A CMOS imager with PFM/PWM based analog-to-digital converter

An on-pixel analog-to-digital converter based on both PFM and PWM schemes is reported. The proposed architecture uses a limited number of transistors that can be implemented in a small silicon area resulting in a 23% fill-factor. The digital sensor can be externally configured in order to operate under either the PFM or PWM scheme. At high light intensities, the PFM scheme is replaced by the PWM scheme which proves to be much more efficient in terms of power consumption and clock frequency requirements. An in-built light adaptation mechanism has also been implemented which allows the sensor to better adapt to low-light intensity or to adjust the sensor saturation level. As a consequence, the sensor features a programmable dynamic range. Image lag is reduced in both schemes since a reset of the photodetector is performed after the conversion period. The pixel based ADC has been designed and fabricated using CMOS 0.25 μm technology.