CMOS foveal image sensor chip
US6455831B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 10, 1999 |
| Grant date | Sep 24, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 10, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N25/77
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A foveal image sensor integrated circuit comprising a plurality of CMOS active pixel sensors arranged both within and about a central fovea region of the chip. The pixels in the central fovea region have a smaller size than the pixels arranged in peripheral rings about the central region. A new photocharge normalization scheme and associated circuitry normalizes the output signals from the different size pixels in the array. The pixels are assembled into a multi-resolution rectilinear foveal image sensor chip using a novel access scheme to reduce the number of analog RAM cells needed. Localized spatial resolution declines monotonically with offset from the imager's optical axis, analogous to biological foveal vision.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.