Cmos light sensor and operation method thereof
OwnerBen Lin, Shih-Huang Cheninventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A CMOS light sensor and the operation method thereof are disclosed. The CMOS light sensor has a plurality of light sensing lines and a plurality of capacitor lines. Each light sensing line has a plurality of light sensors such that the number of capacitors in each capacitor line is smaller than the number of light sensing cells in each light sensing line. The capacitors are used for holding a portion of the potentials produced by the light sensing cells due to illumination. The method of operating the CMOS light sensor includes transferring the data captured by the light sensing line to the capacitor line and reading out the data according to a pre-defined order so that the leakage of charges from the capacitor is reduced.
Claims77
1-15. (canceled)
A CMOS light sensor, comprising:
- a plurality of light sensing lines having a quantity of light sensing cells;
- one or more capacitor lines having a quantity of capacitors, wherein said quantity of capacitors is less than the quantity of the light sensing cells, wherein potentials captured by the light sensing cells to illumination are able to be transferred to the capacitor lines for storage in a sequential order;
- and
- wherein at least one of the light sensing lines is capable of sensing red light, at least one of the light sensing lines is capable of sensing green light, and at least one of the light sensing lines is capable of sensing blue light.
A CMOS light sensor, comprising:
- at least one light sensing line having a quantity of light sensing cells;
- at least one capacitor line having a quantity of capacitors, wherein the quantity of light sensing cells is more than the quantity of capacitors;
- wherein the quantity of light sensing cells compared to the quantity of capacitors comprises a ratio, n;
- wherein the capacitor line is capable of holding potentials captured by the light sensing cells due to an illumination of the CMOS light sensor;
- and
- wherein the CMOS light senor is capable of transferring the potentials from the light sensing line to the capacitor line in n sequential steps.
A CMOS light sensor, comprising:
- at least one light sensing line having a quantity of light sensing cells;
- at least one capacitor line having a quantity of capacitors, wherein the quantity of light sensing cells is more than the quantity of capacitors;
- wherein the capacitor line is capable of holding potentials captured by the light sensing cells due to an illumination of the CMOS light sensor;
- and
- wherein the CMOS light sensor is capable of transferring the potentials from the lights sensing line to the capacitor line in n sequential steps, wherein n is based upon the quantity of light sensing cells compared to the quantity of capacitors.
A CMOS light sensor, comprising:
- at least one light sensing line having a quantity of light sensing cells;
- and
- at least one capacitor line having a quantity of capacitors, wherein the quantity of capacitors is smaller than the quantity of light sensing cells, and the capacitor line is capable of holding potentials captured by the light sensing cells of the light sensing line due to one or more illuminations of the CMOS light sensor.
A method of operating a CMOS light sensor having a quantity of light sensing cells and a quantity of capacitors that are capable of receiving potentials captured by the light sensing cells due to one or more illuminations of the CMOS light sensor, wherein the quantity of light sensing cells is greater than the quantity of capacitors, comprising:
- illuminating one or more of the light sensing cells;
- producing unprocessed charges with the one or more illuminated light sensing cells;
- converting at least a portion of the unprocessed charges to corresponding electric potentials;
- transferring the potentials to one or more capacitors;
- and
- repeating said converting and said transferring until all or nearly all illuminated light sensing cells are processed.
A CMOS light sensor having a quantity of light sensing cells and a quantity of capacitors that are capable of receiving potentials captured by the light sensing cells due to one or more illuminations of the CMOS light sensor, wherein the quantity of light sensing cells is greater than the quantity of capacitors, comprising:
- means for illuminating one or more of the light sensing cells;
- means for producing unprocessed charges with the one or more illuminated light sensing cells;
- means for converting at least a portion of the unprocessed charges to corresponding electric potentials;
- means for transferring the potentials to one or more capacitors;
- and
- means for repeating said converting and said transferring until all or nearly all illuminated light sensing cells are processed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.