Fault detection circuit for image sensor
AssigneeTeledyne Dalsa B.V.
InventorsWillem J. Kindt, Hui-Yu Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a fault detection circuit for detecting one or more column faults in a pixel array of an image sensor. The present invention further relates to a readout circuit for reading out a column line of an image sensor, and to an image sensor comprising the same. The fault detection circuit according to the invention comprises a signal unit for applying an electrical signal to a given column line of the pixel array, a determining unit for measuring a response to the applied electrical signal and for determining whether a fault exists for said given column line in dependence of the measured response, and a controller for controlling the signal unit and the determining unit, and for outputting a fault status for said given column line.
Claims21
A fault detection circuit comprising a fault detection unit that is configured to detect one or more column faults in a pixel array of an image sensor, the pixel array comprising a matrix of rows and columns of pixels, each column of pixels being connected to a respective column line, the fault detection unit comprising:
- a signal unit configured to apply an electrical signal to a given column line of the pixel array;
- a determining unit configured to measure a response to the applied electrical signal and to determine whether a fault exists for said given column line in dependence of the measured response;
- a controller configured to control the signal unit and the determining unit, and to output a fault status for said given column line, wherein the controller comprises a control register;
- and
- the fault detection circuit comprises a plurality of the fault detection units, and wherein the signal unit of each of the plurality of fault detection units comprises a current source unit comprising a current source to sink or source a current to or from the column line associated with the signal unit, and the determining unit is configured to measure said response as an electrical response to the current that is sourced or sunk by the current source in the current source unit.
A fault detection circuit comprising a plurality of fault detection units, each fault detection unit of the plurality of fault detection units configured to detect one or more column faults in a pixel array of an image sensor, the pixel array comprising a matrix of rows and columns of pixels, each column of pixels being connected to a respective column line, the plurality of fault detection units comprising:
- a signal unit configured to apply an electrical signal to a given column line of the pixel array;
- a determining unit configured to measure a response to the applied electrical signal and to determine whether a fault exists for said given column line in dependence of the measured response;
- and
- a controller configured to control the signal unit and the determining unit, and to output a fault status for said given column line,
- the signal unit of each of the plurality of fault detection units comprises a current source unit comprising one or more current sources, each current source being configured for sourcing or sinking a current to or from the column line associated with that signal unit, and wherein the corresponding determining unit is configured for measuring said response as an electrical response to the current(s) that is/are sourced or sunk by the one or more current sources in the current source unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.