An amplified MOS imager suited for image processing

Recent progress in solid-state imaging sensor technology has increased the number of pixels. The increased sensor array size inevitably raises the data rate and leads to difficulties in image processing. Most of these difficulties come from the scanning operation in which spatially adjacent vertical pixels are arranged separately in a time axis. To solve the problem, this amplified MOS imager (AMI) outputs three neighboring lines simultaneously. This permits signals from spatially-adjacent vertical pixels to be handled at the same time. Two advantages made it possible to realize this sensor. One is signal charge amplification to prevent SNR degradation, the other is a non-destructive read-out function. The sensor is fabricated with 0.8 /spl mu/m, double-polysilicon double-aluminum CMOS process technology.<>