A low-power orientation-selective vision sensor

Author

Shi, Bertram E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Hong Kong Univ. of Sci. & Technol., Kowloon, Hong Kong

Volume

47

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

5/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

435

Lastpage

440

Abstract

We describe the implementation of a focal plane array for computing the outputs of orientation-selective filters similar to Gabor filters using weak inversion transistor circuits. Both the scale and orientation selectivity of the filter can be tuned electronically. We exploit the concept of the transistor as a pseudo-conductance or diffuser and use current, rather than voltage, to represent signals of interest. This design enables energy-efficient computation of the filter responses with similar circuit complexity, as compared with previous strong inversion designs. Test results from a 12×14 pixel array fabricated in 1.2-μm technology are presented

Keywords

CMOS analogue integrated circuits; CMOS image sensors; analogue processing circuits; arrays; circuit tuning; continuous time filters; focal planes; image processing equipment; intelligent sensors; low-power electronics; 1.2 micron; CMOS pixel array; FPA implementation; Gabor filters; electronic tuning; energy-efficient computation; filter responses; focal plane array; inversion transistor circuits; low-power image sensor; orientation-selective filter output; orientation-selective vision sensor; Circuits; Convolution; Cost function; Energy efficiency; Frequency; Gabor filters; Kernel; Pixel; Transfer functions; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Circuits and Systems II: Analog and Digital Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7130

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/82.842111

Filename

842111