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.

Date of Patent:
Apr. 04, 2023

Filed:

Dec. 04, 2018
Applicant:

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Kanagawa, JP;

Inventors:

Yutaka Inaoka, Kanagawa, JP;

Hongbo Zhu, Tokyo, JP;

Takafumi Takatsuka, Kanagawa, JP;

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 5/351 (2011.01); H01L 27/146 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 5/351 (2013.01); H01L 27/14627 (2013.01); H01L 27/14643 (2013.01);
Abstract

To reduce power consumption in a solid-state image sensor that detects weak light. The solid-state image sensor includes a photodiode, a resistor, a measuring unit, and a control unit. The photodiode photoelectrically converts incident light and outputs a photocurrent. The resistor drops a potential of one end of the photodiode to a value lower than a power supply potential every time a photocurrent is output. The measuring unit measures illuminance of the incident light on the basis of a frequency of dropping of the potential of one end. The control unit controls the power supply potential to a lower value as the measured illuminance is higher.


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