HIGH-SPEED ANALOG PHOTON COUNTER AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- delivering an electric charge to a circuit through a current source of the circuit;
accumulating the electric charge in a capacitor of the circuit electrically coupled to the current source;
comparing the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit with a reference voltage through a comparator of the circuit electrically coupled to an output of the capacitor;
resetting the capacitor of the circuit when the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit matches the reference voltage; and
measuring an intensity of light through the circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A high speed analog photon counter and method is provided. In one aspect, the method includes delivering an electric charge to a circuit of the high speed analog photon counter through a current source of the circuit. The method also includes accumulating the electric charge in a capacitor of the circuit electrically coupled to the current source. The method further includes comparing the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit with a reference voltage through a comparator of the circuit electrically coupled to an output of the capacitor. The output of the capacitor of the circuit is coupled to an input of the comparator of the circuit, and the reference voltage is coupled to another input of the comparator of the circuit. The method furthermore includes resetting the capacitor of the circuit when the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit matches the reference voltage.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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delivering an electric charge to a circuit through a current source of the circuit; accumulating the electric charge in a capacitor of the circuit electrically coupled to the current source; comparing the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit with a reference voltage through a comparator of the circuit electrically coupled to an output of the capacitor; resetting the capacitor of the circuit when the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit matches the reference voltage; and measuring an intensity of light through the circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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accumulating an electric charge in a capacitor of a circuit electrically coupled to a current source of the circuit; comparing the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor of the circuit with a reference voltage through a comparator of the circuit electrically coupled to an output of the capacitor; and increasing a speed of operation of a measurement device through implementing the circuit inside a pixel. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An image sensor device comprising:
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a pixel circuit; and an intensity measurement circuit implemented in the pixel circuit;
to measure an intensity of light and to increase a speed of operation of the image sensor device. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification