Method and apparatus for energy harvesting using CMOS sensor
US8629386B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 23, 2010 |
| Grant date | Jan 14, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 28, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F39/18
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus using reconfigurable integrated sensor elements with an efficient energy harvesting capability is described. Each sensor element has sensing and energy harvesting mode. In the sensing mode, the sensor element measures an environmental characteristic by generating electrical charge and outputs a time-encoded signal indicative of the measurement. In the energy harvesting mode, the sensor element itself is used to harvest energy from ambient energy source and makes it available to other sensor elements or circuit components. The sensing element is switched from the sensing mode to the energy harvesting mode when the electrical charge reaches a predetermined threshold. An image sensor device using asynchronous readout for harvesting energy from incident light while generating images is also described.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.