Imaging apparatus, imaging system, and method for driving imaging apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9549139-B2
Application number	US-201414452945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 6, 2014
Priority date	Aug 28, 2013
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

The imaging apparatus has a plurality of pixels each of which has a plurality of photoelectric conversion units; generates a plurality of first combined signals obtained by combining signals based on electric charges of photoelectric conversion units in one side with each other, and a plurality of second signals obtained by combining signals based on electric charges of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units with each other; and outputs a part of the first combined signals out of the plurality of first combined signals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An imaging apparatus comprising:
a plurality of pixels, arranged in rows and columns, each including one microlens and a plurality of photoelectric conversion units generating an electric charge based on an incident light from the one microlens;
a controlling unit configured to control each of the plurality of pixels to output a first signal based on an electric charge accumulated in one of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and a second signal based on a sum of electric charges accumulated in the plurality of photoelectric conversion units;
a combining unit configured to generate a plurality of first combining signals by combining mutually the first signals of the plurality of pixels, and a plurality of second combining signals by combining mutually the second signals of the plurality of pixels; and
an output unit configured to output the plurality of second combining signals which corresponds to the columns of the plurality of pixels, and a part of the plurality of first combining signals which correspond to a part of the columns of the plurality of pixels, without outputting the other part of the plurality of first combining signals.

2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the combining unit adds mutually the first signals of the pixels between different columns, and adds mutually the second signals of the pixels between different columns.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the combining unit averages mutually the first signals of the pixels between different columns, and averages mutually the second signals of the pixels between different columns.

4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of column output lines, to each of which the first and second signals are output respectively from the pixel, and the plurality of column output lines are arranged each corresponding to one of columns, wherein
the combining unit generates the first and second combining signals by connecting the plurality of column output lines through a capacitor to a same node mutually.

5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of column output lines, to each of which the first and second signals are outputted respectively from the pixel, and the plurality of column output lines are arranged each corresponding to one of column, wherein
the combining unit generates the first and second combining signals by connecting the plurality of column output lines through a capacitor to a same node mutually.

6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an analog to digital conversion unit configured to convert the first and second signals respectively to digital signals, wherein
the combining unit generates the first and second combining signals by combining the digital signals generated by the analog to digital conversion unit.

7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising an analog to digital conversion unit configured to convert the first and second signals respectively to digital signals, wherein
the combining unit generates the first and second combining signals by combining the digital signals generated by the analog to digital conversion unit.

8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising an analog to digital conversion unit configured to convert the first and second signals respectively to digital signals, wherein
the combining unit generates the first and second combining signals by combining the digital signals generated by the analog to digital conversion unit.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of column output lines, to each of which the first and second signals are output respectively from the pixel, wherein
the plurality of column output lines are arranged each corresponding to one of columns, and
the combining unit performs the combining by connecting the plurality of column output lines.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of column output to each of which the first and second signals are output respectively from the pixel, wherein
the plurality of column output lines are arranged each corresponding to one of columns, and
the combining unit performs the combining by connecting the plurality of column output lines.

11. An imaging apparatus comprising:
a plurality of pixels, arranged in rows and columns, each including one microlens, a plurality of photoelectric conversion units generating an electric charge based on an incident light from the one microlens and a pixel amplifying unit outputting a signal based on the electric charge;
a controlling unit configured to control the plurality of pixels so that a plurality of the pixel amplifying units output a plurality of first signals each based on a sum of the electric charge accumulated in ones of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units in the plurality of pixels, and output a plurality of second signals each based on a sum of the electric charge accumulated in the plurality of photoelectric conversion units in the plurality of pixels;
a combining unit configured to generate a plurality of first combining signals by combining mutually the first signals of the plurality of pixels, and a plurality of second combining signals by combining mutually the second signals of the plurality of pixels; and
an output unit configured to output the plurality of second combining signals which correspond to the columns of the plurality of pixels, and a part of the plurality of first combining signals which correspond to a part of the columns of the plurality of pixels, without outputting the other part of the plurality of first combining signals.

12. An imaging system comprising:
an imaging apparatus;
an optical system configured to focus an optical image onto the imaging apparatus; and
an output signal processing unit, wherein
the imaging apparatus comprises:
a plurality of pixels, arranged in rows and columns, each including one microlens and a plurality of photoelectric conversion units generating an electric charge based on an incident light from the one microlens;
a controlling unit configured to control each of the plurality of pixels to output a first signal based on an electric charge accumulated in one of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and a second signal based on a sum of electric charges accumulated in the plurality of photoelectric conversion units;
a combining unit configured to generate a plurality of first combining signals by combining mutually the first signals of the plurality of pixels, and a plurality of second combining signals by combining mutually the second signals of the plurality of pixels; and
an output unit configured to output the plurality of second combining signals which correspond to the columns of the plurality of pixels, and a part of the plurality of first combining signals which correspond to a part of the columns of the plurality of pixels, without outputting the other part of the plurality of first combining signals, and
wherein the output signal processing unit detects a focus based on the plurality of first combining signals, and on a difference signal based on a difference between the plurality of first combining signals and the plurality of second combining signals, and generates an image based on the plurality of second combining signals.

13. An imaging system comprising:
an imaging apparatus;
an optical system configured to focus an optical image onto the imaging apparatus; and
an output signal processing unit, wherein
the imaging apparatus comprises:

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Ikeda Yasuji
• Hiyama Hiroki
• Arishima Yu
• Hashimoto Seiji

Classifications

• H04N25/778 Primary

  comprising amplifiers shared between a plurality of pixels, i.e. at least one part of the amplifier must be on the sensor array itself · CPC title

• H04N25/44 Primary

  by partially reading an SSIS array · CPC title

• H04N25/46

  by combining or binning pixels · CPC title

• H04N23/67

  Focus control based on electronic image sensor signals · CPC title

• H04N25/78 Primary

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