Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Yunhwan Jung

Sunyool Kang

Heesung Chae

Yunhong Kim

Haesick Sul

Jaehong Kim

Kyung-Min Kim

Kyungtae Kim

Yongjun Cho

Kyungmin Kim

KyoungMin Koh

Sukki Yoon

Seungjin Lee

Hyeokjong Lee

Hyeonji Lee

Seungmin Suh

Ingyeong Shin

Mooyoung Kim

Seokyong Hong

Disclosed is a bandgap reference circuit, which includes a first current generator that generates a first current proportional to a temperature, a second current generator that outputs a second current obtained by mirroring the first current to a first node at which a reference voltage is formed, a first resistor that is connected with the first node and is supplied with the second current, and a first bipolar junction transistor (BJT) that includes an emitter node connected with the first resistor, a base node supplied with a first power, and a collector node supplied with a second power different from the first power.

Bandgap reference circuit using heterogeneous power and electronic device having the same

Provided are analog-digital converting circuits including a comparator, and an image sensor. The analog-digital converting circuit include a counter and a comparator, the comparator including a first P-type transistor including a gate connected to a first input node of the comparator, a second P-type transistor including a gate connected to a second input node of the comparator, a first N-type transistor including a gate connected to the first input node and a drain connected to the first P-type transistor, a second N-type transistor including a gate connected to the second input node and a drain connected to the second P-type transistor, and a transistor including a gate connected to the drain of the first N-type transistor and a source to which ground voltage or power supply voltage is applied.

Analog-digital converting circuit including comparator, and image sensor including the analog-digital converting circuit

An image sensor may include a pixel array a pixel array including an active pixel and an optical black pixel, the active pixel configured to generate a first pixel signal, and the optical black pixel configured to generate a second pixel signal, a first biasing circuit configured to bias the first pixel signal based on a first bias voltage, a first analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the biased first pixel signal into a first digital signal, a second biasing circuit configured to bias the second pixel signal based on a second bias voltage, and a second analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the biased second pixel signal into a second digital signal, the second digital signal configured to generate smaller random noise than the first analog-to-digital converter.

Image sensor including pixel array

An image sensor includes a pixel configured to operate in a high conversion gain (HCG) mode and a low conversion gain (LCG) mode during a readout period, and a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit configured to generate a comparison signal based on a ramp signal and a pixel voltage received from the pixel, wherein the CDS circuit includes a comparator configured to: receive the pixel voltage through a first input node, receive the ramp signal through a second input node based on an LCG reset signal or an LCG image signal being received as the pixel voltage, and receive the ramp signal through a third input node based on an HCG reset signal or an HCG image signal being received as the pixel voltage; and compare the ramp signal to the pixel voltage, and output the comparison signal corresponding to a comparison result.

Image sensor with high conversion gain (HCG) mode and low conversion gain (LCG) mode

An image sensor for sampling a pixel signal a plurality of times during a readout time includes an analog comparator configured to compare a signal level of the pixel signal with a signal level of a target ramp signal that is any one of a plurality of ramp signals, a counter configured to output counting data based on a comparison result of the analog comparator, and a digital comparing circuit configured to compare a binary value of a target reference code corresponding to the target ramp signal with a binary value of the counting data and determine whether to output a digital signal corresponding to the counting data to a data output circuit based on a result of the comparison between the binary value of the counting data and the binary value of the target reference code.

Image sensor sampling pixel signal multiple times and an operating method of the image sensor

An image sensor includes a first amplifier comparing and amplifying a first voltage signal received from a first column line, and a ramp signal; a second amplifier amplifying an output of the first amplifier; a third amplifier comparing and amplifying a second voltage signal received from a second column line, and the ramp signal; and a fourth amplifier amplifying an output of the third amplifier, wherein the second amplifier and the fourth amplifier output a decision signal at different points in time by dummy switch control split.

Image sensor, image device having the same, and operating method thereof

An image sensor includes a substrate including an active pixel region and an inactive pixel region, having a smaller area than the active pixel region; a plurality of active pixels in the active pixel region, each of the plurality of active pixels including a first transfer transistor, a first reset transistor, a first driving transistor, and a first selection transistor; and a plurality of inactive pixels in the inactive pixel region, each of the plurality of inactive pixels including a second transfer transistor, a second reset transistor, a second driving transistor, a second selection transistor, and a switch transistor connected to a node between the second driving transistor and the second select transistor. The plurality of switch transistors, included in the plurality of inactive pixels, are connected to each other by a connection wiring.

Image sensor

Bandgap reference circuit using heterogeneous power and electronic device having ihe same

An image sensing system includes a pixel array, an analog-to-digital converter circuit, and an average calculator. The analog-to-digital converter circuit converts a first pixel signal to first pixel data and converts a second pixel signal to second pixel data. The average calculator generates a first average bit based on a first bit of the first pixel data and a first bit of the second pixel data during a first time and generates a second average bit based on a second bit of the first pixel data and a second bit of the second pixel data during a second time.

Image sensing system and operating method thereof

An image sensor, including a pixel array including a plurality of pixels connected to row lines extending in a first direction and column lines extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction; a ramp voltage generator configured to output a ramp voltage; a sampling circuit including a plurality of comparators, each comparator of the plurality of comparators having a first input terminal connected to a column of the column lines and a second input terminal configured to receive the ramp voltage; and an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert an output of the plurality of comparators to a digital signal, wherein the plurality of comparators include a first comparator connected to a first column line, and a second comparator connected to a second column line adjacent to the first column line in the first direction, wherein each of the first comparator and the second comparator includes a first transistor and a second transistor disposed sequentially in the second direction, and wherein a gap between the first transistor of the first comparator and the second transistor of the first comparator is different from a gap between the first transistor of the second comparator and the second transistor of the second comparator.

Image sensor having reduced parasitic capacitance

A comparison circuit that includes an input sampling capacitor and an image sensor including the same are provided. The comparison circuit includes an amplifier configured to receive a pixel signal and a ramp signal to perform a correlated double sampling operation, a first pixel capacitor connected to the amplifier through a first floating node and configured to transmit the pixel signal, a first ramp capacitor connected to the amplifier through a second floating node and configured to transmit the ramp signal, a second pixel capacitor connected in parallel to the first pixel capacitor, and a second ramp capacitor connected in parallel to the first ramp capacitor, wherein the second pixel capacitor is formed between the first floating node and first peripheral routing lines, and the second ramp capacitor is formed between the second floating node and second peripheral routing lines.

Comparison circuit including input sampling capacitor and image sensor including the same

An electronic circuit is provided. The electronic circuit includes a first current generating circuit configured to output a first operating current based on a first operating voltage; and an input circuit configured to: receive a first current corresponding to a first input voltage and a second current corresponding to a second input voltage, wherein the first current and the second current are based on the first operating current; receive a third current and a fourth current that are generated based on the first operating voltage; and generate a fifth current corresponding to the second input voltage based on a second operating current. The electronic circuit is configured to generate an output voltage that is associated with a difference between the first input voltage and the second input voltage based on the second current, the fourth current and the fifth current, and the fourth current corresponds to the third current.

Electronic circuit for configuring amplifying circuit configured to output voltage including low noise

An imaging device includes a pixel array with a plurality of pixels each configured to generate a reset signal and an image signal, a sampling circuit including a plurality of samplers connected to column lines, where each sampler generates a first comparison signal by comparing the reset signal with a ramp signal and generates a second comparison signal by comparing the image signal with the ramp signal. An ADC converts each of the first and second comparison signals into a digital signal. Each sampler performs an auto-zero operation for initializing itself before performing the comparing with respect to the reset signal in a first mode, and performs a respective auto-zero operation before performing the comparing for each of the reset signal and the image signal in a second mode.

Image sensor and imaging device including the same

An image sensor includes a pixel array including a plurality of pixels connected to row lines extending in a first direction and to column lines extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, a ramp voltage generator configured to output a ramp voltage, a plurality of comparators, each of the plurality of comparators including a first input terminal to which the ramp voltage is input, and a second input terminal connected to one of the column lines, and a replica circuit having a same structure as a structure of a portion of the comparators. Each of the comparators includes a plurality of transistors, a first auto-zero transistor connected to the first input terminal, a second auto-zero transistor connected to the second input terminal, and wirings connected to the plurality of transistors, the first auto-zero transistor, and the second auto-zero transistor.

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Hwaseong-si, South Korea

Yunhwan Jung