Patent · US Active

Imaging systems with per-column analog-to-digital converter non-linearity correction capabilities

US8963759B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
5References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 22, 2013
Grant dateFeb 24, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 13, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/78
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Electronic devices may include image sensors having image sensor pixels that are coupled to analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Each ADC may be a sub-ranged ramp ADC that uses a first set of reference voltages to determine a coarse code and a second set of ramping voltages to determine a fine code. In the presence of parasitic capacitances, the reference voltages and the ramp voltages exhibit mismatch that causes the ADC to exhibit non-idealities such as missing codes. Calibration operations may be performed that involve obtaining a first code at a first predetermined input voltage level and obtaining a second code at a second predetermined input voltage level. A code correction value can then be computed based on the first and second codes. The code correction value can be selectively applied to the final ADC code to correct for missing codes.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.