Hi Sula and dear agora communitty. always appreciate the connected dots. some food:

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2016/07/apple-invents-a-structured-light-projector-for-cameras-that-could-capture-3d-data.html

"Apple's continuation patent application 20160197452 was filed in Q1 2016"

here is the direct link to the patent, worth the read:

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220160197452%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20160197452&RS=DN/20160197452

number 7): Optoelectronic apparatus, comprising: a semiconductor die; a monolithic array of light-emitting elements formed on the semiconductor die in a grid pattern comprising multiple columns; and optics comprising a diffractive optical element (DOE) (possibly warrior??) mounted on the substrate and configured to project the light emitted by the elements so as to generate a pattern of stripes corresponding to the columns of the grid pattern.

and there s the optoelectronic apparatus in apples use of speech wich seems similar to a optoelectronic engine we invented... .

also: ...are connected via wire-bonds. Alternatively, for some wavelength ranges (for instance above 900 nm for GaAs emitters), the VCSELs may be configured to emit light through the substrate. In this case, the VCSELs can be designed for BSI (Back-Side Illumination), and the die may be assembled as a flip-chip on a submount or driver chip.

well they need at least 24 Vcsel per depth mapping engine... . hope that isn t far fetched but my poet lightbulb did emit while reading. greetz, there are good times ahead.