A CMOS image sensor providing an ultra wide dynamic range with a piece-wise linear response is presented. The active pixel is based on a novel architecture which implements a voltage comparator and an analog memory to detect and store the information on the integration time needed to reach saturation, while maintaining also the standard integrated photo-current signal. A 128x64 pixel array has been designed and fabricated in 0.35mm, 3.3-V CMOS technology. The chip measures 2.67x4.90 mm2 with a pixel size of 24.65x24.65 mm2 and a fill factor of about 11%. The sensor has been fully characterized and the measured dynamic range turned out to be 132 dB with a power consumption of 14 mW at video frame rate. The sensor features also good noise performance with a temporal noise of 0.2% (1.7%) and a fixed pattern noise of 0.4% (1.5%) at low (high) irradiance
Novel CMOS Image Sensor with a 132-dB Dynamic Range
Stoppa, David;Simoni, Andrea;Gonzo, Lorenzo;Gottardi, Massimo;Dalla Betta, Gian Franco
2002-01-01
Abstract
A CMOS image sensor providing an ultra wide dynamic range with a piece-wise linear response is presented. The active pixel is based on a novel architecture which implements a voltage comparator and an analog memory to detect and store the information on the integration time needed to reach saturation, while maintaining also the standard integrated photo-current signal. A 128x64 pixel array has been designed and fabricated in 0.35mm, 3.3-V CMOS technology. The chip measures 2.67x4.90 mm2 with a pixel size of 24.65x24.65 mm2 and a fill factor of about 11%. The sensor has been fully characterized and the measured dynamic range turned out to be 132 dB with a power consumption of 14 mW at video frame rate. The sensor features also good noise performance with a temporal noise of 0.2% (1.7%) and a fixed pattern noise of 0.4% (1.5%) at low (high) irradianceI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
