Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation

John Steven Childs

Robert James Childs

Cody Cziesler

Chiaki Takano

Toshimasa Shimizu

Mark Pude

Scott A Rogerson

Hirotaka Murakami

Robert Justin Jarnot

An imaging device having a digital circuit block therein subjected to in-frame DVFS during a frame sequence of the sensing operating mode. In an example embodiment, the in-frame DVFS causes a higher power-supply voltage and a higher clock frequency to be supplied to the digital circuit block during read periods of the frame sequence, and a lower power-supply voltage and a lower clock frequency to be supplied to the digital circuit block during V-blanking periods of the frame sequence. The lower power-supply voltage and clock frequency are selected to be sufficient for the digital circuit block to support the pertinent functions thereof during the V-blanking periods without adversely impacting performance. For example, the lower power-supply voltage is sufficient for a SRAM of the digital circuit block to retain data therein. Beneficially, the in-frame DVFS enables the imaging device to perform motion detection while consuming very little power.

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling for image-sensor applications

An imaging device includes a controller and a generator. The controller controls an imaging unit on the basis of a command and data received from a host in accordance with an I2C/I3C communication protocol. The generator generates a second control signal indicating whether or not to apply intra-frame dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) or intra-frame dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) on the basis of a first control signal received from the host via a first route different from the I2C/I3C communication protocol, and outputs the second control signal to the host via a second route different from the I2C/I3C communication protocol.

Imaging device, imaging method, and electronic apparatus

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Fairport, NY, United States of America

John Steven Childs