A bio-inspired event-driven digital readout architecture with pixel-level A/D conversion and non-uniformity correction

We present a bio-inspired readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for visible and infrared image sensors. At the system level, the architecture relies on an event based readout scheme where only pixels within a programmable range of photon flux rates are output. At the pixel level, a one bit oversampled analog-to-digital converter together with a decimator allows for the quantization of signals up to 26 bits. Furthermore, digital non-uniformity correction of both gain and offset errors is applied at the pixel level prior to readout. We present results from a prototype 126×128 array fabricated in a standard 90nm CMOS process.