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US 10,834,349 B2Granted
Solid-state image sensor, image capturing apparatus and image capturing method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHirokazu Kobayashi, Nobuhiro Takeda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solid-state image sensor comprises: a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons; a first counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit; and an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the first counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold.
Claims31
A solid-state image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons;
- a counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a first latch unit that stores the count value counted by the counter;
- a second latch unit that stores the count value counted by the counter;
- an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor;
- and
- an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold,
- wherein the counter is reset on the basis of the periodic signal,
- the first latch unit and the second latch unit alternately store the count value counted by the counter based on a cycle of the unit time,
- the output unit outputs the signal corresponding to the count value counted by the counter in a case where a difference between the count value stored in the first latch unit and the count value stored in the second latch unit is greater than the threshold, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
8 more elements
A solid-state image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons;
- a first counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a second counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a first latch unit that stores the count value counted by the second counter;
- and
- a second latch unit that stores the count value counted by the second counter,
- an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor;
- and
- an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the first counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold,
- wherein the first counter and the second counter are reset on the basis of the periodic signal,
- the first latch unit and the second latch unit alternately store the count value counted by the second counter based on a cycle of the unit time,
- the output unit outputs the signal corresponding to the count value counted by the first counter in a case where a difference between the count value stored in the first latch unit and the count value stored in the second latch unit is greater than the threshold, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
10 more elements
A solid-state image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons;
- a first counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a second counter that counts a number of the pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a first latch unit that stores a count value of the second counter;
- and
- a second latch unit that stores a count value of the second counter,
- an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor;
- and
- an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the first counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold,
- wherein the first counter and the second counter are reset on the basis of the periodic signal,
- the first latch unit and the second latch unit alternately store the count value counted by the second counter based on a cycle of the unit time,
- the first counter is reset by a first reset operation of resetting the first counter based on a cycle of the periodic signal, and by a second reset operation of resetting the first counter in a case where a difference between the count value stored in the first latch unit and the count value stored in the second latch unit is larger than the threshold,
- the output unit outputs the signal corresponding to the count value of the first counter since the first counter is reset for a first time by the second reset operation after the first counter has been reset by the first reset operation until the first counter is reset by the first reset operation or the second reset operation, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
11 more elements
An image capturing apparatus comprising:
- a solid-state image sensor comprising a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons, a counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit, a first latch unit that stores the count value counted by the counter, a second latch unit that stores the count value counted by the counter, an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor, and an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold;
- and
- an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing using the signal output from the solid-state image sensor,
- wherein the counter is reset on the basis of the periodic signal,
- the first latch unit and the second latch unit alternately store the count value counted by the counter based on a cycle of the unit time,
- the output unit outputs the signal corresponding to the count value counted by the counter in a case where a difference between the count value stored in the first latch unit and the count value stored in the second latch unit is greater than the threshold, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
4 more elements
An image capturing apparatus comprising:
- a solid-state image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons;
- a first counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a second counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a first latch unit that stores the count value counted by the second counter;
- a second latch unit that stores the count value counted by the second counter;
- an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor;
- and
- an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the first counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold;
- and
- an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing using the signal output from the solid-state image sensor,
- wherein the first counter and the second counter are reset on the basis of the periodic signal, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
10 more elements
An image capturing apparatus comprising:
- a solid-state image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each provided with a sensor unit that generates a pulse signal at a frequency corresponding to a frequency of reception of photons;
- a first counter that counts a number of pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a second counter that counts a number of the pulses generated by the sensor unit;
- a first latch unit that stores a count value of the second counter;
- a second latch unit that stores a count value of the second counter;
- an interface that is supplied with a periodic signal from outside of the solid-state image sensor;
- and
- an output unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a count value counted by the first counter in a case where change in the number of pulses detected per unit time is greater than a threshold;
- and
- an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing using the signal output from the solid-state image sensor,
- wherein the first counter and the second counter are reset on the basis of the periodic signal,
- the first latch unit and the second latch unit alternately store the count value counted by the second counter based on a cycle of the unit time,
- the first counter is reset by a first reset operation of resetting the first counter based on a cycle of the periodic signal, and by a second reset operation of resetting the first counter in a case where a difference between the count value stored in the first latch unit and the count value stored in the second latch unit is larger than the threshold,
- the output unit outputs the signal corresponding to the count value of the first counter since the first counter is reset for a first time by the second reset operation after the first counter has been reset by the first reset operation until the first counter is reset by the first reset operation or the second reset operation, and
- each unit is implemented by one or more processors, circuitry or a combination thereof.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.