Array apparatus and associated methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10944928-B2
Application number	US-201716301730-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2017
Priority date	May 26, 2016
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus comprising a processor and memory including computer program code, the memory and computer program code configured to, with the processor, enable the apparatus at least to: based on a predetermined dark current component for each photodetector in an array of photodetectors, identify a plurality of subsets of photodetectors from the array for signal readout and amplification by a readout circuit, each photodetector of the array configured to provide a photodetector output signal comprising the dark current component and an image component on exposure to incident electromagnetic radiation from a target scene, wherein each subset of photodetectors is identified such that the combined dark current component of the constituent photodetector output signals for each subset is substantially the same; and provide the identified plurality of subsets for use in signal readout and amplification by the readout circuit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
based on a dark current component for each photodetector in an array of photodetectors, identify a plurality of subsets of photodetectors from the array for signal readout and amplification by a readout circuit, each photodetector of the array configured to provide a photodetector output signal comprising the dark current component and an image component on exposure to incident electromagnetic radiation from a target scene, wherein each subset of photodetectors is identified such that the combined dark current component of the constituent photodetector output signals for each subset is the same; and
provide the identified plurality of subsets for use in signal readout and amplification by the readout circuit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each subset of photodetectors is identified such that the combined dark current component of the constituent photodetector output signals for each subset is one of:
at a predefined level which is matched to a predefined readout circuit offset level; or
subtracted from a combined photodetector output signal for each subset,
the combined photodetector output signal comprising the combined dark current component and a combined image component for each subset, to obtain the combined image component for each subset.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the identification of photodetectors for each subset is performed using a Bernoulli distribution such that the combined dark current components of the constituent photodetector output signals for the plurality of subsets are the same regardless of the number of photodetectors in each subset.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the number of subsets is one of: less than the number of photodetector, or greater than the number of photodetectors in the array.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the array of photodetectors forms a tile of a plurality of tiles, and each of the plurality of tiles are coupled to a respective read-out circuit; and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: provide the respective combined image components for each subset of photodetectors of the tile for subsequent combination with the respective combined image components for each subset of photodetectors of the other tiles to form the image of the target scene.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to provide the respective combined image component for each subset of photodetectors for use in signal read-out and amplification by the readout circuit by controlling a multiplexer according to the identification of photodetectors of that subset.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises the read-out circuit, and wherein the read-out circuit comprises: a multiplexer configured to select the photodetectors of each the plurality of subsets of photodetectors according to the identification of photodetectors of each subset for signal read-out and amplification.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus further comprises the read-out circuit, and wherein the read-out circuit comprises: a summer configured to, for each of the plurality of subsets of photodetectors, receive the photodetector output signals from each of the photodetectors of a subset, and sum at least the image components of the received photodetector output signals to provide a combined image component for the subset of photodetectors.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises the read-out circuit, and wherein the read-out circuit comprises:
an analog-to-digital converter configured to: receive at least the combined image components for each of the plurality of subsets of photodetectors; convert the received combined image components to a digital combined image component signal, and provide the digital combined image component signal, the digital combined image component signal useable to form an image of the target scene.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive, after signal readout and amplification, the amplified combined image component for each subset of photodetectors; and
process the received amplified combined image component for each subset of photodetectors to form an image of the target scene.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each subset of photodetectors comprises one or a plurality of photodetectors.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each photodetector in the array of photodetectors comprises: a channel; source and drain electrodes configured to enable a flow of electrical current through the channel between the source and drain electrodes; and a photosensitiser configured to generate electron-hole pairs on exposure to incident electromagnetic radiation to produce a detectable change in the electrical current flowing through the channel, the detectable change in electrical current constituting the image component of the photodetector output signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the identification of photodetectors for each subset is one or more of: stored in a look-up table; stored in a shift register; or determined dynamically based on the predetermined dark current components of the constituent photodetector output signals.

14. A method comprising:
identifying a plurality of subsets of photodetectors for signal readout and amplification by a readout circuit based on a predetermined dark current component for each photodetector in an array of photodetectors, each photodetector of the array configured to provide a photodetector output signal comprising the dark current component and an image component on exposure to incident electromagnetic radiation from a target scene, wherein each subset of photodetectors is identified such that the combined dark current component of the constituent photodetector output signals for each subset is the same; and
providing the identified plurality of subsets for use in signal readout and amplification by the readout circuit.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein each subset of photodetectors is identified such that the combined dark current component of the constituent photodetector output signals for each subset is one of:
at a predefined level which is matched to a predefined readout circuit offset level; or
subtracted from a combined photodetector output signal for each subset,
the combined photodetector output signal comprising the combined dark current component and a combined image component for each subset, to obtain the combined image component for each subset.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the identification of photodetectors for each subset is performed using a Bernoulli distribution such that the combined dark current components of the constituent photodetector output signals for the plurality of subsets are the same regardless of the number of photodetectors in each subset.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the number of subsets is one of: less than the number of photodetector, and greater than the number of photodetectors in the array.

Assignees

• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Allen Mark
• Korpinen Pekka
• Astley Michael
• Kallioinen Sami Seppo
• Ejaz Aqib

Classifications

• H03M7/3062 Primary

  Compressive sampling or sensing · CPC title

• H04N25/00

  Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof · CPC title

• H04N25/78

  Readout circuits for addressed sensors, e.g. output amplifiers or A/D converters · CPC title

• H04N25/63

  applied to dark current · CPC title

• H04N5/378

  Electricity · mapped topic