Method and system for time-of-flight imaging with high lateral resolution

1. An image capturing system comprising:

a light source configured to emit light toward an object or scene that is to be imaged;

a time-of-flight image sensor configured to receive light signals based on reflected light from the object or scene; and

a processor operatively coupled to the light source and the time-of-flight image sensor, wherein the processor is configured to:

send a control signal to control the light source and a reference signal to the time-of-flight image sensor, wherein the time-of-flight image sensor correlates the received light signals with the reference signal;

generate phasor representations based at least in part on correlation signals captured in the reflected light from the object or scene; and

regularize an amplitude of the phasor representations based at least in part on a transform-domain sparsity;

perform compressive sensing of the received light signals; and

generate an image of the object or scene based at least in part on the compressive sensing of the received light signals.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to amplitude modulate the light source and the time-of-flight image sensor.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a digital micro-mirror device that is configured to receive the reflected light and modulate the reflected light with a coded spatial pattern that is displayed on the digital micro-mirror device.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising a relay lens configured to receive the light signals from the digital micro-mirror device and project the light signals onto the time-of-flight image sensor.

5. The system of claim 3 , further comprising a mask on the digital micro-mirror device, wherein the mask forms the coded spatial pattern.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein processor generates the image of the object or scene based at least in part on a system matrix.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to calibrate the system to estimate the system matrix.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the system matrix represents pixel-to-pixel mapping between a digital micro-mirror device and the time-of-flight image sensor.

9. A method of capturing images with a time-of-flight camera system, the method comprising:

sending, by a processor, a control signal to control a light source and a reference signal to a time-of-flight image sensor that is operatively coupled to the processor;

capturing, by the time-of-flight image sensor, light signals based on reflected light from an object or scene;

generating phasor representations based at least in part on correlation signals captured in the light signals of the reflected light from the object or scene;

regularizing an amplitude of the phasor representations based at least in part on a transform-domain sparsity;

performing, by the processor, spatial multiplexing and compressive sensing on the captured light signals; and

generating, by the processor, an image of the object or scene based at least in part on the spatial multiplexing and the compressive sensing.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising using the phasor representations to model a phase component and an amplitude component of the correlation signals.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising performing amplitude modulation of a light source and the time-of-flight image sensor.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving, by a digital micro-mirror device, the reflected light, and modulating the reflected light with a coded spatial pattern that is displayed on the digital micro-mirror device.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising calibrating, by the processor, the time-of-flight imaging system and generating a system matrix based at least in part on the calibration.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the image of the object or scene is based at least in part on the system matrix, and wherein the system matrix represents pixel-to-pixel mapping between a digital micro-mirror device and the time-of-flight image sensor.