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:
Aug. 08, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 04, 2004
Xinping He, San Jose, CA (US);
Hongli Yang, Cupertino, CA (US);
Xinping He, San Jose, CA (US);
Hongli Yang, Cupertino, CA (US);
OmniVision Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A CMOS image sensor that has reduced transistor count is disclosed. The individual pixels are formed by a pinned photodiode and a transfer transistor. An output node receives the signal from the photodiode via the transfer transistor. The output node is shared between multiple pixels. Further, a reset transistor is coupled between a selectable low voltage rail Vor a high voltage reference Vand the output node. The gate of an output transistor is then coupled to the output node. Both the reset transistor and output transistors are shared between multiple pixels.