Method for measuring ambient light and corresponding integrated device

An integrated ambient light sensing device comprising:

• at least one photosensitive pixel comprising a pinned photodiode, wherein an area of the pinned photodiode is less than or equal to 1/10 of an area of the at least one photosensitive pixel;
• a conversion circuit electrically connected to the photosensitive pixel via a sensing node;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• successively synchronize optical signal acquisition phases with extinction phases of a disruptive light source, wherein the disruptive light source periodically provides illumination phases and the extinction phases;
• accumulate, in each acquisition phase, photo-generated charges by the at least one photosensitive pixel;
• and
• transfer the accumulated photo-generated charges to the sensing node,
• wherein the conversion circuit is configured to convert the transferred charges to a digital number.

An integrated ambient light sensing device comprising:

• an array of photosensitive pixels, each pixel comprising a pinned photodiode;
• a conversion circuit electrically connected to the photosensitive pixels via sensing nodes;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• successively synchronize optical signal acquisition phases with extinction phases of a disruptive light source, wherein the disruptive light source periodically provides illumination phases and the extinction phases;
• accumulate, in each acquisition phase, photo-generated charges by at least one photosensitive pixel;
• and
• transfer the accumulated photo-generated charges to the sensing node,
• wherein the conversion circuit comprises a single transimpedance amplifier looped around by a loop, the loop comprising a single capacitive element, and an analog to digital converter.

A method for measuring ambient light, the method comprising:

• successively synchronizing optical signal acquisition phases with extinction phases of a disruptive light source, wherein the disruptive light source periodically provides illumination phases and the extinction phases;
• accumulating, in each acquisition phase, photo-generated charges by at least one photosensitive pixel comprising a pinned photodiode;
• transferring the accumulated photo-generated charges to an integration node;
• and
• integrating, for each pixel, the transferred charges on the integration node during a series of the successive acquisition phases.

An integrated ambient light sensing device comprising:

• at least one photosensitive pixel comprising a pinned photodiode;
• an integrator circuit electrically connected to the photosensitive pixel via an integration node;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• successively synchronize optical signal acquisition phases with extinction phases of a disruptive light source, wherein the disruptive light source periodically provides illumination phases and the extinction phases;
• accumulate, in each acquisition phase, photo-generated charges by the at least one photosensitive pixel;
• and
• transfer the accumulated photo-generated charges to the integration node,
• wherein the integration node is configured to integrate the transferred charges during a series of the successive acquisition phases.