| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080258954 | Method of controlling digital-to-analog conversion - An analog-to-digital converter comprising a minimal amount of circuitry for conversion of an input analog signal to a series of digital bits. A differential comparator is provided for generating digital values to which the digital bits correspond. A pair of digital-to-analog converters are provided for generating, via successive approximation, a differential feedback analog signal based on bits previously generated by the differential comparator. The analog-to-digital converter compares the differential feedback analog signal to the input analog signal, and based on the comparison generates a digital value that corresponds to a digital bit. In the method of the invention, an analog signal is converted to a digital value using the analog-to-digital converter, and a pair of digital-to-analog converters each generate, via successive approximation, a differential feedback analog signal that is applied to a differential comparator for comparison to the input analog signal being digitized. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20090166515 | MULTI-POINT CORRELATED SAMPLING FOR IMAGE SENSORS - An improved passive pixel sensor (PPS) circuit comprising a correlated sampling circuit and method that integrates pixel charge leakage onto an integrating amplifier during sampling periods. An integrator circuit is provided for integrating PPS pixel charges received via a column line, and correlated sampling circuit is provided for the removal of kTC noise and dark integration. A multi-point sampling of the output of the integrator is provided wherein at least a first and second correlated sample are used to detect the charge integration from the column line leakages, and at least a third sample is used to detect the PPS signal after pixel readout. The correlated sampling method is employed to remove kTC noise and dark integration from the PPS signal. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090224141 | LINEAR DISTRIBUTED PIXEL DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER HAVING MIRRORED INPUTS - A pixel circuit that partially incorporates an associated column amplifier into the pixel circuitry. By incorporating part of a mirrored amplifier into the pixel, noise from the pixel is reduced. | 09-10-2009 |
| 20090244039 | REDUNDANCY IN COLUMN PARALLEL OR ROW ARCHITECTURES - A column circuitry architecture for an imager includes redundant column or row circuits. The column or row circuitry includes a number of redundant column or row circuits. Each column or row circuit include circuitry for controllably coupling the column or row circuit to one of plural signal lines from an array of pixels. A control mechanism is used to select a configuration of plural column or row circuits in the column or row circuitry. In this manner, some column or row circuits are decoupled from the pixel in favor of other column or row circuits. The decoupled column or row circuits may include defective or noisy circuits. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090278722 | COLUMN-PARALLEL SIGMA-DELTA ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION WITH GAIN AND OFFSET CONTROL - A sigma-delta modulation sensing circuit and an analog-to-digital converter for an imager that eliminate the erroneous conversion of non-zero analog voltages to zero digital voltages is provided. The sensing circuit includes an offset branch that allows input of an offset voltage that is at least as large as a negative channel-specific offset found in a pixel signal voltage. The sensing circuit also includes a regulation branch based on a reference voltage common across multiple columns of an imager. The regulation branch has an adjustable resistance that is modulated during the sensing operation, which creates an adjustment current that is applied during the sensing operation to a reset signal. The sensing circuit and analog-to-digital converter generate digital code based on the difference between the reset voltage and the summed offset and pixel signal voltage. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20100302425 | LINEAR DISTRIBUTED PIXEL DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER HAVING MIRRORED INPUTS - A pixel circuit that partially incorporates an associated column amplifier into the pixel circuitry. By incorporating part of a mirrored amplifier into the pixel, noise from the pixel is reduced. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110013066 | EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR IMAGE SENSORS - An imaging system utilizes an exposure control circuit to control the length of an exposure in full frame mode. The exposure control circuit receives as an input the antiblooming current from at least a representative sample of pixels and determines when to end an exposure based on the amount of current received. | 01-20-2011 |
