Low-power digital image sensor for still-picture image acquisition

Steve Tanner; Stefan C. Lauxtermann; Martin Waeny; M. Willemin; Nicolas Blanc; Joachim Grupp; Rudolf Dinger; Elko Doering; Michael Ansorge; Peter Seitz; Fausto Pellandini

doi:10.1117/12.426972

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15 May 2001 Low-power digital image sensor for still-picture image acquisition

Steve Tanner, Stefan C. Lauxtermann, Martin Waeny, M. Willemin, Nicolas Blanc, Joachim Grupp, Rudolf Dinger, Elko Doering, Michael Ansorge, Peter Seitz, Fausto Pellandini

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Proceedings Volume 4306, Sensors and Camera Systems for Scientific, Industrial, and Digital Photography Applications II; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.426972
Event: Photonics West 2001 - Electronic Imaging, 2001, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

This article presents the design and realization of a CMOS digital image sensor optimized for button-battery powered applications. First, a pixel with local analog memory was designed, allowing efficient sensor global shutter operation. The exposure time becomes independent on the readout speed and a lower readout frequency can be used without causing image distortion. Second, a multi-path readout architecture was developed, allowing an efficient use of the power consumption in sub-sampling modes. These techniques were integrated in a 0.5 um CMOS digital image senor with a resolution of 648 by 648 pixels. The peak supply current is 7 mA for a readout frequency of 4 Mpixel/s at Vdd equals 3V. Die size is 55 mm2 and overall SNR is 55 dB. The global shutter performance was demonstrated by acquiring pictures of fast moving objects without observing any distortion, even at a low readout frequency of 4 MHz.

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Steve Tanner, Stefan C. Lauxtermann, Martin Waeny, M. Willemin, Nicolas Blanc, Joachim Grupp, Rudolf Dinger, Elko Doering, Michael Ansorge, Peter Seitz, and Fausto Pellandini "Low-power digital image sensor for still-picture image acquisition", Proc. SPIE 4306, Sensors and Camera Systems for Scientific, Industrial, and Digital Photography Applications II, (15 May 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.426972

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