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:
Apr. 25, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 29, 2001
Sunetra K. Mendis, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Tzi-hsiung Shu, San Jose, CA (US);
Sunetra K. Mendis, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Tzi-Hsiung Shu, San Jose, CA (US);
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation, Hsin-Cu, TW;
Abstract
Effectively defect free images are obtained from CMOS image sensors through a two step method in which the addresses of bad pixels are recorded during sensor testing and stored in an on-chip directory. Then, during sensor readout, each pixel address is checked to determine if it represents that of a bad pixel. If this is determined to be the case, the bad pixel value is replaced by another value. This replacement value is generated from an average of the nearest-neighbors that are not defective. If testing is performed at the wafer level, said bad pixel and nearest neighbor data may be used to modify the final level wiring so that bad pixels are disconnected and replaced by their nearest neighbors.