The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 10, 2019
Filed:
May. 13, 2019
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Keiji Mabuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present technology relates to a conversion apparatus, an imaging apparatus, an electronic apparatus, and a conversion method that are capable of reducing the scale of a circuit. The conversion apparatus includes: a comparison unit that compares an input voltage of an input signal and a ramp voltage of a ramp signal that varies with time; and a storage unit that holds a code value when a comparison result from the comparison unit is inverted, the holding of the code value by the storage unit being repeated a plurality of times, to generate a digital signal having a predetermined bit number. The predetermined bit number is divided into high-order bits and low-order bits, the low-order bits are acquired earlier than the high-order bits, and the acquired low-order bits and the high-order bits are combined with each other, to generate the digital signal having the predetermined bit number. The present technology can be applied to a portion of an image sensor, in which AD conversion is performed.