Optical electronic device including enhanced global shutter pixel array and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9843757-B2
Application number	US-201514748487-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2015
Priority date	Jun 24, 2015
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

An optical electronic device may include a plurality of different optical sources, and a global shutter sensor including an array of global shutter pixels, with each global shutter pixel including a plurality of storage elements. A controller may be coupled to the plurality of optical sources and the global shutter sensor and configured to cause a first optical source to illuminate and a first storage element in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a first integration period, cause a second optical source to illuminate and a second storage element in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a second integration period, and output the stored optical data from the first and second storage elements of the global shutter pixels after the first and second integration periods.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. An optical electronic device comprising:
a plurality of different optical sources;
a global shutter sensor comprising an array of global shutter pixels, each global shutter pixel comprising a plurality of amplifiers and a plurality of storage elements coupled to one or more inputs of the plurality of amplifiers; and
a controller coupled to said plurality of optical sources and said global shutter sensor and configured to
cause a first one of the optical sources to illuminate and a first one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a first integration period,
cause a second one of the optical sources to illuminate and a second one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a second integration period,
cause an input of a first one of the amplifiers to charge to a predefined voltage prior to an outputting of the stored optical data from the first storage element,
cause an input of a second one of the amplifiers to charge to the predefined voltage prior to an outputting of the stored optical data from the second storage element, and
output the stored optical data from the first and second storage elements of said global shutter pixels after the first and second integration periods.

2. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein said plurality of optical sources are spaced apart from one another.

3. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of different optical sources comprises a non-visible light source, and wherein the non-visible light source has a wavelength in a range of 200 nm to 400 nm.

4. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of different optical sources comprises a visible light source, and wherein the visible light source has a wavelength in a range of 400 nm to 700 nm.

5. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of different optical sources comprises a non-visible light source, and wherein the non-visible light source has a wavelength in a range of 700 nm to 1000 nm.

6. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein said global shutter sensor further comprises a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) coupled to said array of global shutter pixels; and wherein said controller reads the stored optical data by causing the ADCs to convert the optical data to digital optical data.

7. The optical electronic device of claim 6 wherein said global shutter sensor further comprises a multiplexer coupled to said ADCs configured to multiplex the digital optical data from said ADCs as an output of said global shutter sensor.

8. The optical electronic device of claim 6 wherein said global shutter pixels are arranged in rows and columns in said array; wherein each column of said array comprises a plurality of bit lines; and wherein said plurality of ADCs comprises a respective ADC for each of the bit lines.

9. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein the storage elements comprise capacitors.

10. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein said controller is further configured to cause a third one of the optical sources to illuminate and a third one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a third integration period, and to output the stored optical data from the first, second, and third storage elements of said global shutter pixels after the first, second, and third integration periods.

11. The optical electronic device of claim 1 wherein said controller is further configured to cause third and fourth storage elements from among the plurality of storage elements to respectively store reset signals associated with the first and second integration periods; and wherein said controller is further configured to remove respective reset noise from the optical data stored in the first and second storage elements based upon the reset signals stored in the third and fourth storage elements.

12. An image sensor for use with a plurality of different optical sources, the image sensor comprising:
a global shutter sensor comprising an array of global shutter pixels, each global shutter pixel comprising a plurality of storage elements and a plurality of source followers having gate terminals coupled to the plurality of storage elements; and
a controller coupled to said plurality of optical sources and said global shutter sensor and configured to
cause a first one of the optical sources to illuminate and a first one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a first integration period,
cause a second one of the optical sources to illuminate and a second one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a second integration period,
cause a gate terminal of a first one of the plurality of source followers to charge to a fixed voltage after the first integration period and prior to an outputting of the stored optical data in the first storage element,
cause a gate terminal of a second one of the plurality of source followers to charge to the fixed voltage after the second integration period and prior to an outputting of the stored optical data in the second storage element, and
output the stored optical data from the first and second storage elements of said global shutter pixels after the first and second integration periods.

13. The image sensor of claim 12 wherein said plurality of optical sources are spaced apart from one another.

14. The image sensor of claim 12 wherein said global shutter sensor further comprises a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) coupled to said array of global shutter pixels; and wherein said controller reads the stored optical data by causing the ADCs to convert the optical data to digital optical data.

15. The image sensor of claim 14 wherein said global shutter sensor further comprises a multiplexer coupled to said ADCs configured to multiplex the digital optical data from said ADCs as an output of said global shutter sensor.

16. The image sensor of claim 14 wherein said global shutter pixels are arranged in rows and columns in said array; wherein each column of said array comprises a plurality of bit lines; and wherein said plurality of ADCs comprises a respective ADC for each of the bit lines.

17. An optical imaging method for a global shutter sensor comprising an array of global shutter pixels, each global shutter pixel comprising a plurality of storage elements and a plurality of amplifiers having inputs coupled to at least one of the plurality of storage elements, the method comprising:
causing a first optical source from among a plurality of different optical sources to illuminate and a first one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a first integration period;
causing a second one of the optical sources to illuminate and a second one of the storage elements in each global shutter pixel to store optical data during a second integration period;
causing an input of a first one of the plurality of amplifiers to charge to a predetermined voltage after the first integration period and the second integration period;
causing an input of a second one of the plurality of amplifiers to charge to the predetermined voltage after the first integration period and the second integration period; and
outputting the stored optical data from the first and second storage elements of the global shutter pixels after the first and second integration periods.

18. The met

Assignees

• Stmicroelectronics (Research & Development) Ltd

Inventors

• Raynor Jeffrey M

Classifications

• H04N25/65 Primary

  applied to reset noise, e.g. KTC noise related to CMOS structures by techniques other than CDS · CPC title

• H04N23/56 Primary

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N25/771

  comprising storage means other than floating diffusion · CPC title

• H04N25/767

  Horizontal readout lines, multiplexers or registers · CPC title

• H04N5/378 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic