in connection with  FIG. 7 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20170316
Publication Date: 20200929
Grant Date: 20200929
Priority Date: 20160406
Inventors: SUN, Tianbo
LAND, BRIAN R.
ZHENG, DONG
ISIKMAN, SERHAN O.
BOMMU, VENKATA SIVA SUNIL KUMAR REDDY
JIA, ZHANG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G09G5/026", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01J1/4204", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0666", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/026", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0233", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/144", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/0304", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0233", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/144", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0666", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06K9/4661", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/0304", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01J1/4204", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0666", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/144", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0233", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 59998870