Image sensor and imaging device comprising oversampling AD converter and recursive AD converter
AssigneePanasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
InventorTianyi Yu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Each of a plurality of analog-to-digital (AD) converters configuring a column AD converter used in an image sensor comprises: an oversampling AD converter that receives an output voltage of a pixel unit; a recursive AD converter that receives an analog residual signal of the oversampling AD converter; and a counter that adds a digital signal output from the oversampling AD converter and a digital signal output from the recursive AD converter. The controller dynamically allocates the number of bits of the oversampling AD converter and the number of bits of the recursive AD converter, while maintaining the total number of bits of the oversampling AD converter and the recursive AD converter.
Claims6
An image sensor comprising:
- a pixel array that has a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a matrix;
- a column analog-to-digital (AD) converter that has a plurality of AD converters and receives output voltages corresponding to pixels on one line of the pixel array;
- and
- a controller that controls the plurality of AD converters,
- wherein each of the plurality of AD converters comprises an oversampling AD converter that receives an output voltage of the pixel array, a recursive AD converter that receives an analog residual signal of the oversampling AD converter, and a counter that adds a digital signal output from the oversampling AD converter and a digital signal output from the recursive AD converter, and
- wherein the controller dynamically allocates a number of bits of the oversampling AD converter and a number of bits of the recursive AD converter while maintaining a total number of bits of the oversampling AD converter and the recursive AD converter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.