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US 12,238,444 B2Granted
Image sensor and signal converting method
AssigneeSK hynix Inc.
InventorJung Han Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image sensor includes a first capacitor for sampling a coarse ramp signal, a second capacitor for sampling a sum of a voltage of the first capacitor and a fine ramp signal, and a comparator for generating a comparison signal obtained by comparing a pixel voltage received from a pixel with the voltage of the first capacitor or a voltage of the second capacitor. The image sensor further includes a data output unit for outputting bit data corresponding to the pixel, based on the comparison signal.
Claims27
An image sensor comprising:
- a first capacitor configured to sample a coarse ramp signal;
- a second capacitor configured to sample a sum of a voltage of the first capacitor and a fine ramp signal;
- a comparator configured to generate a comparison signal obtained by comparing a pixel voltage received from a pixel with the voltage of the first capacitor or a voltage of the second capacitor;
- and
- a data output unit configured to output bit data corresponding to the pixel, based on the comparison signal.
2 more elements
A signal converting method comprising:
- storing, in a first capacitor, a first sampling voltage with respect to a coarse ramp signal received corresponding to a coarse ramp signal request;
- generating a first comparison signal, based on the first sampling voltage and a pixel voltage with respect to a pixel;
- storing, in a second capacitor, a second sampling voltage with respect to a sum of a fine ramp signal received corresponding to a fine ramp signal request and the first sampling voltage;
- generating a second comparison signal, based on the second sampling voltage and the pixel voltage;
- and
- generating bit data, based on the first comparison signal and the second comparison signal.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.