New pixel-shared design and split-path readout of CMOS image sensor circuits

Author

Chow, Hwang-Cherng ; Yung-Kuo Ho

Author_Institution

Inst. of Semicond. Technol., Chang Gung Univ., Taoyuan, Taiwan

Volume

4

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Abstract

This paper reports a CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) of 128×128 resolution designed for high quantum efficiency. This kind of image sensor can be operated under 3.3 V, and use a new structure of shared-pixel and split-path readout direction. This method has the advantage that the number of transistors in each pixel is reduced to increase the fill factor by enlarging the photo-sensing area; on the other hand, it also raises the speed of readout, and is twice as fast as traditional single direction readout. In addition, we use a delta-difference sampling (DDS) for readout circuit to suppress the fixed pattern noise (FPN). The complete CMOS image sensor is implemented based on TSMC 0.35 μm 1P4M CMOS technology.

Keywords

CMOS image sensors; image resolution; image sampling; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit measurement; integrated circuit modelling; integrated circuit noise; interference suppression; photodetectors; readout electronics; 0.35 micron; 128 pixel; 16384 pixel; 3.3 V; CMOS active pixel sensor; CMOS image sensor circuits; TSMC 1P4M CMOS technology; delta-difference sampling; fill factor; fixed pattern noise suppression; image sensor; photo-sensing area; pixel-shared design; quantum efficiency; readout circuit; readout speed; sensor resolution; shared-pixel structure; single direction readout; split-path readout; split-path readout direction; CMOS image sensors; CMOS technology; Circuits; Image resolution; Image sensors; Photoconductivity; Photodetectors; Pixel; Space technology; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Circuits and Systems, 2002. ISCAS 2002. IEEE International Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7448-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISCAS.2002.1010385

Filename

1010385