Imaging device and electronic apparatus
AssigneeSony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
InventorTakashi Machida
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imaging device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes one or more light receiving pixels that generate electric charges according to an amount of received light through photoelectric conversion; one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits that are provided for each of the light receiving pixels and that convert an analog signal read from each of the one or more light receiving pixels into a digital signal; and a plurality of pixel units each including the one or more light receiving pixels and the one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits. The plurality of pixel units is disposed to allow the one or more light receiving pixels to be adjacent to each other in two pixel units that are adjacent to each other in a first direction.
Claims16
An imaging device comprising:
- one or more light receiving pixels that generate electric charges according to an amount of received light through photoelectric conversion;
- one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits that are provided for each of the light receiving pixels and that convert an analog signal read from each of the one or more light receiving pixels into a digital signal;
- and
- a plurality of pixel units each including the one or more light receiving pixels and the one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits, wherein
- the plurality of pixel units is disposed to allow the one or more light receiving pixels to be adjacent to each other in two pixel units that are adjacent to each other in a first direction,
- the plurality of pixel units include a first pixel unit, a second pixel unit, a third pixel unit, and a fourth pixel unit that are disposed in sequence in the first direction,
- the one or more light receiving pixels are disposed adjacently in the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit that are adjacent to each other and in the third pixel unit and the fourth pixel unit that are adjacent to each other, and respective circuit sections are disposed adjacently in the second pixel unit and the third pixel unit that are adjacent to each other,
- the first pixel unit includes a first light receiving pixel and a first floating diffusion layer,
- the second pixel unit includes a second light receiving pixel and a second floating diffusion layer,
- the first floating diffusion layer and the second floating diffusion layer are disposed at a boundary between the first light receiving pixel and the second light receiving pixel disposed adjacently, and are shared by the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit,
- the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit have mutually different exposure timings, and
- electric charges generated in the first light receiving pixel and electric charges generated in the second light receiving pixel are analog-added in the first floating diffusion layer and the second floating diffusion layer, respectively, and thereafter, read out to a pixel circuit that outputs a pixel signal based on the electric charges to a corresponding analog-to-digital conversion circuit.
An electronic apparatus comprising an imaging device, the imaging device including:
- one or more light receiving pixels that generate electric charges according to an amount of received light through photoelectric conversion;
- one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits that are provided for each of the light receiving pixels and that convert an analog signal read from each of the one or more light receiving pixels into a digital signal;
- and
- a plurality of pixel units each including the one or more light receiving pixels and the one or more analog-to-digital conversion circuits, wherein
- the plurality of pixel units is disposed to allow the one or more light receiving pixels to be adjacent to each other in two pixel units that are adjacent to each other in a first direction,
- the plurality of pixel units include a first pixel unit, a second pixel unit, a third pixel unit, and a fourth pixel unit that are disposed in sequence in the first direction,
- the one or more light receiving pixels are disposed adjacently in the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit that are adjacent to each other and in the third pixel unit and the fourth pixel unit that are adjacent to each other, and respective circuit sections are disposed adjacently in the second pixel unit and the third pixel unit that are adjacent to each other,
- the first pixel unit includes a first light receiving pixel and a first floating diffusion layer,
- the second pixel unit includes a second light receiving pixel and a second floating diffusion layer,
- the first floating diffusion layer and the second floating diffusion layer are disposed at a boundary between the first light receiving pixel and the second light receiving pixel disposed adjacently, and are shared by the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit,
- the first pixel unit and the second pixel unit have mutually different exposure timings, and
- electric charges generated in the first light receiving pixel and electric charges generated in the second light receiving pixel are analog-added in the first floating diffusion layer and the second floating diffusion layer, respectively, and thereafter, read out to a pixel circuit that outputs a pixel signal based on the electric charges to a corresponding analog-to-digital conversion circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.