Row driver circuit for a sensor including a shared row-reset bus and a charge pump boosting circuit
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- selecting a row from a plurality of rows in a pixel array;
opening a path between a first line having a first voltage and a bus through one or more row select transistors;
selecting the row for reset;
opening a path between a second line having a second voltage and the bus through one or more reset enable transistors, said second voltage being higher than said first voltage; and
providing the second voltage to the one or more row select transistors.
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Abstract
A row driver according to an embodiment drives a shared row-reset bus to one of a select voltage and a boosted voltage to select a row for readout and to reset the pixels in the row, respectively. The boosted voltage is higher than the select voltage. A row select circuit includes PMOS transistors through which a path may be opened between a supply line carrying the select voltage and the bus. A reset enable circuit includes PMOS transistors through which a path may be opened between a supply line carrying the boosted voltage and the bus. In order to prevent a parasitic diode leakage between the two supply lines during reset, the n-wells of the PMOS transistors in the row select circuit may be coupled to the supply line carrying the boost voltage.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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selecting a row from a plurality of rows in a pixel array;
opening a path between a first line having a first voltage and a bus through one or more row select transistors;
selecting the row for reset;
opening a path between a second line having a second voltage and the bus through one or more reset enable transistors, said second voltage being higher than said first voltage; and
providing the second voltage to the one or more row select transistors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A row driver comprising:
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a bus;
a first line operative to carry a select voltage;
a second line operative to be driven to a boosted voltage, said boosted voltage being higher than the select voltage;
a first circuit operative to couple the bus to the first line in response to a row select signal, said first circuit including a transistor coupled to the second line. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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16. A sensor comprising:
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a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns;
a plurality of buses, each bus coupled to pixels in one row of the pixel array;
a first line operative to carry a select voltage;
a second line operative to carry a row enable voltage;
a charge pump boost circuit operative to drive the second line to a boosted voltage, said boosted voltage being higher than the select voltage;
a plurality of row drivers, each row driver coupled to an associated one of the buses and including a first circuit operative to couple said bus to the first line in response to a row select signal, said first circuit including a transistor coupled to the second line.
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Specification