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:
Jul. 01, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 20, 1998
Applicant:
Inventor:
Alpha Hou, San Jose, CA (US);
Assignee:
Syscan Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Guangdong, CN;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 3/14 ; H04N 5/335 ; H04N 5/235 ; H01L 2/700 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 3/14 ; H04N 5/335 ; H04N 5/235 ; H01L 2/700 ;
Abstract
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a generic solution for direct readout of the charge signals from the photodetectors in an image sensor to minimize possible signal distortions. The disclosed image sensor uses a time measurement circuit for each of the photodetectors. The time elapsed for each of the photodetectors to reach a reference signal is measured and converted to a digital representation that is subsequently readout as the digital signals.