Simultaneous global shutter and correlated double sampling read out in multiple photosensor pixels
First Claim
1. An image sensor fabricated on a surface of a substrate for sensing light impinging upon said image sensor, said image sensor comprising:
- an array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors arranged in rows and columns upon said substrate for sensing said light impinging upon said image sensor, each of said multiple photosensor pixel image sensor comprising;
a plurality of photo-sensing devices formed within said surface of said substrate, each photo-sensing device having a structure adjusted to convert photons of said light to photoelectrons representative of a magnitude of a color component of said light for which said structure of said photo-sensing device is adjusted;
at least one storage node formed within said surface of said surface and connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices;
a plurality of transfer gating switches, each transfer gating switch connected between one of said plurality of photo-sensing devices and said storage node to selectively and sequentially transfer said photoelectrons from each of the plurality of photo-sensing devices to said storage node;
at least one reset triggering switch in communication with said storage node and said transfer gating switches connected to said one storage node to place said storage node to a reset voltage level after integration and sensing of said photoelectrons;
a row control circuit in communication with rows of said array of plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors that generate reset control signals, transfer gating signals, and row selecting signals for providing a global shuttering and a rolling shuttering of said array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors; and
a column clamp, sample and hold circuit in communication with each column of the array of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors to clamp, sample, and hold said conversion electrical signals from selected rows of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors and from said sampled and held conversion electrical signals generating an output signal representative of a number of photons impinging upon each color multiple sensor pixel image sensor of said row of selected color multiple sensor pixel image sensors.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus controls operation of an array of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors to provide a global shuttering for one half of the color multiple sensor pixel image sensors and a rolling shuttering for all color multiple sensor pixel image sensors of the array. The apparatus includes a row control circuit and a column clamp, sample, and hold circuit. The row control circuit generates the necessary reset control signals, transfer gating signals, and row selecting signals for providing the global shuttering and the rolling shuttering color multiple sensor pixel image sensors. The column clamp, sample and hold circuit generates an output signal representative of a number of photons impinging upon each color multiple sensor pixel image sensor of the row of selected color multiple sensor pixel image sensors. The control apparatus further includes an analog to digital converter which converts the read out signal to a digital image signal.
54 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An image sensor fabricated on a surface of a substrate for sensing light impinging upon said image sensor, said image sensor comprising:
-
an array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors arranged in rows and columns upon said substrate for sensing said light impinging upon said image sensor, each of said multiple photosensor pixel image sensor comprising; a plurality of photo-sensing devices formed within said surface of said substrate, each photo-sensing device having a structure adjusted to convert photons of said light to photoelectrons representative of a magnitude of a color component of said light for which said structure of said photo-sensing device is adjusted; at least one storage node formed within said surface of said surface and connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices; a plurality of transfer gating switches, each transfer gating switch connected between one of said plurality of photo-sensing devices and said storage node to selectively and sequentially transfer said photoelectrons from each of the plurality of photo-sensing devices to said storage node; at least one reset triggering switch in communication with said storage node and said transfer gating switches connected to said one storage node to place said storage node to a reset voltage level after integration and sensing of said photoelectrons; a row control circuit in communication with rows of said array of plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors that generate reset control signals, transfer gating signals, and row selecting signals for providing a global shuttering and a rolling shuttering of said array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors; and a column clamp, sample and hold circuit in communication with each column of the array of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors to clamp, sample, and hold said conversion electrical signals from selected rows of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors and from said sampled and held conversion electrical signals generating an output signal representative of a number of photons impinging upon each color multiple sensor pixel image sensor of said row of selected color multiple sensor pixel image sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A control apparatus that controls operation of an array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors arranged in rows and columns for sensing said light impinging upon said image sensors, each of said multiple photosensor pixel image sensors comprising a plurality of photo-sensing devices having a structure adjusted to convert photons of said light to photoelectrons representative of a magnitude of a color component of said light for which said structure of said photo-sensing device is adjusted;
- at least one storage node connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices;
a plurality of transfer gating switches, each transfer gating switch connected between one of said plurality of photo-sensing devices and said storage node to selectively and sequentially transfer said photoelectrons from each of the plurality of photo-sensing devices to said storage node; and
at least one reset triggering switch in communication with said storage node and said transfer gating switches connected to said one storage node to place said storage node to a reset voltage level after integration and sensing of said photoelectrons, said control apparatus comprising;a row control circuit in communication with rows of said array of plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors that generate reset control signals, transfer gating signals, and row selecting signals for providing a global shuttering and a rolling shuttering of said array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors; and a column clamp, sample and hold circuit in communication with each column of the array of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors to clamp, sample, and hold said conversion electrical signals from selected rows of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors and from said sampled and held conversion electrical signals generating an output signal representative of a number of photons impinging upon each color multiple sensor pixel image sensor of said row of selected color multiple sensor pixel image sensors. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- at least one storage node connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices;
-
15. A method for control of operation of an array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors arranged in rows and columns for sensing said light impinging upon said image sensors, each of said multiple photosensor pixel image sensors comprising a plurality of photo-sensing devices having a structure adjusted to convert photons of said light to photoelectrons representative of a magnitude of a color component of said light for which said structure of said photo-sensing device is adjusted;
- at least one storage node connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices;
a plurality of transfer gating switches, each transfer gating switch connected between one of said plurality of photo-sensing devices and said storage node to selectively and sequentially transfer said photoelectrons from each of the plurality of photo-sensing devices to said storage node; and
at least one reset triggering switch in communication with said storage node and said transfer gating switches connected to said one storage node to place said storage node to a reset voltage level after integration and sensing of said photoelectrons, said method comprising the steps of;generating reset control signals, transfer gating signals, and row selecting signals for providing a global shuttering and a rolling shuttering of said array of a plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors; and clamping, sampling, and holding said conversion electrical signals from selected rows of the plurality of color multiple sensor pixel image sensors during said global shuttering and said rolling shuttering; and generating from said clamped, sampled, and held conversion electrical signals an output signal representative of a number of photons impinging upon each color multiple sensor pixel image sensor of said row of selected color multiple sensor pixel image sensors. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- at least one storage node connected to selectively receive photoelectrons from each of said plurality of photo-sensing devices;
Specification