Method and apparatus for a CMOS image sensor with a distributed amplifier
US7157682B2 · kind B2 · utility
4Cited by
2References
25Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 19, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jan 2, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 19, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N25/78
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A CMOS image sensor circuit having a distributed amplifier is disclosed. The CMOS image sensor circuit is constructed using a photo sensor that converts light intensity to into voltage, a reset transistor to charge the photo sensor, and a distributed amplifier to detect and read out the voltage value created by the photo sensor. The distributed amplifier is distributed in the sense that portions of the amplifier circuitry reside within individual pixel circuits that form a CMOS image sensor array. The remainder of the amplifier resides in a column read out circuit that is at the bottom of the CMOS image sensor array.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.