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US 9,432,599 B2Granted
Imaging device, imaging apparatus, semiconductor device and readout method
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorShuuji Sonoda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imaging device includes a readout unit which reads out an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that accumulates a charge transmitted from a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light as a signal level; a readout control unit which controls the readout unit to perform, a plurality of times, a readout operation to read out the amount of charge of a P-phase and a D-phase accumulated in the floating diffusion; and a calculation unit which is controlled by the readout control unit and obtains differences between the signal levels which are obtained using the readout operation that is performed a plurality of times.
Claims19
An imaging device comprising:
- a CPU configured to:
- control readout circuitry to read out a signal level based on an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that is selectively connected to a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light;
- control the readout circuitry to read out the signal level of a P-phase a plurality of times within one predetermined period and to read out the signal level of a D-phase a plurality of times within the one predetermined period;
- and
- obtain differences between the signal levels that are read out by the readout circuitry during the one predetermined period by:
- obtaining a first value corresponding to a difference between a first one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a first one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- obtaining a second value corresponding to a difference between a second one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a second one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- and
- obtaining a difference between the first value and the second value.
6 more elements
An imaging apparatus comprising:
- an imaging device which includes a CPU configured to:
- control readout circuitry to read out a signal level based on an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that is selectively connected to a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light;
- control the readout circuitry to read out the signal level of a P-phase a plurality of times within one predetermined period and to read out the signal level of a D-phase a plurality of times within the one predetermined period;
- and
- obtain differences between the signal levels that are read out by the readout circuitry during the one predetermined period by:
- obtaining a first value corresponding to a difference between a first one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a first one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- obtaining a second value corresponding to a difference between a second one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a second one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- and
- obtaining a difference between the first value and the second value;
- and
- perform image processing on an image of a subject that is photoelectrically converted in the imaging device.
8 more elements
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a CPU configured to:
- control readout circuitry provided on another semiconductor substrate, the readout circuitry being configured to read out a signal level based on an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that is selectively connected to a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light, the CPU being configured to cause the readout circuitry to read out the signal level of a P-phase a plurality of times within one predetermined period and to read out the signal level of a D-phase a plurality of times within the one predetermined period;
- and
- obtain differences between the signal levels that are read out by the readout circuitry during the one predetermined period by:
- obtaining a first value corresponding to a difference between a first one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a first one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- obtaining a second value corresponding to a difference between a second one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a second one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- and
- obtaining a difference between the first value and the second value.
5 more elements
A method of controlling readout operations in an imaging device comprising a CPU, the method comprising:
- controlling readout circuitry that reads out a signal level corresponding to an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that is selectively connected to a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light:
- causing the readout circuitry to read out the signal level of a P-phase a plurality of times within one predetermined period and to read out the signal level of a D-phase a plurality of times within the one predetermined period;
- and
- obtaining differences between the signal levels that are read out by the readout circuitry during the one predetermined period by:
- obtaining a first value corresponding to a difference between a first one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a first one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- obtaining a second value corresponding to a difference between a second one of the signal levels of the P-phase and a second one of the signal levels of the D-phase;
- and
- obtaining a difference between the first value and the second value.
5 more elements
An imaging device comprising:
- a CPU configured to:
- control a readout circuitry which reads out an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that accumulates a charge transmitted from a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light as a signal level;
- control the readout circuitry to perform, a plurality of times, a readout operation to read out the amount of charge of a P-phase and a D-phase accumulated in the floating diffusion;
- and
- obtain differences between the signal levels which are obtained using the readout operation that is performed a plurality of times,
- wherein the CPU is further configured to:
- in relation to a signal level obtained using a first readout operation, use 0 as an initial value and count the signal level;
- in relation to a signal level obtained using a second readout operation, invert a sign of a count value of a signal level obtained using the first readout operation, use the inverted count value as an initial value, and count the signal level in a same orientation as the first readout operation;
- and
- in relation to a signal level obtained using a third readout operation onward, invert a sign of a difference value of the signal levels obtained in a previous readout operation, use the inverted difference value as an initial value, and count the signal level in a same orientation as the previous readout operation.
7 more elements
An imaging device comprising:
- a CPU configured to:
- control a pixel circuit including a light sensor to convert incident light into charge;
- control a scanning circuit to cause the pixel circuit to output at least two signal pairs during one predetermined period, each of the signal pairs including a reset signal and a light-dependent signal;
- and
- control an analog-to-digital converter to receive the signal pairs, and output a digital value corresponding to a difference between a pixel value of each of the signal pairs, the pixel value for each of the signal pairs corresponding to a difference between the reset signal thereof and the light-dependent signal thereof,
- wherein the CPU is further configured to control the analog-to-digital converter to obtain the digital value by:
- for a first one of the signal pairs, counting from an initial value of 0 according to a first counting pattern;
- and
- for an nth one of the signal pairs (n>1), counting from an initial value equal to a count value of an (n−1)th one of the signal pairs according to a counting pattern opposite to a counting pattern used for the (n−1)th one of the signal pairs.
6 more elements
An imaging device comprising:
- a CPU configured to:
- control readout circuitry to read out a signal level based on an amount of charge accumulated in a floating diffusion that is selectively connected to a light receiving unit that photoelectrically converts incident light;
- control the readout circuitry to read out the signal level of a P-phase a plurality of times within one predetermined period and to read out the signal level of a D-phase a plurality of times within the one predetermined period;
- and
- obtain differences between the signal levels that are read out by the readout circuitry during the one predetermined period by:
- obtaining a first count value by counting from 0 in a first direction by an amount corresponding to a first one of the signal levels;
- obtaining a second count value by counting from the first count value in a second direction by an amount corresponding to a second one of the signal levels;
- obtaining a third count value by counting from the second count value in the second direction by an amount corresponding to a third one of the signal levels;
- and
- obtaining a fourth count value by counting from the third count value in the first direction by an amount corresponding to a fourth one of the signal levels.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.