Image pickup apparatus and processing method for result of image pickup

• US 9,185,304 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2014
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Seiji
• Primary Examiner(s): FLOHRE, JASON A
• Application Number:
  US14/159,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20140132785A1
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 348/208.1, 348/208.4, 348/208.12, 348/362
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14607 Geometry of the photosensitive area
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1462 Coatings
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14621 Colour filter arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14623 Optical shielding
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14627 Microlenses
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14634 Assemblies, i.e. Hybrid structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14636 Interconnect structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/681 Motion detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6811 based on the image signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/72 Combination of two or more compensation controls
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/44 by partially reading an SSIS array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/50 Control of the SSIS exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/51 Control of the gain
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/79 Arrangements of circuitry being divided between different or multiple substrates, chips or circuit boards, e.g. stacked image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/145 Movement estimation for video coding H04N19/51

Abstract

The present invention is applied to an image pickup apparatus for which, for example, a CMOS solid-state image pickup element is used. One screen image is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a motion is detected for each of the blocks to control the exposure time of the block.

Claims

1. An image pickup element comprising:

a first semiconductor substrate including an image pickup section having a plurality of pixel blocks; and

a second semiconductor substrate stacked on the first semiconductor substrate and including a signal processing circuit configured to process results of an image pickup for each of the pixel blocks from the image pickup section, the second semiconductor substrate including a plurality of pulse production blocks configured to control exposure time of the image pickup section,

wherein the pulse production blocks are electrically connected, respectively, to the pixel blocks, the pulse production blocks arranged over the pixel blocks,

wherein the second semiconductor substrate includes a motion amount detection circuit that uses the results of the image pickup of the pixel blocks output simultaneously and parallelly to individually detect the motion amount for each of the blocks,

in which the motion amount for each of the blocks is detected by cumulatively adding the results of the image pickup for each of the blocks in a unit of a frame to calculate an average value for each of the blocks and by calculating for each of the blocks an interframe difference value as a difference between, for a same block of the blocks, the average value calculated of a current frame and the average value calculated of a preceding frame.

2. The image pickup element of claim 1, wherein each of the pulse production blocks includes a shutter pulse production circuit configured to produce a shutter pulse and each of the pixel blocks includes a reset control circuit configured to receive the shutter pulse from the shutter pulse production circuit of the corresponding pulse production block.

3. The image pickup element of claim 2, wherein the shutter pulse production circuit of the corresponding pulse production block outputs the shutter pulse in accordance with a result of the motion amount detection.

4. The image pickup element of claim 2, wherein the reset control circuit is configured to output a gain control signal for an amplification circuit disposed in the corresponding pixel block in accordance with exposure time of the corresponding pixel block based on the shutter pulse.

5. The image pickup element of claim 3, wherein the motion amount detection circuit includes a frame difference calculation circuit configured to calculate the interframe difference values.

6. The image pickup element of claim 1 further comprising:

a connect unit including micro bumps connecting the pixels blocks to the corresponding pulse production blocks.

7. The image pickup element of claim 1, wherein each of the pixel blocks includes a signal level correction unit for correcting and outputting a signal level of a result of the image pickup for the pixel block which varies in accordance with control of exposure time for the pixel block.

8. The image pickup element of claim 1, wherein each of the pixel blocks includes an amplification unit to amplify a pixel signal for the pixel block based on an exposure time corresponding to the pixel block.

9. The image pickup element of claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor substrate includes a wiring layer positioned on a side opposite to an image surface of the image pickup section.

10. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

an imaging sensing unit including a first semiconductor substrate including an image pickup section having a plurality of pixel blocks; and

a control unit including a second semiconductor substrate, the second semiconductor substrate stacked on the first semiconductor substrate and including a signal processing circuit configured to process results of an image pickup for each of the pixel blocks from the image pickup section, the second semiconductor substrate including a plurality of pulse production blocks configured to control exposure time of the image pickup section,

wherein the pulse production blocks are electrically connected, respectively, to the pixel blocks, the pulse production blocks arranged over the pixel blocks

wherein the second semiconductor substrate includes a motion amount detection circuit that uses the results of the image pickup of the pixel blocks output simultaneously and parallelly to individually detect the motion amount for each of the blocks,

in which the motion amount for each of the blocks is detected by cumulatively adding the results of the image pickup for each of the blocks in a unit of a frame to calculate an average value for each of the blocks and by calculating for each of the blocks an interframe difference value as a difference between, for a same block of the blocks, the average value calculated of a current frame and the average value calculated of a preceding frame.

11. The image pickup apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the pulse production blocks includes a shutter pulse production circuit configured to produce a shutter pulse and each of the pixel blocks includes a reset control circuit configured to receive the shutter pulse from the shutter pulse production circuit of the corresponding pulse production block.

12. The image pickup apparatus of claim 11, wherein the shutter pulse production circuit of the corresponding pulse production block outputs the shutter pulse in accordance with a result of the motion amount detection.

13. The image pickup apparatus of claim 11, wherein the reset control circuit is configured to output a gain control signal for an amplification circuit disposed in the corresponding pixel block in accordance with the exposure time of the corresponding pixel block based on the shutter pulse.

14. The image pickup apparatus of claim 12, wherein the motion amount detection circuit a frame difference calculation circuit configured to calculate the interframe difference values.

15. The image pickup apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

a connect unit including micro bumps connecting the pixels blocks to the corresponding pulse production blocks.

16. The image pickup apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the pixel blocks includes a signal level correction unit for correcting and outputting a signal level of a result of the image pickup for the pixel block which varies in accordance with control of exposure time for the pixel block.

17. The image pickup apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the pixel blocks includes an amplification unit to amplify a pixel signal for the pixel block based on an exposure time corresponding to the pixel block.

18. The image pickup apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first semiconductor substrate includes a wiring layer positioned on a side opposite to an image surface of the image pickup section.